Why Cardio Is Key to Belly Fat Loss

The reason why cardio is key to belly fat loss can be summed up in two words – calories burned. To lose a pound of weight in a week, you have to expend 3,500 more calories than you take in. To accomplish such a calorie deficit on a consistent basis, you have to exercise at a moderate to high-intensity level. Cardio routines typically have this intensity advantage over other forms of exercising.

Why Cardio Training for Belly Fat Loss?

While cardio training is key to blasting belly fat (and weight loss in general, along with healthy eating) don’t overlook the health benefits of weight and resistance training. Toned and defined muscles burn more calories, so by also improving your muscle definition, your body becomes better at burning fat when doing cardio training due to an increased metabolism. However, it is cardio that truly lights your “furnace”. It does no good to have a more efficient metabolism, if you are not going to use it.

And if you are a women, don’t worry about “bulking up” if you do strength training. You will get toned and defined without increasing your muscle mass significantly.

The After Burn for Continued Belly Fat Loss

Once reason cardio training is best is due to the “after burn”. When cardio training, you should strive to get your heart rate elevated to a target heart rate of around 80% of your maximum heart rate (220 minus your age). By holding it in its elevated state throughout your cardio training session, you get an after effect where your body keeps burning calories at a higher rate once you stopped, then if you had not elevated it to begin with.

To get to your target heart rate, you have to do 20 to 40 minutes of moderate to high intensity training, like swimming, running, cycling or using an elliptical trainer.

The Rest of the Belly Fat Loss Story

While cardio is an important component of belly fat loss, an equal partner is eating healthy. All the cardio in the world is not going to get you closer to your goal if you also don’t eat right.

Cut out processed and fast foods from your diet. Not only do many of them contain saturated and trans fat, but they normally have high amounts of salt – the main cause of water retention and higher numbers on the scale. Instead, create your own dishes by concentrating on fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meats.

Cardio is key to belly fat loss, however without strength training and a healthy diet, cardio alone will not get you to your goal of losing belly fat.

You can find more “Belly Fat Success Tips” in our weight loss category found at http://myfitnessnut.com and while you’re they, be sure to subscribe to our monthly fitness newsletter and be kept up to date on the latest developments in the world of health and fitness.

If you recently had a baby, you may be asking yourself, “Why do I still look pregnant?” This is due to postpartum belly fat, an unwelcome reminder of your recent pregnancy and childbirth. Your stomach and the skin covering it was swollen considerably due to your pregnancy, and now your belly may look squishy and flabby, and still appear to be rather round.

It took an extended period of time for you to deliver your child, and it is going to take time to recover from your pregnancy. It’s alright, you will get there with the right attitude.

The Ups and Downs of Postpartum Belly Fat Loss

If you think of your abdomen as a balloon, one that slowly inflated as your baby was growing inside of you, then you will realize that childbirth is the beginning of a slow leak. Gradually you will have the ability of returning to your pre-pregnancy form, and there are some steps you can take to help speed up the loss of postpartum belly fat. Some new mothers, and many doctors support this claim, have stated that breast-feeding helps them to lose unwanted weight after pregnancy.

This could be because your uterus takes 6 to 8 weeks to return to its normal size after childbirth. Breast-feeding actually increases the speed with which your uterus returns to its original size, and this helps your tummy become smaller faster. Also, all the extra fat which your body stored to nourish your baby while he was growing inside of you starts to naturally burn off. You can accelerate this postpartum belly fat reduction through exercising, and there are multiple “new mom” fitness and workout courses available both online and from licensed physical trainers.

Reduce Postpartum Belly Fat with Exercise

Be patient, adopt a sensible physical fitness regimen, and remember that it took roughly nine months for your stomach to grow large enough so that it could accommodate a full term child. Other factors that play an important part in how quickly your postpartum belly fat disappears include your genes, your normal body size and how much weight you gained during your pregnancy. Want some good news? If you gained 30 pounds or less during your pregnancy, exercising, breast-feeding and proper nutrition can quickly slim you down.

Reduce Postpartum Belly Fat with Your Diet

One other thing you can do to guard against postpartum belly fat lingering is to realize that you need a lot fewer calories now that you are not pregnant. Especially if you are not breast-feeding, you will need to closely watch what you are eating, and how much.

Losing postpartum belly fat is a process which takes time, even if you are blessed with great genes and you practice proper nutrition. If you minimize your alcoholic intake, eat complex carbohydrates, whole grains, lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, and perform whole-body exercises, you can accelerate your postpartum belly fat loss and positively impact your overall health.

You can find more “Belly Fat Success Tips” in our weight loss category found at http://myfitnessnut.com and while you’re they, be sure to subscribe to our monthly fitness newsletter and be kept up to date on the latest developments in the world of health and fitness.

Many slim people don’t know they may have excess belly or visceral fat. However it is true and these people can have the same increased risk for heart disease, cancer and diabetes as an overweight person and not even know it.

Researchers have found 4 main reasons why slim people have excessive belly fat:

Lack of Exercise

If a person tries to stay slim by diet alone, s/he can still pack on pounds of fat deep within the abdominal cavity and not know it. As far as exercising, cardio routines are the best to get your heart rate up and your body into the fat-burning mode. Try to do cardio exercises 20 to 40 minutes per day for at least four days per week. Add in two days of strength training and take the 7th day off.

The Persons Age

As we age, our metabolism slows down, so we do not normally burn as many calories per day as when we were younger. In some people, the extra calories our body does not burn up get stored as belly fat. While aging is a continual process, you can help stave off its effects through proper diet and exercising.

Their Hormones

As we age, hormonal changes occur. Especially in postmenopausal women, fat may move from the hips to the abdominal cavity. So even though the scale has not shown any weight gain, fat may have moved to the belly region. There isn’t much that can be done to prevent it. Eat a healthy diet and get exercise as described above.

Their Genetics

Some people are predisposed to acquire fat in their belly region instead of on their hips or buttocks. Call it “bad genes” if you will. This can be disheartening as you are doing everything right but still gaining belly fat. Try to control it though exercise and avoiding sugary foods or food with trans fat. The body doesn’t know how to process trans fat, so it stores it as fat.

The odd fact about belly fat is that it does not show up on a Body Mass Index (BMI) reading. So even with a BMI of less than 25, dangerous belly fat could be lurking inside your body.

Unfortunately, belly fat is the most dangerous fat there is as it secretes hormones in the body that can create an increased risk for many life-threatening diseases. The only real way to tell if you have excess belly fat is through a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or a Computed Tomography (CT) test.

You can find more “Belly Fat Success Tips” in our weight loss category found at http://myfitnessnut.com and while you’re they, be sure to subscribe to our monthly fitness newsletter and be kept up to date on the latest developments in the world of health and fitness.

here are two main types of fat: subcutaneous and visceral. The first type, subcutaneous, is found just under the skin. Visceral fat, also known as belly fat, is found behind the stomach muscles and in the abdominal cavity, and around many of our internal organs. Why you may think fat is fat, the two types are very different.

Belly Fat Increases Your Risk for Certain Diseases

This visceral fat does a couple of things biologically that can lead to a whole host of dangerous diseases. For example, excessive belly fat inhibits insulin to do its job, a condition called insulin resistance. So as your body becomes more insulin resistant, it has a harder time controlling your blood sugar. This can lead to diabetes.

Also, this visceral fat secretes hormones and proteins into your blood stream. When you have normal belly fat amounts, the hormones and protein are beneficial to your body, but as you gain belly fat, too much is secreted and that is when it can start to cause problems. The excess hormones contribute to atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque on the walls of your arteries, and eventually lead to clogging of the arteries; excess secreted proteins from belly fat cells constrict blood vessels causing high blood pressure known as hypertension.

Because visceral fat is located so close to the liver, fat cells enter that organ directly through the portal vein. Once inside, they can cause dementia, high LDL cholesterol, and breast and colon cancer.

Results of a Belly Fat Study

In a 14-year study that ended in 2012, 12,785 patients were broken down into three categories: normal, overweight and obese. What the study found is the group with a normal BMI, but with excessive visceral fat was 2.1 times more likely to die than the obese group that had a 1.4 greater risk of dying. The point is belly fat is extremely dangerous even if you carry a weight commensurate with your height.

How to Get Rid of Belly Fat

The good news is that even though people complain about it being the hardest last few pounds of fat to lose, this visceral fat is also one of the first fats to start going. Focus eating fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and the good fats – the unsaturated and Omegas. Do 20 to 40 minutes of cardio exercises four days per week with a couple of days of strength training.

If you take in fewer calories through proper eating and start burning more calories through exercising, the calorie deficit will start to burn off excessive belly fat.

You can find more “Belly Fat Success Tips” in our weight loss category found at http://myfitnessnut.com and while you’re they, be sure to subscribe to our monthly fitness newsletter and be kept up to date on the latest developments in the world of health and fitness.

Have too many years of too many beers transformed your flat and ripped six-pack abs into a fat, round keg? What really causes a beer belly, and how can you lose it? It is true that beer drinkers around the world, especially men, tend to grow what is commonly called a “beer belly” if they drink beer frequently enough and long enough.

But is it really the beer that causes the beach ball stomach? You may know someone who has never had a beer or alcoholic beverage in their life, but is still sporting what is usually called a beer belly. How does this happen in a teetotaler?

And more to the point, how do some serious beer drinkers seem to avoid getting this profound paunch?

The Beer Belly Blame Game

As it turns out, too many calories and a sedentary lifestyle can turn your formerly flat and sexy stomach into a beer belly. It can happen with men and women, regardless the amount of beers you actually consume in your lifetime.

In today’s society, food rich in preservatives, saturated fats and other nutritional bad guys are the norm. This leads to fat which generally collects in the midsection, and if you take in more calories than you burn and get little exercise, you too may be sporting a lot of unhealthy belly fat.

Yes, You Can Blame Beer for Giving You a Beer Belly

The reason why beer and alcohol intake is associated with a bigger waistline is because your liver goes to work burning the poison alcohol in your body when you drink, instead of attacking fat. And with a standard beer sporting 150 to 180 calories, five or six in an evening can single-handedly net you half of the calories you should be taking in for an entire day.

So heavy beer consumption can definitely cause a beer belly, but it is certainly not the only culprit. Doctor Michael Jensen is an obesity researcher for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and he says that sugary beverages and over-sized meal portions should get just as much blame for creating beer bellies.

Compound the Beer Belly Problems with the Need to Eat

Of course, since alcohol consumption increases your appetite, you many times have something to eat while you are drinking. And the food offered at many pubs and bars is not the healthiest. Pizza, chicken wings and fattening fried foods often accompany beer drinking, and they are just as responsible for your overhanging belly as are the beers you are washing them down with.

As you age, hormonal and metabolism changes make it harder to burn fat, so the same poor diet your body easily shrugged off when you were young can quickly become the basis for a beer belly now that you are older.

Does above average and consistent alcohol and beer consumption cause a beer belly?

It certainly can, if your overall nutrition and exercise do not compensate for all those extra calories. Because men have less subcutaneous fat than women, they store most of their fat in the midsection. This tends to make the classic beer belly more prevalent among males than females, but women who take in more calories than they burn can also develop this classic beer drinker’s belly.

From type II Diabetes to high blood pressure and multiple heart problems, too much belly fat surrounding your vital organs can be dangerous, and sometimes deadly. Take up a weekly exercise regimen, practice smart nutrition habits, and a few adult beverages after work and on the weekends will have a much smaller chance of cursing you with a beer belly.

You can find more “Belly Fat Success Tips” in our weight loss category found at http://myfitnessnut.com and while you’re they, be sure to subscribe to our monthly fitness newsletter and be kept up to date on the latest developments in the world of health and fitness.

Let’s be honest, losing belly fat (also known as visceral fat) is hard to do, but not impossible. But if it’s so difficult, why would anyone even try to get rid of it?

Because having an excess amount of visceral fat – the type of fat found deep in the abdominal cavity – is unhealthy and can lead to a whole host of diseases – many of which can be life-threatening. If you are a women with a waist measurement in excess of 35 inches, or 40 inches for men, you have an increased risk of getting heart disease, a stroke, sleep apnea, bone density loss, insulin resistance (leading to Type 2 diabetes) and some types of cancer.

How to Lose Belly Fat

So what are the secrets to losing belly fat?

Exercise and eating healthy foods.

Lose Belly Fat Through Exercise

There are many products and methods that tout themselves as being the Holy Grail when it comes to losing belly fat, but the fact of the matter is none of them work. Instead put that money into a gym membership. The only way to lose belly fat is to burn more calories than you eat.

Fortunately when you start to lose fat, belly fat is one of the first to go. But to set the record straight, but there isn’t a program that specifically targets belly fat – the body just doesn’t work that way.

Do high intensity cardio-style workouts four times per week. Add in a couple days of strength training per week (with one day off) and you have half of a recipe for losing belly fat and body fat in general. The other half is healthy food choices.

Lose Belly Fat Through Healthy Food Choices

You can only burn off so many calories per week working out. If you make bad food choices, both in the type and amount you eat, you will not create a calorie deficit and lose belly fat.

One tactic in portion control is eating on a smaller plate. This works by tricking the brain into thinking you ate more than you really did. So when it sees your plate empty, it thinks you are full.

The food you eat should be healthy. Focus on eating foods low in saturated fat and calories, but high in protein and fiber, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meats. These foods keep you fuller longer without adding in a ton of calories.

Avoid sugar. At first it gives you a lot of energy, but your body quickly metabolizes it by dumping insulin (usually too much) in your bloodstream. Once the sugar is gone, you “crash” from low blood sugar. So what do you do? Eat more sugar. This yo-yo effect eventually causes insulin resistance leading to Type 2 diabetes.

So as unglamorous as it is, it comes down to a combination of exercise and healthy food choices as the way to belly fat loss. Eating healthy food prevents you from consuming empty calories that have no nutritional value and exercising burns off calories. If you burn off more calories than you take in, you’ll lose belly fat. It really is that simple, but not easy.

You can find more “Belly Fat Success Tips” in our weight loss category found at http://myfitnessnut.com and while you’re they, be sure to subscribe to our monthly fitness newsletter and be kept up to date on the latest developments in the world of health and fitness.

How to Keep Motivated with Your Belly Fat Loss Plan

With a new year comes new resolutions and if you’re like many people, one of your New Year resolutions could be to start a belly fat loss plan. But statistically, like most people having the same resolution, you have already broken it by now.

The number one reason people fail to keep their resolutions is a lack of motivation. We need something to keep us focused on our goal.

People are motivated by different things. Here is a list of the top 6 things that work to keep your motivation up:

1.) Set Realistic Goals for Your Belly Fat Loss Plan

Goals have to be realistic and attainable for them to keep you motivated. So before you write down your goal, ask yourself if it is doable. If not, you are setting yourself up for failure. It does no good to have a goal of losing 10 inches off your girth in two months – it ain’t gunna happen, it isn’t realistic and it certainly is not attainable.

2.) Keep a Journal of Your Belly Fat Loss Plan

Now that we have a realistic and attainable goal, writing it down and posting it where you can see it keeps you more accountable to yourself than just saying it. Also through journalism, your fears, frustrations and successes flow out through your pen or keyboard.

3.) Monitor Your Progress of Your Belly Fat Loss Plan

To know if you are making progress or not, you have to have a starting point. Measure your waist before you begin your belly fat loss program. Once a week take a reading at the same place on your waist and record the results in your journal. Don’t forget to write something about how you feel with that number.

4.) Pace Yourself on Your Belly Fat Loss Plan

One of two things that help you lose belly fat is exercising, especially cardio training. The other is food and portion choices. But if you have not exercised in a while, doing a high intensity routine for an hour will be counterproductive. You will be so sore for the next couple of days, that you won’t be able to exercise – thus defeating your purpose. Instead, take it slow and work up to an hour workout.

5) Mix Up Your Belly Fat Loss Plan

If you do the same cardio routine day after day after … you’ll soon tire of it. Instead, try new things, like cross training. Or sign up for a Pilates class. Frustrated? Try kickboxing or boxing itself. The point is there are so many different ways to exercise. Keep it fresh by occasionally adding in new things.

6.) Make Smart Food Choice on Your Belly Fat Loss Plan

This is where many people go wrong. Clean out your pantry/refrigerator of temptations. Get rid of the food you should not eat. Instead stock fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, tuna and walnuts among other “good” foods so that when you do eat, your have nothing but good things to choose from. Another trick is portion control. Instead of a regular size plate, eat from a smaller plate. The smaller amount of food looks like more, thus tricking your brain to think you are full.

You can find more “Belly Fat Success Tips” in our weight loss category found at http://myfitnessnut.com and while you’re they, be sure to subscribe to our monthly fitness newsletter and be kept up to date on the latest developments in the world of health and fitness.

When people think belly fat, they usually think of possible natural components like fat and carbohydrates. But did you know that proteins can actually affect how much belly fat you carry?

Actually, it is not necessarily the protein itself, but the lack of protein in your diet which can cause you to gain and retain high levels of fat in and around your stomach. Let’s take a look at exactly how proteins affect belly fat, and what you can do with this information to ensure that you do not sport a spare tire around your midsection.

Reduce Belly Fat with Protein in the Morning

Many people in today’s busy world take little or no time to eat breakfast. The problem here is this means no protein is there to start your day. When your body does not get enough protein in the a.m., you suffer those mid-morning snack attacks.

And what do people eat for a snack a couple of hours before lunch when they are feeling run down and tired? Unfortunately, high-calorie, high-sugar and high-fat treats with little nutritional value are often chosen. These are the types of foods that literally go straight your waistline, creating unwanted and unhealthy belly fat.

This is why you are more likely to pack on the pounds if you skip breakfast. You have not had anything to eat since the night before, and your body begins storing calories instead of burning them, since it doesn’t know when the next meal is going to be coming.

Eating Enough Protein Helps Reduce Belly Fat

Fortunately, you can use protein’s relationship with body fat to your advantage. Sufficient protein levels in your body keep insulin levels low. Insulin stores sugar as fat, so plenty of protein in your diet actually helps reduce belly fat.

To keep the proper hormonal balance working to your advantage, bump up your protein levels. Multiple studies show that approximately 20 to 25 g of protein per meal, and 10 to 15 g per snack, are reasonable levels of protein to include in your diet. This will keep your blood sugar balanced and insulin low, which is a perfect metabolic formula for appetite control and belly fat loss.

Protein also boosts many of your fat-burning and appetite-quenching hormones when consumed in the right amounts.

A Simple Formula: Protein Up – Belly Fat Down

Diabetes Care conducted an important study about the protein relationship with belly fat. 54 obese women and men with type II Diabetes were given either a high-protein or low-protein diet. Belly fat and total body fat were both reduced in much greater quantities in the test subjects eating a high-protein diet.

The Best “Belly Fat Down” Choices

What types of proteins should you focus on for the best belly fat busting performance? Stick to lean chicken and turkey, and low-fat cheeses such as ricotta and cottage cheese. Get Omega-3 and protein-rich eggs and fish in your diet, and your body’s protein levels will be affecting your belly fat in the most positive manner.

You can find more “Belly Fat Success Tips” in our weight loss category found at http://myfitnessnut.com and while you’re they, be sure to subscribe to our monthly fitness newsletter and be kept up to date on the latest developments in the world of health and fitness.

The right answer is it depends on you! It depends on when you want to commit to exercising and eating healthy. But keep in mind, you didn’t gain belly fat overnight, nor will you lose it in that same amount of time. But dedication and persistence will pay off in a slimmer, healthier you.

Burn Belly Fat – The First Step

To know you are making progress, you have to know your starting belly fat measurement. Measure your waist just above your hip bone with a tape measure. The tape should be loosely around you and exhale just before taking your reading. This number is your starting point. Now when you take a periodic reading, you have something to compare to (and something to show you are making progress). This can be a huge motivator!

6 Ways to Burn Belly Fat Fast

Everyone has to start somewhere, so here are 6 tips you can use to start burning belly fat fast:

1. Sleep more
2. Drink more water
3. Do cardio exercises
4. Cut out sugar and processed foods (think fast food)
5. Get some color on your plate
6. Eat fat – yes you read that right!

Sleep more – Strive to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. Not getting enough sleep can trigger sugar cravings and throw off your hormone levels leading to extreme blood sugar swings.

Drink more water – Keep a water bottle with you at all times. Occasionally sip from it throughout the day. Not only will it invigorate you, but if you drink a glass before a meal, you’ll feel fuller and end up eating less.

Do cardio exercises – Exercises that work your large muscles groups burn the most calories. Strive to do step aerobics, bicycling, jogging, walking, swimming, using an elliptical trainer, or racquetball. These exercises burn between 360 to 1,000 calories per hour of exercise.

Cut out sugar and processed foods – Calories from these food types end up as stored fat in exactly the areas where you don’t want it – the belly and buttocks.

Get some color on your plate – The more color you have on your plate in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables, the better it is for you. These foods are normally high in fiber, but low in fat and calories.

Eat Fat – The key is to eat the right type of fat – the Omegas 3. Foods such as salmon, tuna, avocados and walnuts are chocked full of nutrients that keep you satisfied throughout the day.

The key to losing belly fat is not how fast you can do it, but to keep making steady progress. These 6 tips will help you get started. Seeing the numbers drop through periodic measurements will keep you motivated to keep going!

You can find more “Belly Fat Success Tips” in our weight loss category found at http://myfitnessnut.com and while you’re they, be sure to subscribe to our monthly fitness newsletter and be kept up to date on the latest developments in the world of health and fitness.

Carbohydrates Play a Big Roll in Belly Fat Levels

Carbohydrates can definitely affect your belly fat levels. Countless studies show that even a slight reduction in the amount of carbohydrate-heavy foods you eat can promote a loss of belly fat. This in turn reduces your risk of contracting type II Diabetes and multiple cancers, and improves your heart health.

The problem is that many low-fat and fat-free diet crazes strip protein alongside fat. Good fats and healthy proteins are then replaced with carbohydrates, waist levels become bigger, and your health plummets.

To fight belly fat, you want to be sure you are cutting back on simple carbohydrates, and not necessarily fat. One significant study showed that test subjects with even a moderate reduction in carbohydrate intake showed an immediate 11% drop in deep abdominal fat, versus 0% loss for those eating a standard diet. And overall body fat loss was 4% greater for the low-carb dieters as well.

Carbohydrates are Essential But They’re Not All the Same

Carbohydrates are definitely essential nutrients that your body and brain require as a source of energy, but they are not all made equal.

The carbohydrates include simple sugars, starches and fiber. And eating too many of any of those carbs can cause a spike in insulin, which increases fat collection in your belly. The problem with simple carbohydrates which are digested and absorbed quickly, like white bread, candy, cookies and sugar, is that they lead to higher rates of belly fat. This is because the arrival of too much glucose in your bloodstream causes higher insulin production to help balance out your blood sugar.

The insulin efficiently spreads out your usable glucose to your many organs and tissues, including muscles, and then stores any extra as body fat. Complex carbohydrates, including fiber, are digested more slowly. Many of the complex glucose bonds are removed as waste with the fiber in these carbohydrates, so belly fat is not generated.

Complex carbohydrates include vegetables, fruits, whole grains and oats. Add these to your diet, and remove sugar, sweets and white bread, and you can have a positive impact on your belly fat.

Lose the Bad Carbohydrates and Keep the Good

Simple carbs affect belly fat negatively, and complex carbohydrates help to cut down on the amount of belly fat you retain. Eliminate baked goods, candies and pastas, while adding lean meats, vegetables, whole grains and good fats like those found in avocados, olives and nuts to your diet. And remember that natural fruit juices are very high in fructose, one of the biggest carbohydrate culprits. Add reasonable exercise to this sensible nutrition plan, and you can limit the effect that your carbohydrate intake has on your belly fat.

You can find more “Belly Fat Success Tips” in our weight loss category found at http://myfitnessnut.com and while you’re they, be sure to subscribe to our monthly fitness newsletter and be kept up to date on the latest developments in the world of health and fitness.