9 Things You Shouldn't Do If You're Trying to Trim Belly Fat
- Dietitian.Lauren Hmede
- Sep 19, 2019
- 3 min read
The fat concentrated in the belly, as opposed to on the butt and thighs, for example, is associated with various diseases and poor lifestyle conditions, where "belly fat is caused by more than excess calories; it is linked to insulin resistance, high stress, poor fitness, irregular sleep and an unhealthy gut.
Here are nine habits you should avoid to banish your belly fat ASAP.
Don't Eat Late at Night
It's best to get your in calories in earlier in the day, rather than late at night when you don't have time to burn them off and they can spike your blood sugar. Try eating dinner earlier, and if you really do need a snack before bed, keep it small and high in protein and low in sugar (like some cottage cheese).
You can try intermittent fasting when you consume all your calories within eight to 10 hours, this would regulate insulin response.
Don't Ignore Stress
Stress increase cortisol level and result in fat storage. You need to manage your stress by reading a journal or practicing yoga for example.
Don't Stay Sedentary During the Day
You need to stay active from one time to another, rather than just sitting all the day. You can have a walk for 10 minutes daily for example or use stairs instead of elevator. These could help you in boosting your metabolism and energy expenditure, it could prevent belly fat too!!
Don't Forget to Sleep
You need to have 7-8 hours of sleep daily. Poor sleep habits affect stress levels, hormone regulation and metabolic rhythms. For instance, a night of little sleep will increase ghrelin, the hunger hormone, making you more likely to mindlessly eat in the day and choose unhealthy foods. Instead, you want higher leptin, which suppresses appetite, and you can have a good balance by setting an alarm for yourself and going to bed on time.
Don't Forget Your Gut
"An unhealthy gut cannot absorb nutrients and remove waste efficiently. Highly processed foods, preservatives, artificial coloring and flavoring, chemicals and sugars destroy the normal flora of the gut. When that happens, the belly becomes bloated and distended. So, you'll want to eat whole foods as much as possible and avoid most packaged, processed foods to keep your belly trim. Plus, try eating probiotics and prebiotics to improve gut health. Probiotics include Greek yogurt or skyr, kimchi, kombucha, saurkraut and sourdough, while prebiotics include artichokes, apples, asparagus, garlic and bananas.
Don't Eat Added Sugar
Natural sugar is good in moderation (think: fruit), but added sugar is no friend to your belly. "Unlike foods and drinks which naturally contain sugar, added sugars don't have any nutritional value. Added sugar puts pressure on the liver, where it's unable to process sugar completely and turns that sugar into fat. "Various studies have found that large amounts of fructose can increase belly and liver fat. A quick solution for our sweet tooth would be to eat fruit low in sugar such as blackberries, strawberries, honeydews and peaches.
Don't Go Crazy on Carbs
There's a reason people are hopping on the keto bandwagon, which keeps carbs to around 25 net grams a day. While you don't need to restrict as much and go totally keto, cutting carbs in favor of protein and healthy fats can directly help you trim belly fat. "Eating refined carbs like bread, rice, pasta and cookies will increase our belly fat.
Don't Booze Too Hard
Alcohol is uniquely adept at stimulating insulin secretion and therefore belly fat,even if you're doing 'zero-carb' martinis.
Be very mindful of your alcohol intake and pair booze with food and water. Also, don't use juices, tonics, syrups and artificial sweeteners when mixing and take stock of your weekly count of drinks to keep it to as minimum as possible, she says. This will help you trim down the belly and avoid bloating. Alcohol makes you retain water, so that surely doesn't help!
Don't Use Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners can disturb the gut's delicate microbiome and confuse your brain, it thinks its getting something sweet because of the taste, but the calories don't come and this actually prompts insulin secretion and therefore belly fat storage, perhaps even more forcefully than sugar would.
You're better off skipping the sweeteners all together, or even just using a teaspoon of honey, real sugar or coconut sugar if you need a bit of sugar.
Sources:
Comments