How many times have you broken your new year’s resolution after swearing that once and for all you’ll get rid of that annoying bulge on your belly? Come on, don’t be shy. We completely understand your dilemma.
In this article, we will help you reach your goal with three simple steps to lose belly fat by using a combination of diet and exercise.
3 Simple Steps to Lose Belly Fat
#1 Reconsider Your Diet
During your weight-loss saga, how many times has your cheat day turned into a cheat week? This can cause you to lose interest, hope, and motivation completely. But who doesn’t love food?
If you want to lose your belly fat, try to minimize the amount of sugar and carbs in your diet. Try replacing soda with tea, sweets with nuts and fruits, and sugar with honey. Try to eat more vegetables, and get more fiber into your diet, eat protein-rich foods like meat, fish, seafood, and eggs to boost your metabolism.
What are the reasons you can’t stop eating?
-
You Can’t Decide If It’s Hunger Or Appetite
Be aware of your body and mind before you eat a tub of ice cream or any junk food. Are you starving, or are you using this food as an escape?
-
You’ve Mistaken Hunger For Thirst
Try to sip some water, coffee, or tea. Well-hydrated people can burn off 205 calories a day by combining their hydration with a balanced diet.
-
You’re Stressed
Many doctors agree that stress can lead to overeating or a lack of eating. Stress can activate higher cortisol levels, which then produce glucose. This imbalance can negatively affect your pancreas and influence you to eat more.
-
You Don’t Stop Eating When You’re Full
You should pay attention once you hit the “I’m full meter.” This is a time when you say, “oh, I’m stuffed”. But don’t take too long to warn yourself.
-
You’re not getting enough sleep
A lack of sleep can increase your body’s “hunger hormone”–ghrelin–and weaken your body’s sensitivity to its “satiation hormone”–leptin. Getting enough shut-eye is an easy fix to this imbalance.
#2 Get Rid Of That Extra Weight with Cardio
Why is exercise so important when you’re trying to lose extra belly fat? This is the stage where you have to move it. Otherwise, what is a diet change without exercise? You would be getting thin, but not getting into shape.
Here are our favorite cardio options to lose extra weight. You can combine two of the three exercises, or alternate each, whichever you prefer. Just make sure you’re comfortable doing it.
-
Running
Run for 30 minutes a day, and you’ll soon see positive changes in your body. If it’s too hard to run 30 minutes in the beginning, you can walk and run. Running burns two and a half times more calories than walking.
-
Swimming
Swim for 30 minutes two or three times a week, choose the style and pace you like. The most important thing is to stay moving. One hour of intensive swimming can help you burn up to 500 calories.
-
Cycling
The last option is cycling. Riding a bicycle is an essential exercise for weight loss. Do it two to three times a week at a comfortable pace.
#3 Strengthen Your Abs
Cardio exercises like running, swimming, and cycling will help you lose extra weight, but they alone won’t make your belly absolutely flat. You’ll need a combined approach to help you lose weight while strengthening your muscles.
We have four ab-strengthening suggestions for you to try at home. Grab your exercise mat, change into your workout clothes, and let’s get started.
-
The Vacuum
Here’s how you do it:
- Lie on your back with your arms at your sides
- Bend your knees at a comfortable height
- Breathe out all the air in your lungs
- Breathe in and pull your stomach in toward your spine
- Hold your breath for 15 to 20 seconds.
Repeat this ten times, three to four times a day, and you’ll notice that your waist has gotten smaller after a few weeks.
-
The Plank
It is a simple but very effective exercise.
Here’s how you do it:
- Get down and form a push-up position.
- Bend your elbows at 90 degrees, and put your weight on your forearms
- Your shoulders must be aligned with your elbows.
- Keep your body straight from head to toe.
- Hold that position for 30 seconds.
Aside from burning calories and making the abs stronger, planking also improves posture and releases back strain.
Do these two or three times a day for 30 seconds, gradually increasing the duration.
-
Crunches
This exercise doesn’t burn a lot of calories, but it strengthens your abdominal muscles, we’ll show you the right way to do it.
- Lie flat on your back (or on an exercise ball)
- Put your fingertips behind your ears.
- Point your elbows out to either side
- Bend your knees to a comfortable height
- Lift your shoulder blades off the ground quickly
- Exhale while you rise. Move back to the starting position. Inhale while you do this.
You can increase the repetitions as you progress. Do this once a day for a month for the best results. These exercises will make your app and core stronger, and strengthening your core will take the pressure off your other muscle groups.
-
Leg Raises
This one is easy compared to crunches. Simply follow these steps.
- Lie on your back and put your hands on the floor for balance
- Slowly raise your legs 10 to 15 times your legs should form a straight line.
Leg Raises target your lower abs and hip muscles, making them more toned, you’ll begin to notice an improvement in just 30 days.
Conclusion
It is important to use all the methods above in combination with each other. Just doing one of the things on the list will make a difference, but probably not as much as the average person would want or expect from doing so.
Products You May Be Interested In:
Editor’s note:
We would love for you to share your feedback. Please support us by either liking, sharing, or commenting on this article.
To your success,
Thanks.
