To lose belly fat, you need to reduce your total body weight through diet and exercise.
While the belly fat does not disappear immediately, you can do it using a calorie deficit and Sport reduced.
Avoid refined sugars and carbohydrates, processed foods, and sugary drinks, including alcohol.
You can achieve a healthy weight loss of half a pound to one pound per week through diet and exercise.
As much as you might want a quick fix, there is no natural way to lose belly fat right away. Belly fat is often difficult to reduce because it is different from other types of fat. You can see and pinch the part called subcutaneous fat, and it is just under the skin. There is also visceral fat in the abdomen that surrounds the internal organs within the abdominal walls.
“A healthy level of visceral fat is good for your health,” says Maricris Lapaix. She is a personal trainer and nutritionist. Too much visceral fat, on the other hand, is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease and other health conditions. Hence, it is essential to losing belly fat.
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Can You Lose Belly Fat In A Week?
Many diets and trends promise that you can reduce your belly fat in a few days – that’s unrealistic and unhealthy. In terms of exercise, abdominal exercises can help you tone your abs, but you still need to lose overall weight to minimize belly fat significantly.
Since there is no control over where the body loses weight and fat, you have to reduce all body fat. “Losing belly fat works best with a balance of an active lifestyle, a balanced diet, and maintaining a low level of stress,” says Lapaix.
Important: Drastic measures to lose weight can lead to unhealthy eating behavior. Before making any significant changes to your diet or lifestyle, you should seek advice from your family doctor or nutritionist.
Below are foods and exercises that can help you lose belly fat. You will also find out when you can expect the first results.
What Foods Will Help You Lose Belly Fat?
To lose total body fat, you should be in a calorie deficit. This means that you are burning more calories than you are consuming.
“It is important to reduce your consumption of foods high in trans fats, refined carbohydrates, and highly processed foods with added sugars,” says Lapaix. However, cutting out food groups to burn belly fat is only a temporary solution. The real key to getting rid of belly fat over the long term is to have an individualized, balanced diet that you can maintain over a long time, she says.
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The following foods should be avoided when trying to lose belly fat:
- Sugary Beverages: Heavy consumption of liquids such as carbonated soft drinks, sports drinks, specialty coffees, and sodas is associated with weight gain due to the excessive addition of sugar.
- Alcohol: Heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk of weight gain and obesity. Beer is high in calories and carbohydrates and has been linked to general weight gain. You may have heard of the term “beer belly,” although the idea that beer only builds fat around the waist is mainly wrong. However, it leads to overall weight gain, which can lead to more belly fat.
- Refined Grains And Sugar Products: Foods like corn flakes, bagels, and donuts have a higher glycemic index than fruits and vegetables. This means that they can cause blood sugar levels to rise. A diet containing these foods has been linked to weight gain and should therefore be avoided as sugary foods can easily lead to obesity.
- Fast Food: Due to larger portion sizes and poor nutritional values, fast food is associated with weight gain and less successful weight loss maintenance. A small 2018 study that looked at 300 students showed that eating fast foods, such as pizza and fried chicken, was linked to obesity, especially excess belly fat.
- Processed Meat: Meat consumption has been linked to higher saturated fat and total calorie intake, contributing to weight gain. You should limit your consumption of processed meats like smoked pork, sausages, ham, and bacon.
- High-Calorie Bars: Avoid candy bars and energy bars as they are often low in nutrients and high in sugar, fat, and calories. Even granola and protein bars can be unhealthy if they’re high in sugar and calories, so check the nutrition facts to see the number of fats and sugars in the product before buying.
These Foods Help Reduce Belly Fat:
- High Protein Foods: Foods like chicken, turkey, legumes, nuts, whole eggs, fish, and dairy products are excellent sources of protein that will keep you full longer. They also help you lose weight because a high protein diet requires more energy for digestion, burning body fat.
- High Fiber Foods: Eating lots of fiber helps in weight control and promotes weight loss. So you should eat more high-fiber foods like almonds, oats, plums, berries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and green beans. Eating high-fiber fruits and vegetables is also linked to weight loss.
- Water: Drinking enough water boosts your metabolism, which also helps you lose weight. Lemon water can aid weight loss, mainly if you use it as a substitute for sugary drinks. However, it has no proven added benefits over plain water.
- Whole grains: Most people ingest excessive amounts of refined grains, such as white bread or white rice. However, to reduce and control body weight, it is far better to diet rich in whole grains such as wheat, brown rice, barley, oats, and rye.
“It’s critical to choose a sustainable diet and learn which foods will work for you over the long term, rather than just looking for a ‘quick fix,'” says Lapaix.
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Which Exercises Burn The Most Belly Fat?
You cannot control where you are gaining or losing weight. This approach is sometimes called “targeted weight loss” (also known as point reduction) and is not realistic, says Lapix. For example, abs exercises alone are not enough to get rid of or reduce belly fat. “While you often hear about training programs that target specific areas, you can’t choose the areas where you lose weight,” says Lapaix.
For example, resistance training focuses on building muscle through lifting weights or using equipment such as resistance bands. In contrast, aerobic exercise focuses on burning calories through endurance training such as running or jumping rope. “A mix of resistance and endurance training is beneficial for increasing overall body strength and helps reduce body fat,” says Lapaix.
Also, having more muscle (the percentage of your body made up of power) increases the number of calories your body naturally burns. This is also known as the basal metabolic rate. Therefore, you should do exercises that work the whole body and build muscles. They are best for reducing belly fat.
These Exercises Effectively Burn Belly Fat:
- Overhead squat
- Lateral creeping movements
- Burpees
- pushups
- Sprinter pulls
Results are not immediate, so consistency is vital. In addition, you shouldn’t jump into really intense workouts right away if you haven’t exercised before, says Lapix. She recommends increasing the intensity of the workouts gradually to avoid injury.
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How Fast Can You Lose Belly Fat?
By reducing the total body fat, the belly fat is also broken down. However, this process doesn’t happen overnight or within a few days of starting weight loss. “Half a kilo to one kilo per week is considered a healthy weight loss,” says Lapaix.
As a 2019 study showed, losing six to seven percent of total body weight can reduce subcutaneous and visceral fat. That means, if you weigh about 150 pounds, it can take you anywhere from six to twelve weeks to lose that percentage of your total body weight while reducing belly fat.
However, “there are many factors to consider in body composition, including age, gender, current weight, body fat, and muscle mass, to name a few,” says Lapaix. “These affect the speed at which a person can lose weight, what nutrition plan to follow, and what level of activity is appropriate.”
The combination of exercise and healthy eating is more effective than either of these factors alone. But other practices can also help reduce belly fat:
- Intermittent fasting
- Self-control, like keeping a daily food diary
- Don’t skip breakfast
- Get enough sleep
According to Lapaix, higher levels of stress can also cause body fat to be stored. So find healthy ways to deal with stress and avoid unhealthy behaviors like smoking and drinking.
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What We Learn From It
Belly fat isn’t just a cosmetic problem – excess visceral fat can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and other health conditions. To reduce belly fat, you should exercise regularly, eat healthily and keep your stress level low. To lose belly fat, you have to minimize all body fat. It can take several weeks for you to see visible results for the first time.
Drastic measures to lose weight are unsustainable and only bring temporary results, says Lapaix. Ineffective diets or sudden intense exercise are not sustainable ways to address weight loss. “A sustainable change in lifestyle with small and gradual changes in diet and physical activity also keeps stress levels low. That increases the likelihood that a person will endure all parts of their health and wellness journey,” says Lapaix.