Get rid of belly fat
These 12 tips really help
© siam.pukkato / Shutterstock
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.
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 may not even want to. for example on the buttocks or on the thighs. Nevertheless, you don’t have to bury your dream of a well-formed, flat stomach: With a targeted diet, certain exercises and discipline, it is basically already possible to get rid of belly fat.
Why is belly fat so unhealthy?
There are two types of adipose tissue:
- Subcutaneous fat: The subcutaneous fat refers to the subcutaneous fat 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 negative effects on us. For example, they cause increased blood pressure and increased insulin secretion, which can trigger inflammation. Therefore, the 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 not only an optical problem, but also a health problem.
Getting rid of belly fat: who actually does it affect?
Sounds strange, but: 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 the menopause, the production of estrogen 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 affect the metabolism, for example (e.g. hypothyroidism)
How Much Belly Fat is Too Much?
Through various studies, researchers have found which waist circumference can be harmful for 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, none of it helps: If your stomach is your problem area, you can’t avoid it, Adjust 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 (especially 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)
- and 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 get rid of belly fat. Basically, any kind of movement is good at first. It is important that you have fun doing it – that keeps your motivation high and unfortunately nothing works without regular exercises. A mixture of strength and endurance training is ideal so that different muscle groups are always used. Tip: try your hand at HIIT. The High Intense Interval Training really 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 build muscles and so burn belly fat. But training that involves the whole body is also useful. The following exercises, for example, are good:
- Burpees
- Plank
- Squats
- Sit-ups
- pushups
- Pelvic raises
- Crunches
More exercises and instructions, with which you can burn a lot of belly fat, for example, can be found in the articles Exercising Abdominal Muscles and Fast Abdominal Training.
In order for the new, well-formed abdominal muscles to really come into their own, a low percentage of body fat is essential. Which 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.
What role does stress play in overweight and belly fat
We probably 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 isn’t the only problem: When we are under stress, the hormone cortisol is released, which also supports the storage of belly fat.
Totally relaxed body thanks to yoga and co.
So that you can prevent this effect for more belly fat, you should definitely make sure to include periods of relaxation in everyday life. How exactly they look varies from person to person: Some people just want to curl up in a quiet corner with a book and read, while others prefer to sit down with their best friend for a chat. If you want to know what else can help, take a look at our article on reducing stress. Numerous studies also show that yoga, meditation and autogenic training are particularly effective against stress.
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, do without soft drinks at all – a fruit spritzer is allowed.
- 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 boost 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 do 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.
Getting Rid of Belly Fat: Beware of These Mistakes
Even if we take to heart various tips that should help us lose weight on the stomach and get our body in shape, sometimes it still doesn’t work out properly. So that you can really lose fat, you should avoid the following mistakes:
- While you are careful to eat healthily, you generally still eat too much: Losing fat and losing weight only works if you are consuming less energy than you are using. It is best to record everything you eat with the appropriate number of calories in a food diary.
- You eat after exercise: Often you have the feeling that you can treat yourself to something once you’ve got the training over with. Beware of this error! In the worst case, this will destroy the success of the training. 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 with each other and perform them alternately.
- You allow yourself too many exceptions: Today the cake that the colleague brought with her, tomorrow two cocktails on the 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 in advance as much as possible: If you know that a delicious meal with friends is due on Wednesday evening, you should perhaps better avoid the cake on Tuesday.
- Extra tip when things get tough: We explain here how you can get your cravings under control.
Would you like more help with losing weight? Then take a look at our articles Weight Loss Tips, Lose Weight Without Hunger or Lose Weight after Christmas.
If you want to talk to others about losing weight and eating healthily, we also recommend you take a look at ours BRIGITTE Community.