If you are trying to understand how to lose belly fat, you will have to exercise and make some key changes to your diet. Belly fat is extremely stubborn, and it won’t go quickly. It has to be lost gradually, but you will reap the rewards. You will be healthier and have a lean looking body.
First and foremost, lose the junk food. As the old saying goes, “you are what you eat,” so the junk must go. The main culprits in junk food are refined carbohydrates and high sugar content. After eating them, your blood sugar level rises. When this happens, your appetite increases.
Don’t keep chips, candy or cookies in your home. Stock up with healthy snacks like seeds, nuts, wheat-free crackers, low fat yogurt and fruit. Snacks like these will keep your blood sugar in check and satisfy hunger pangs. You will soon get to enjoy your new snacks if you don’t keep junk food at home.
While carbohydrates are vital for good health, there are bad carbohydrates and good carbohydrates. All foods containing refined flour must be avoided. For example, stay away from cakes, biscuits, donuts, white bread and pasta. They cause poor digestion, bloating and an accumulation of fat.
Fruit and vegetables are rich in good carbohydrates. Also eat foods that have slow-release carbohydrates like oats, pulses, brown rice, and sweet potatoes. A healthy diet is one that gets its carbohydrates from foods such as these.
Familiarize yourself with foods that have low sugar content and a low GI (Glycemic Index). Foods with a low GI are broken down more slowly and released gradually into the bloodstream. This simply means that they make you feel full for longer because they don’t raise blood sugar levels. Wholegrain bread has a low GI factor.
A healthy meal should look like this: The carbs on the plate should be about the size of your palm, and the protein content should be no bigger than a deck of cards. Vegetables or salad should comprise the balance of the plate’s contents.
If you are guilty of late night snacking, this is another habit you are going to have to break. When you eat before sleeping, the body cannot expend enough energy to burn calories. The food will just turn to fat.
Another belly fat culprit is alcohol. People who drink a lot of alcohol often accumulate fat around the waist. You must have seen many people who are quite slim except for an unsightly belly. Well, that’s usually caused by an excess of alcohol.
When your diet has been sorted out, it’s time to think about exercise. Raise yourself up from that couch, and go to the gym. Do exercises that will target your stomach. If you are not sure how to start, speak to a professional trainer. Buy a book or search the internet for fat burning exercises.
If you really want to grasp how to lose belly fat, your exercise routine should also include some weight training. But, with perseverance, you can get achieve fat burning.