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Nutrition to Lose Belly Fat

Losing belly fat is a goal for many people. Vanity aside, medical tests continue to prove that belly fat is one of the most dangerous body fats, leading to high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer and dementia. Recently, Liz Vacaville, editor in chief of Prevention magazine coauthored a new diet book, The Flat Belly Diet. Use this book and diet program to decrease your body fat in 28 days.

  1. Time Frame

    • Eat four small meals a day that consist of 400 calories per meal. These meals each must contain a serving size of designated monounsaturated fatty acids, nicknamed "MUFAs". This eating style will prevent overeating and boost your metabolism; try to eat meals before 6 p.m. so that your body has time to burn off the calories before bedtime.

    Theories

    • A journal, Diabetes Care, found in a study that "eating a diet high in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) could help prevent the accumulation of belly fat, or more specifically, the visceral fat that we have been told to be so concerned about." Prevention held its own testing on overweight female subjects on the flat belly diet for a 28-day period and discovered a noticeable difference in the women's visceral fat level.

    Choices

    • The flat belly diet is a health program built upon healthy foods such as brown rice, oats, brans, whole grain/whole wheat food, veggies, natural fruit, skim milk, chicken breasts and other lean meats, seafood and egg whites. Additionally, each meal must include a serving of one of the MUFAs, such as avocados, nuts, seeds and olive oil.

    Features

    • In a goal to lose belly fat, it is important to implement a lifestyle of healthy eating and a regular daily exercise program combining weight training and aerobic exercise.

    Significance

    • One pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories. To get rid of belly fat, you have to burn more calories than you consume. Belly fat is simply stored energy, so eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly will decrease your overall body fat.

    Consistency

    • Health officials differ in their opinions on the exact amount of time each day that should be dedicated to an exercise program. However, most agree that even 15 minutes per day is beneficial to everyone. Healthy eating and a regular exercise program must be maintained consistently for optimum results. Keep a food diary and exercise journal to help maintain focus and dedication to your new lifestyle goals.

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