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Exercise & Diet for Belly Fat

Forget about targeting the fat around your belly for weight loss. Focus on bringing down your overall body fat percentage. It's impossible to reduce the amount of subcutaneous fat accumulated in one specific area of your body irrespective of the fat composition of your entire body. It's all tied together. Your body stores fat in set proportions to the various areas of your body according to your personal body constitution, and loses it fat the same way.

  1. Strengthening the Abdominal Muscles

    • While strengthening your abdominal muscles in and of itself will not get rid of excess subcutaneous belly fat (that fat you can feel when you pinch your belly); abdominal focused resistance training or calisthenics, in conjunction with a healthy diet, is very effective at reducing visceral belly fat (the fat that gathers in the spaces between organs and which poses a serious threat to your health). Strengthening your abdominal muscles also works to tone your tummy so that when enough subcutaneous fat is lost, definition is revealed.

    Resistance Training

    • Resistance training in general is good for overall fat loss. Muscle burns a lot of calories. By improving your total body muscle composition, you boost your metabolism, raise your calorie threshold and on the whole just make it easier to reduce your body fat percentage. And an overall reduced body fat percentage means a trimmer waistline. So make strengthening your abdominal muscles a part of a whole body resistance training routine.

    Aerobic Exercise

    • During normal activity your body burns carbohydrates and fats in equal proportion to meet its energy demands. Aerobic exercise changes this dynamic so that fat is burned in greater proportion to meet your body's energy demands. All aerobic exercise gets your heart pumping within a target zone of 50 to 85 percent of its maximum capacity for your fitness level. Aerobic exercise for weight loss is more effective when it's dynamic. Add sprints to your workout (also called interval training). These are periodic short bursts (30 to 90 seconds) of a high intensity workout pace, pushing yourself to the edge of or just beyond your aerobic target zone and then falling back to your normal aerobic pace. You should work out aerobically for at least 30 consistent minutes daily, but don't do the same aerobic exercise everyday. For instance, if you jog one day try biking the next. Alternate among 2 or 3 enjoyable aerobic activities.

    Diet

    • Restricting yourself to low carbohydrate or low fat foods isn't as important as your overall caloric intake. To lose weight you must create a calorie deficit, burning more calories than you consume. There's no way to cheat this basic math. The best weight loss diet is one that meets all your nutritional needs while giving you about 500 less calories than what your body needs on a daily basis. In a balanced diet, about 50 percent of the food you eat is carbohydrates (stick to complex carbohydrates with a low Glycemic Index), 30 percent protein and 20 percent fat. It also includes 25 to 35 grams of fiber per day and the USDA recommended amounts of all the vitamins and minerals. Use the resource link to figure your body's Basil Metabolic Rate (your daily calorie intake should not fall below this), then figure your body's daily calorie needs using the Harris Benedict Formula (your daily calorie intake should fall below this number).

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