7 easy steps to lose belly fat

Doesn’t that tyre around the waist just take the fun out of wearing those super glam clothes you buy? “Everything else seems in shape and place, the legs are long and sculpted, the arms are lean, the upper body is well-formed…if only someone would take away this layer of fat around my waist.” This is a common complaint I hear all the time. So many people talk of wanting to burn their belly fat.

Belly fat not only brings the effect of that fabulous dress a couple of notches down but is also detrimental to your health. The fat around the abdominal cavity surrounds a number of important internal organs – liver, pancreas and intestines and too much of fat can lead to diseases like diabetes and heart disease.

You can make belly fat can Go Away. The only thing is that there is no shortcut to it. Remember that when you exercise you don’t lose fat from just one part of the body. The body loses fat all over. It’s a tried and tested thing.

Food or diet is just one part, exercise is the other big piece of the puzzle. Last but not the least is your lifestyle.

1. Adopt Action

It’s simple Maths. For net loss, the body needs to burn more calories than what it takes in. Move. Be active. Leave your slothful ways. Look at little children around you for inspiration. They are like little bundles of energy who don’t sit still even for a second. They just don’t know how to. My little nephew is a case in point. When he is talking, he keeps moving from the sofa to the bed, on to the chair and then back again to the sofa. And when he is not talking, he is walking up and down the stairs of his duplex house and jumping about. The only time he sits still is when he is watching TV.

The idea is to realise how we have limited our activity level as we have grown up into adults. We were all restless and more active when we were younger. Get the zip back in your life and burn away those calories. Ditch the escalator. Use the Stairs. Do the housework. Walk to the neighbourhood market. Get up and walk to the colleague’s desk if you want to discuss something rather than reaching out on the phone. If possible, add some form of aerobic exercise to your routine. Dancing. Jogging. Running. Zumba. Aerobics. Swimming. There are many options to choose from – all will help you maintain your body machine keep fit and in shape.

2. Core is the key

Along with this, you definitely need to work and strengthen those core muscles, the muscles that wrap around your tummy like a cover. Regular practice of planks, crunches and lunges will be your targeted tool to nix belly fat. Just remember every time you start exercising, the first thing is to activate the core muscles, so that the pressure doesn’t to the back muscles. Start small (you can begin with even two-five minutes every day on an empty stomach) and increase gradually.

3. Try Yoga

Studies show that there is a direct connection between stress and weight gain. Yoga not only enables physical fitness and calorie burn but also simple breathing techniques and holding Asanas helps in releasing stress thereby helping you lose fat.

4. Balanced Lifestyle

Try to maintain regularity in your daily routine even in the weekend. Avoid going overboard in any situation. Bingeing and letting your hair loose in the weekend could cause your internal body clock to go haywire and then the body would respond by producing fat storing hormones which is what we don’t want.

5. Magic Healing of Sleep

Get your eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. It is when we sleep that body and mind rest and rejuvenate. If sleep time is cut short, the body doesn’t have time to complete various important functions like muscle repair, memory consolidation and release of hormones regulating growth and appetite. Many studies report that if you are sleeping for five hours or less routinely you have greater chances of increasing abdominal fat. So do yourself a favour – make sure that you get more than five hours of sleep daily.

6. Blacklist White sugar

Just cut sugar from your diet. Reduce gradually if you can’t cut it altogether.

7. Get Help

It is important to have a balanced diet. There is no harm in getting help from a professional dietitian so that your food and diet habits come on track and provide sufficient nutrition to the body.