Dietary Changes For Increased Stomach Fat Loss
You can make a number of dietary changes, including trading certain foods for others that may help improve abdominal fat loss. For example, a study published in The Journal of Nutrition in 2009 found that substances called catechins in green tea help enhance abdominal fat loss due to exercise. Swap out sugar-sweetened beverages and other high-calorie beverages for green tea, water or another non-caloric beverage.
Increase your intake of lean proteins, which tend to be particularly filling. Diets that are high in protein also help to improve abdominal fat loss, according to another study published in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases in 2009. Eggs, fish, skinless poultry and legumes are all nutritious lean proteins.
Don’t forget the healthy fats. Your body needs some fat to function properly. Trade out foods high in unhealthy saturated fat, such as sausage and cream-based sauces, for those containing monounsaturated fats, including nuts, olive oil and avocado. A study published in Diabetes Care in 2007 found that a diet high in these fats helped keep fat from being deposited in the abdominal area.
You Are Not Sleeping Enough
When was the last time you got a full eight hours of uninterrupted sleep each night for a whole week? Sleep deprivation and bad sleep patterns also may prevent weight loss despite a calorie deficit. Adults require at least seven hours of uninterrupted sleep every night however, many do not often get this.
A study done in 2017 showed that persons on a weight loss program with high sleep variability lost less weight and experienced less of a reduction in BMI than those with a regular sleep pattern . If you are looking to reduce your waistline, you might also consider sleeping for seven to nine hours each night.
It should be noted that even when you do not reduce your food intake but sleep more, you are likely to lose weight, while less sleep, even on a calorie deficit, prompts the release of cortisol which in turn tells your body to hold on to fat .
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You’re Doing The Wrong Workout
Contrary to popular belief, you can’t spot target fat loss. Your body more or less decides on its own where the fat is going to be shed from. But you can strengthen certain parts of your body. Both cardio and strength training can help you shed pounds, so it’s important to perform a combination of both. Torch calories with cardio like running or spinning and strengthen your abdominals with ab workouts like planks, crunches, and mountain climbers. Switch up your workout routine with some tummy-targeting exercises, and incorporate these ways To lose your belly in 14 days to get a slimmer stomach in just two weeks.
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Your Stomach Fat Is Just Harder To Shift Factually
Explaining that “we all carry two fat cells in our body: alpha and beta,” Dr James described how these cells react differently to lipolysis. “Alpha cells respond better and accelerate the process, whereas beta cells dont respond as favourably and make it harder for to lose the fat,” the expert explains.
Because different areas of the body have different amounts of each of these cells – with some parts having a higher amount of alpha cells than beta, and vice versa – the areas with more beta fat cells will inevitably be more difficult to shed excess fat.
“When youre actively trying to lose fat, you may see changes on your legs, face and arms first because these areas have more alpha cells,” said Dr Luke. Conversely, he pointed to areas like the hips, thighs and belly as having more beta cells, therefore making them harder to lose weight from.
“To put it simply: its more difficult to shift belly fat because it has a higher amount of fat cells that dont respond as easily to the fat-breakdown process .”
You’re Eating Too Few Calories
Years of yo yo dieting can take its toll. “It plummets the metabolic rate and means, when you do eat a normally amount of calories again, that your baseline is lower,” Claire explains. Which means? Your metabolism will be slower, youll be less efficient at burning the calories you consume and more likely to hold onto to body fat. Thats why fad diets should be avoided.
Nutritionist Lisa Borg, agrees, adding that it’s harder to shed pockets of fat that result from chronic intake of excess calories. “For those yo-yo dieters, fat tends to be held onto more readily because the body has experienced ‘famine’ too many times, and sparing these deposits is therefore pro-survival.”
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Why Your Belly Is Still Fat Despite Having Lost All The Weight
Shutterstock/Ben Gingell
Most likely, you lost all of your weight , with the simple formula of calories in vs. calories out.
This approach was also likely combined with more exercise than you normally do in your life.
Most people who go on a diet for weight loss increase their physical activity in some way.
But even though theyre now consuming fewer calories and have added an hour of walking in the park to their efforts , the net result is ONLY weight loss.
But isnt that what you want? Well of course, but heres the problem with ONLY weight loss: This doesnt mean your body composition has changed.
Youve whittled down the number on the scale, but your body composition is essentially the same. You may even be termed what is known as skinny fat.
You fit into that size 8 dress, but that mushy gut is still there. If youre a man, you have that potbelly or paunch going on, even though the rest of you looks trim.
Your bodys energy needs are not high enough to use the fat in your belly for fuel.
You can read all you want about hormones like leptin, ghrelin and estrogen, but the bottom linethe simplest explanationis that your body just doesnt have a need to plunge into the fat storage of your stomach and convert it to fuel.
Sled pushing will attack belly fat.
The solution is to increase your bodys energy demands.
DRIVE UP YOUR RESTING METABOLISM.
Youre Losing Visceral Fat
Visceral fat is particularly dangerous. It’s the type of fat that hugs your internal organs and drives up your risk for heart disease, diabetes and stroke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . It is not the type of fat that sits just below your skin that â as the CDC says â “you can pinch.”
If you’re losing pounds but not inches, this may be because initially, you’re losing visceral fat. And that’s great news!
“The way to look at wellness right now is to move beyond the visual and into the health factor. External changes will take longer than what’s happening in your body,” Braganza says.
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Eat Plenty Of Protein
The easiest change you can make to your diet to lose belly fat is to eat enough protein. There are several reasons for this. Increasing your protein intake increases satiety. In most cases, if youre not hungry, you wont eat. Therefore, increasing satiety can result in effortless weight loss.
Moreover, eating enough protein throughout the day ensures you maintain your metabolically active mass even when you eat at a calorie deficit. If you push your muscles to failure through resistance training, you can even build muscle while burning belly fat by eating enough protein. Bio-available protein sources include legumes, dairy products, game meat, eggs, and lean seafood.
Gas Acidity And Bloating
If you note your stomach is getting bigger and you are not gaining weight, it could be bloating due to acidity or gas. Some of the common causes of bloating include air swallowing, too much caffeine consumption, drinking beverages can lead to acid reflux in the stomach, thereby causing discomfort in the form of bloating. Acid is produced in stomach as a protective lining to kill bacteria. But, when this acid interferes with the digestion process or increases in quantity than required it could lead to reflux and bloating. Constipation or irritable bowel syndrome can be another major reason for bloated stomach leading your waistline to plunge without any significant gain of weight.
For most of gastric problems, you are sure to have gastric complaints along with your stomach getting bigger.
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Youre Not Eating Whole Foods
Food quality is just as important as quantity.
Eating whole foods can improve your well-being and help regulate your appetite. These foods tend to be much more filling than their highly processed counterparts.
Keep in mind that many processed foods labeled as health foods arent really healthy. Be sure to read the ingredients on the package and watch out for foods containing extra carbs.
Summary
Make sure to base your diet on whole foods. Eating too much processed food could negatively affect your weight loss success.
You’re Into The Wrong Foods
Unhealthy eating is the biggest driver of big bellies. Too many starchy carbohydrates and bad fats are a recipe for that midsection to expand. Instead, get plenty of veggies, choose lean proteins, and stay away from fats from red meats. Choose healthier fats in things like fish, nuts, and avocados.
Even a moderate cutback on carbs can help, too.
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Add Vinegar To Your Diet
If youre trying to lose weight, vinegar is an excellent addition to your diet. Whether white vinegar or apple cider vinegar, vinegar is one of the most versatile condiments regarding health benefits. One study found that a mere 15 to 30 ml of vinegar daily reduced body weight, belly fat and waist circumference over a three-month period.
According to one study, adding vinegar to your diet will reduce your daily caloric intake by 275 calories. Considering there are 3,500 calories in a pound of fat, you can lose over half a pound of fat per week with this one simple change. To increase your metabolism and satiety, try adding white vinegar to refreshing, hydrating salads and tangy barbecue sauces.
Youre Not Tracking Your Calories Accurately
If youre so damned sure that youre in a deficit, your tracking had better be on point. There are many mistakes people making with tracking including
- Not tracking everything if youre going to track, track EVERYTHING. That includes coffees , mayonnaise, that cheeky Fanta all of it.
- Tracking cooked weight instead of raw weight 100g of raw rice is very different from 100g of cooked rice you can see the differences below. Dont make this mistake
- Not tracking at weekends contrary to what Karen in accounts says, weekend calories do count your body doesnt acknowledge that you deserve a treat, so make sure youre tracking every day.
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Ageing And Lifestyle Pattern
As you tend to age, the body has a tendency to start depositing fat towards the abdomen in comparison to other parts, this further leads to a fat disproportion in the body. Moreover, ageing also affects muscular mass and skin firmness. While muscles tend to become flaccid, skin tends to become lose due to loss of collagen.
Your Metabolism Is Slowing Down
This could be caused by a variety of different reasons. If you were always skinny as a kid, teenager, and young adult, it might come as a shock to you.
The fact is your body changes as you age.
Your bodily processes arent nearly as efficient when you get older. Because of this, you can experience significant decreases in your metabolism. This is true regardless of gender. You shouldnt expect your metabolism to maintain the rate it once was.
Thus, as you age, you need to be cognizant of the changes. That way, you can use that information to make changes to both your diet and your exercise routine.
If your metabolism is slowing down, you may need to do things to help speed it up and you may need to spend more time exercising to achieve the same results you once did.
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You’re Eating More Than You Think
Cutting calories is the only way to shed pounds. If you are eating less than you burn, you will lose weight. This is the single most important thing you can do for fat loss – eat fewer calories!
If you aren’t dropping pounds, you may be eating more than you think. Are you staying on track all week long, counting calories during weekdays but allowing more wiggle room on the weekends? If this sounds familiar, you may be giving yourself too much freedom on off days. It is entirely possible to undo a week’s worth of hard work with a few days of excess calories, especially if alcohol is involved. Your body does not work in 24-hour increments, and what you eat every day plays an important role in the success of your diet.
The Fix: Figure Out How Many Calories You Should Be Eating
Your calorie needs are directly related to your current weight, lean mass, and fitness needs. And finding out exactly how much you should be eating each day is not difficult. You can easily calculate how many calories you need a day using an online calculator or when signing up for a food tracking app. This is a crucial step in helping you be successful.
Use a Calorie Counter App
If you arent tracking your daily food and drink intake, you should start. This is probably the best step you can take towards achieving your fat loss goals. And if you are tracking already, here are a few important things to keep in mind:
Say No To Foods That Could Promote Abdominal Bloating
- Diet regulation is the key you need to follow in addition to your exercise regime. Keep a track and find the foods that cause bloating simply avoid them. Eventually, the calories you take up and the number you burn will determine the result, so do not underestimate the power diet can bring in.
- Stay away from preservative sugars, or refined carbs them as that could lead to belly fat. In case you cannot avoid them, make sure you lose them out by increasing your work output. Maintain a dietary plan and try sticking to it to manage your calorie intake.
- Avoid too much snacking throughout the day. Go for dry fruits like raisins, walnuts and seasonal fruits like apple, avocado when feeling hungry after meals. Sprinkle them over regular meals or simply eat them right in the morning with a glass of lukewarm water to begin your day in the energy mode.
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You’re Eating The Wrong Foods
While calories in vs. calories out is the number one factor in determining weight reduction, the quality of your food choices is important when it comes to body composition. If your macros are out of whack, you may be hindering your fat-burning capabilities. In addition, eating nutritionally poor foods could slow your progress further by messing with your energy, mood, and appetite.
The Fix: Foods That Burn Belly Fat
Okay, technically there aren’t any foods that specialize in burning fat more than others. But some types of food can potentially give you an edge when it comes to improving lean mass and burning fat more efficiently.
Studies are continuing to show that what you eat plays a role in losing fat. The best fat-burning diets should include lots of vegetables. Most non-starchy veggies – anything except peas, corn, and potatoes – provide few calories and loads of good nutrition you need. Micronutrients, or vitamins and minerals, in vegetables are an important factor in weight management because they help control appetite and support a healthy metabolism.
To clean up your diet, try the following:
Macros for Fat Loss
Getting your macro balance on point will ensure you are utilizing the food you eat as efficiently as possible so that more fatty tissue is broken down for energy.
While your overall macro diet can play a key role in fat loss, protein is the most important. Figure out how many grams of protein you need each day and make it a priority to get this amount.
Your Ab Muscles Are Weak
So youre within a healthy weight range, but still feel a bit puffy around your middle? The biggest reasons people who aren’t overweight don’t have tight tummies is that A. Their ab muscles are weak, and B. Theyre slouching while sitting and standing, says Thomas Nesser, Ph.D., associate professor of exercise science at Indiana State University in Terra Haute. Still, if youre already the Queen of Crunches, it can be confusing to figure out how to lose belly fat.
Use it to lose belly fat: By focusing on cranking out hundreds of sit-ups a day, youre doing your rectus abdominis favors, but are largely neglecting your obliques and deeper transversus abdominis. To pull in your midsection, you also have to target these overlooked areas and even your lower back, Nesser says, and none of the above are taxed during your typical crunch. Build a well-rounded routine of planks and these killer oblique exercises to hit the core muscles from every angle and in every inch.
And dont forget about your posture: “Remember ABC,” says , a family medicine doctor at Women’s Sports Medicine Center in New York City. “Pull in your abs, tuck your butt, and put your chest out with your shoulders down.”
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