If you want to get rid of belly fat, there are a few things to consider. We’ll tell you here how the annoying belly fat is created and what helps against it.
Table of Contents
Getting Rid Of Belly Fat – Is That Even Possible?
Many people perceive their stomach as a problem area – and if you explicitly want to get rid of belly fat, it is not that easy. It is much more likely that you will also lose fat in parts of the body that you might not want toI, such as your buttocks or thighs. Nevertheless, you do not have to bury the dream of a well-formed, flat stomach: With a targeted diet, specific exercises, and discipline, it is already possible to get rid of belly fat.
Why Is Belly Fat So Unhealthy?
There are two types of fatty tissue:
- Subcutaneous Fat: The subcutaneous fat refers to the subcutaneous fatty tissue and has, among other things, the task of storing energy and thus keeping us warm. It is found on the thighs and buttocks, for example, and is less harmful than belly fat.
- Visceral Fat: Visceral fat, i.e., belly fat, has a rather bad reputation. Because it accumulates around the organs and ensures that certain messenger substances are released that have adverse effects on us. For example, they cause increased blood pressure and increased insulin secretion, which can trigger inflammation. Therefore, visceral fat increases the risk of various diseases such as heart attack, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, thrombosis, arteriosclerosis, cancer, and Alzheimer’s.
Because of these disease risks, belly fat is an optical and a health problem.
Getting Rid Of Belly Fat: Who Actually Does It Affect?
In fact, men struggle with belly fat more often than women. This is due to the hormone testosterone – it ensures that more fat is stored in the stomach. In women, due to the hormone estrogen, the fat sits more on the buttocks and thighs. But: During menopause, estrogen production slowly decreases – then women also tend to develop fat on the stomach.
But there are also other causes of increased belly fat:
- Too little movement
- Certain medications
- Genetic predisposition
- Unhealthy diet
- Various diseases that, for example, affect the metabolism (e.g., hypothyroidism )
Also Read: Losing Weight After Menopause: 4 Tips That Will Make It Easy To Lose Belly Fat
How Much Belly Fat Is Too Much?
Through various studies, researchers have found out which waist circumference can be harmful to men and women:
- Women: From 80 centimeters, one speaks of an unhealthy waist circumference; from 88 centimeters, the belly fat is considered dangerous and significantly increases the risk of illness.
- Men: Abdominal circumference from 94 centimeters is unhealthy, abdominal fat from 102 centimeters is considered dangerous.
Getting Rid Of Belly Fat: The Right Building Blocks For Your Diet
Unfortunately, it doesn’t help: If your stomach is your problem area, you can’t avoid adjusting your diet if you want to get rid of belly fat. The main thing is to rely on a good mix of healthy foods. This includes:
- Complex carbohydrates (e.g., in whole grain products, legumes, vegetables, potatoes, quinoa),
- Healthy fats (primarily unsaturated fatty acids, e.g., in vegetable oils such as olive oil, avocados, nuts, and fish),
- Many proteins (from protein sources such as meat, milk, dairy products, and eggs)
- Vitamins and trace elements from fruits and vegetables.
Training Helps Against Belly Fat
Unfortunately, even if you can lose weight without exercising, workouts are almost inevitable to eliminate belly fat. Any kind of movement is good at first. You must have fun doing it – that keeps your motivation high, and unfortunately, nothing works without regular exercise. A mixture of strength and endurance training is ideal so that different muscle groups are always used. Tip: try your hand at HIIT. High Intense Interval Training brings the fat burning into full swing, and you can celebrate real success in just a short time.
Which Exercises Are Best For Reducing Belly Fat?
Above all, targeted exercises for the abdomen help to build muscles and thus burn belly fat. But training that involves the whole body is also helpful. The following activities, for example, are reasonable:
- Burpees
- Plank
- Squats
- Sit-ups
- pushups
- Pelvic raises
- Crunches
You can find more exercises and instructions to burn belly fat properly, for example, in the articles Exercising Abdominal Muscles and Fast Abdominal Training.
For the new, well-formed abdominal muscles to come into their own, a low body fat percentage is essential. This brings us back to the annoying belly fat: Depending on the disposition, a body fat percentage of 20 percent is enough for some women to make the abdominal muscles visible. Others have to work harder and bring their body fat percentage to 15 percent. Unfortunately, the only thing that helps is patience – set yourself small goals and celebrate every success. This is how you stay on the ball.
Also Read: Lose Weight With Tea: These 5 Types Of Tea Can Help You Lose Weight
What Role Does Stress Play In Obesity And Belly Fat?
We all know it: As soon as it gets a bit more stressful in the office or at home, we reach for chocolate and thus increase our risk of obesity. And the constant snacking is not the only problem: When we are under stress, the hormone cortisol is released, which also supports the storage of belly fat.
Relaxed Body Thanks To Yoga And Co
So that you can prevent this effect for more belly fat, you should make sure to incorporate recovery phases in everyday life. Exactly how they look varies from person to person: Some people want to curl up in a quiet corner with a book and read, others prefer to sit down with their best friend for a chat. If you want to know what else can help, look at our article on reducing stress. Numerous studies also show that yoga, meditation, and autogenic training are particularly effective against anxiety.
Get Rid Of Belly Fat: These Tips Will Help You
Do you want to get rid of your belly fat? The following tips will help you achieve a flat stomach:
- When eating, rely on few and above all complex carbohydrates and consume more protein.
- Avoid sugar and salt as much as possible: sweets, chips, ready meals, and fast food should only be allowed in exceptional cases.
- Drink two to three liters of water a day and, at best, avoid soft drinks altogether – a fruit spritzer is permitted.
- Cook fresh and preferably with regional ingredients.
- Alcohol should also be avoided to a large extent – almost all varieties contain many calories.
- Put on spices for weight loss – they stimulate the metabolism and thus the burning of fat!
- Avoid stress and create recovery phases.
- Find a sport that you enjoy.
- Exercise regularly – at least three times a week – and make sure that all muscle groups are gradually loaded.
- Don’t forget the rest periods: muscles don’t grow during training, but rather during regeneration. If you’re doing abs sit-ups on Monday, you shouldn’t strain your abs on Tuesday.
- Don’t expect miracles – change takes time. Have a little patience and set yourself small milestones.
- Reward yourself when you have achieved one of these goals – for example, with a great crop top.
Also Read: How To Improve Your Running Technique?
Getting Rid of Belly Fat: Beware of These Mistakes
Even if we heed various tips that should help us lose weight on the stomach and get our body in shape, sometimes it still doesn’t work out that well. So that you can lose fat, you should avoid the following mistakes:
- You make sure to eat healthily, but in general, you still overeat: Losing fat and losing weight only works if you take in less energy than you use. It is best to record everything you eat with the appropriate number of calories in a food diary.
- You eat after exercising: You often have the feeling that you can treat yourself to something once you’ve gotten through the training. Beware of this error! In the worst case, this will destroy the success of the movement. If you want to eat something after exercising, it should be a small protein snack, e.g., B. a shake – this will help your muscles grow.
- You only do strength training or only endurance training: your whole body should work if you want a flat stomach. So combine both types of sport and do them alternately.
- You treat yourself to too many exceptions: Today the cake that your colleague brought along, tomorrow two cocktails on a girls’ evening – with so many temptations we quickly become weak. But when the exception becomes the rule, the fat stubbornly stays where we don’t want it – on the stomach. Therefore, plan your week as much as possible: If you know that there is a delicious meal with friends on Wednesday evening, you should perhaps better avoid the cake on Tuesday.
- Extra tip when things get tricky: We explain here how to get your cravings under control.
