23 Easy, Effective Ways to Start Losing Belly Fat Today
- Dietitian.Lauren Hmede
- Jan 30, 2019
- 4 min read
Introduction:
You can start your new year with healthy habits that can change your whole lifestyle yet reducing your belly fat. So try these strategies and you will notice the change eventually.
1. Create a Calorie Deficit
Calculate your needs by consulting dietitian or using formula. Then calculate how many pound you want to lose and then subtract calories to create calories deficit.
2. Learn Your Hunger Scale
Don’t force yourself to eat so when you get hungry you can eat and don’t stick to time schedule of meals.
3. Eat Until You're 80 Percent Full
Eat slowly and notice satiety feeling so you can leave your plate once you get hungry instead of trying to clean the whole plate even when you feel full.
4. Increase NEAT
NEAT stands for "non-exercise activity thermogenesis," and it's the calories you burn moving around throughout the day (not through exercise). Increasing NEAT will increase your metabolic rate, which means you'll be burning more daily calories, helping you lose weight.
Having a walk while you are working or to the bathroom can increase NEAT.
5. Add HIIT Workouts to Your Fitness Plan
Try high intensity exercise for 45 minutes including warm-up. Make activity for 3-4 times weekly in enough.
6. Eat MUFAs
Increase intake of healthy fat that lower risk of belly fat: MUFA like nuts, seeds, avocados, and olive oil.
7. Monitor Your Macros, Especially Protein
Macronutrient distribution is really important to have a well balance diet, so keep watching your protein intake too as average need is 0.8-1.2 grams of protein/kg per kilograms of bodyweight. Not getting enough protein could lead to weight gain since protein helps you to stay satisfied? Try to add protein at each meal to get your need.
8. Manage Stress
Stress increase production of stress hormone: cortisol which is related to increase appetite and sugar cravings. So instead have a walk or read a journal to manage stressful situation.
9. Don't Consume Trans Fat
Trans-fat increase the fat around belly area. These are man-made fats, and our bodies have a very hard time digesting them, so avoid hydrogenated oils found in manufactured baked goods such as cookies and crackers, cake frosting, some brands of margarine and shortening, and candies.
10. Try Intermittent Fasting
Try intermittent fasting plan for 16:8 ratio as it is helpful in weight management.
11. Strength Train
Weight lifting is important in building muscles so aim to have strength train three-four times a week, using bodyweight moves and a variety of pieces of equipment, including kettlebells, dumbbells, barbells, resistance bands, and medicine balls.
12. Join a Fitness or Weight-Loss Community
Try online weight loss community or join groups make you more motivated to reach your goals.
13. Eat veggies with every meal and snack
Vegetables are the type of food that make you filling. So add them at each meal and on snacks.
14. Food journal via photos
Portion control and serving size are important keys to manage your caloric intake. Use food scale and measuring cups and spoons to learn more about portion size.
15. Treat Yourself Once a Day
Diet does not mean that you give up all your favourite food instead try to treat yourself with a square of dark chocolate, a handful of chips, or a small glass of wine.
16. Get Enough Sleep
Poor quality and inadeuate sleep can lead to extra three pounds per year. In addition when you don’t get enough sleep the night before you will feel tired and then you will not go to the gym.
17. Meal Prep and Plan Ahead
Home-made food are healthier than meals at restaurants so always plan ahead and cook at home to make food available and easy to be prepared for the next day.
18. Don't Just Use the Scale
Scale is important to watch weight loss throughout your diet plan. In addition try to take photos of yourself to track your weight change.
19. Skip These
Processed carbs and sugary foods such as doughnuts and white bread spike your insulin level which cause weight gain.Keeping your insulin levels low will help you reduce your overall body fat percentage, and that means belly fat.
In addition these food are high in calories and increase your cravings toward them after consumption, so keep them invisible and away.
20. Go Vegan . . . Until Dinner
Eat balanced vegan meals loaded with veggies, fruits, and whole grains for breakfast, lunch, and snacks — and once dinner rolls around, you can eat meat and dairy again. Studies show that eating a plant-based diet will not only help you lose weight (though not specifically around the middle, since you can't spot-reduce fat), but it also gives you more energy.
21. Follow the 80/20 Rule (or Maybe Even 90/10)
Follow 80/20 rule when 80% of time you are going healthy and 20% you are enjoying your best meals. To get better result try 90/10 rule.
22. Limit Alcohol (or Avoid It Completely)
That glass of wine or bottle of beer every night with dinner isn't doing your waistline any favours. Each drink is around 80 to 150 calories or can be more than this! Excessive alcohol will cause liver to stop metabolizing fat and carbohydrates in order to metabolize the alcohol first. If you don't want to give it up entirely, choose one or two nights a week to enjoy a drink.
23. Stay Hydrated
Thirst is usually mistaken with hunger so drink at least 64 ounces a day, or try an experiment and drink a gallon of water daily to see how it affects your energy and hunger levels.
Sources:
https://freedom4lifefitness.com/comparison-nutritional-weight-loss-strategies/
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