How to Lose Stubborn Belly Fat Naturally
The Hidden Dangers of Belly Fat
For most of us losing stubborn belly fat is really difficult and personally, I have been fighting against the bulge for a few years. Here I'm going to share some things that have helped me along the way.
You will find advice from experts and personal tips from me. But before you embark on any plan to lose fat through diet or exercise please make sure that is the right thing to do and consult your doctor if you are unsure.
The experts say that belly fat could be the most dangerous type of fat that you could accumulate, and the most difficult one to remove. Belly fat, also called visceral or intra-abdominal fat, builds around your organs.
Linked as these are, to high levels of cholesterol, insulin, triglycerides and high blood pressure, they are instrumental in increasing your risk of contracting heart disease, stroke diabetes, and sometimes, even cancer, leading you to a greater risk of death.
The most dangerous aspect of this is, it is out of sight, and most of the time; we hardly know of the unseen extent of hidden belly fat, which you can accurately estimate only by CT or MRI scans. This explains why you put on weight around your waist, even when the other parts of the body look normal. Beware; you are in the process of accumulating lethal, toxic hidden fat.
Types of Belly Fat
We have two types of belly fat, resulting from junk food, sweets and overeating. They are:
a. The subcutaneous fat you find under the skin on the hips, thighs, buttocks and abdomen.
b. The visceral fat resides deep inside the vital organs like the lungs, heart, liver, etc, and in the pelvis, chest and abdomen. They are so deep you cannot see them visually.
The experts attribute the increase in body/belly fat to declining metabolism, resulting mainly from muscle mass decrease, hormone level changes and the reduced caloric need of the internal organs.
What Do You Think?
Why Are Fats Stored as Belly Fat?
Belly fat is really nothing but abdominal obesity, which they also clinically call, central obesity. When you consume junk food, sweets and carbonated soda, the accumulating fats find your belly as the most convenient dumping ground. This is why your belly, thighs and hips are the first to attract and keep the stubborn belly fat; leading to an ungainly waistline and necessitating you go for a higher pant size.
If you are trying to lose belly fat without exercise it can be achieved but bear in mind that is going to take you longer. Below you will find several options to get rid of belly fat naturally including foods, best drinks, effective treatments and exercises.
Lose Belly Fat with Fat Burning Foods
Experience has taught us that some foods play a great role in reducing the fat in general and belly fat, in particular.
a) With the right quantity of amino acid leucine, which helps to keep muscle mass during weight loss, Turkey, with its very low-calorie count is an excellent medium for driving metabolism and consequent fat reduction.
b) Peanuts help in fighting weight gain and retards blood sugar levels. Eat just a handful.
c) Low-fat yogurt is a strong source of calcium, which fights fat.
d) If you don't have time to cook, ready to eat breakfast cereals with high-fibber content is a top-notch slimming solution. Make sure the cereals are low in sugar.
e) Enova oil made from soy, and canola oil is a diglyceride fat that the body does not store as fats.
f) Berries, which are excellent roughage, contain high fibber of close to 3.5 to 8 grams per cup.
If you want to lose weight and fat in a healthy way have a look at Zero Belly Smoothies, a book with plenty of antioxidant smoothies that will speed up the metabolism and help your digestive system.
5 Drinks to to Speed Up Metabolism & Burn Fat
The following drinks will help you speed up the metabolism and burn fat faster when in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise. For better results drink them in the morning before breakfast. You can add water if the drinks are too thick.
1. 1 cup warm water + 1 spoon apple vinegar + 1 teaspoon cinnamon + 1 teaspoon honey.
2. Liquidize 4 carrots + 1 asparagus + 1 celery sprig.
3. Liquidize 1 grapefruit + half cup watermelon.
4. Liquidize half cup green cabbage + 2 broccoli florets + half cup spinach + 1 teaspoon spirulina.
5. Liquidize 2 oranges + 7 strawberries + 1 parsley sprig + 1 teaspoon honey.
11 Home Remedies & Tips to Lose Fat While Being Healthier
Let's have a look at some home remedies with the help of ingredients mostly available in your kitchen. Apart from being healthy, following these tips will help to boost the skin and delay wrinkles.
1) Remove all liver stressing food like excess carbohydrates, sugars, trans-foods and junk foods, from your diet altogether. A liver under pressure cannot metabolize fat.
2) Eating salmon or mackerel twice a week or consuming about six grams of omega fatty acid (best source fish-oil) is a great way to fight fat and boost the skin. Drizzle with lemon to enhance its benefits.
3) Intake of gamma and conjugated linoleic acid is a good way to target your belly fat. Include foods such as milk, eggs, grass-fed beef, seeds, nuts and green vegetables.
4) Ensure intake of monounsaturated fats, which are omega-9 fatty acids, which are ideal in your diet against the belly fat. Use olive oil or sunflower oil to cook your food.
5) Drinking lemon juice in hot water daily will enliven your liver to dissolve the fat. Want to speed up your metabolism? Add a pinch of cayenne pepper or a teaspoon of cinnamon to the lemon water.
6) Drinking 100%, cranberry and blueberry juice. Its organic acids, which play the part of enzymes, eat-up fatty deposits in the lymphatic system.
7) Drinking Dandelion tea is beneficial because it helps to detoxify the organism.
8) Drink green tea. Green tea has certain compounds, caffeine, catechins and theanine that help to accelerate the metabolism and burn fat.
9) Cinnamon speeds up the metabolism, so get into the habit of adding a teaspoon of cinnamon to herbal teas, porridge, cereals, smoothies, natural juices, etc
If you are looking to lose fat fast replace all sugar with honey. Also make a drink with warm water, one teaspoon of honey and a half teaspoon of cinnamon. Drink it every morning before breakfast and every night before bedtime. It also helps with sleeping problems.
10) Vegetable puree soup is one of the best ways to lose fat and pounds. This is one of my preferred methods to detoxify the body and lose weight at the same time. I always have it for dinner from Monday to Friday and have a break during the weekends. Is really healthy and effective, try it and you will be surprised.
11) Even if we don't give it the importance we should, sleep is considered a weapon against the flab because while we sleep the body is relaxed. Studies have shown that stress is a cause for weight gain.
5 Treatments to Lose Belly Fat Without Losing Weight
Fat cells store the body toxins, and over a period, these fats become hard and difficult to remove or burn. This toxic fat is difficult to eliminate easily as it is 10 times harder than the normal fat deposits. Fat loss in such cases directly relates to the removal of toxins. Although we know that shedding fat just from one part of the body is difficult, there are several treatments that will help to reduce fat from the belly as well as other parts of the body.
1- Body Massage
Get into the habit of having a daily massage, either by a massage therapist or by someone you know like a friend or family member. Massages are really effective to remove toxins from the body, improving a sluggish lymphatic system.
Another thing that works well is dry skin brushing. Massage the body with a dry brush before a shower to boost blood circulation, exfoliate and invigorate the skin, reduce cellulite and bloating and stimulate the lymphatic system.
2- Body Wraps
High quality body wraps,some of them treated with special mud and clay, play an important part in extracting the bad toxins and fat cells out of the skin. You can term this process as an instant inch loss, translating into a permanent and long-term weight loss. This detoxification process is sometimes imperative to remove the obstinate inches from your thighs, buttocks, arms and belly.
3- Ayurvedic Spices & Herbs
The ancient Hindu art of Ayurvedic Treatments has translated into an effective evolution of several supplements inducing for weight loss, especially belly fat. The Ayurveda doctors have proven the powers of the ancient fat burners like Curry Leaves, Cardamom, Trikatu, Cumin, Coriander, Fennel and Fenugreek to aid digestion.
4- Micro-current or Faradic Muscle Stimulation
I have to say this is one of my "secrets" to lose belly fat and tone the abdominal area. I started having these treatments at the beauty salon but ended up buying my own professional machine for two reasons.
1- The treatments were quite expensive because I needed many sessions to get rid of all the fat.
2- I wanted to be able to use the machine whenever I wanted and for a longer period of time.
The machine was expensive but I was lucky enough to receive it as a present from my husband. It was a big investment but I knew it will produce good results and save me money in the long run.
Faradic stimulation tightens the muscle in the body and helps you lose inches. The results can sometimes be seen right after the first treatment, depending on the intensity and time at which the machine has been set. But you will see better results after several treatments.
What I like more about having my own machine is that I can use it every time I need to lose few inches of my stomach, buttocks, waist or thighs. It is also beneficial for a myriad of health problems and even to prevent and minimize the "dreaded" cellulite.
There are other machines in the market for home use that work with micro-current or faradic stimulation. If you do your research you are sure to find one that will help you lose fat.
This kind of technology is also used to delay and diminish wrinkles so if you want to delay lines and boost your complexion check these top rated skin care devices for home use.
5- Cosmetic Surgery
This should be treated as a last option after having considered all the alternatives and of course under the recommendation of your doctor. Cosmetic surgery, in the normal course, includes liposuction and tummy tuck. Liposuction is a perfect surgical process for people near their ideal body weight and removes the fat lying in the stomach muscles. On the other hand, a tummy tuck involves a much more extensive procedure, which many patients would tend to decline.
3 Fat Burning Exercises
The hidden presence of belly fat is a pre-cursor for deep internal fat or visceral adiposity. These bad fats lead to chronic body conditions, necessitating its removal as a priority. Here are some of the most effective fat-burning exercises:
1- High-impact cardiovascular exercises such as jumping or running will help you burn more calories in less time. Jumping is also effective to stimulate the lymphatic system which in turn will help you lose fat. You will discover if running help you lose belly fat further below.
2- Interval training- Research shows that short high intensity workouts burn more calories that performing moderate exercise even if the sessions last longer. Interval training is the result of combining longer low intensity workouts with short high intensity workouts. This is one of the most effective ways to lose fat and weight fast.
3- Weights- Since fat is only burn within the muscles you should incorporate any form of exercise that uses weights. It doesn't have to be heavy weightlifting, a set of dumbbells will do.
3 Exercises Targeting the Abdominal Area
The following exercises are aimed to tone the abdominal area but the best results will be achieved when combining any type of cardiovascular exercise with specific exercises to target the abdominal area.
1- Front Squats: This squatting exercise is a great way of obliterating lower belly fat. The recommended course is 3 sets of 25 reps without muscle soreness.
2- Dumbbell Rows: The exercises work upon your laterals but have it gives good results for shedding your lower belly fat. The recommended course is 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
3- Reverse Crunch: Many consider this as the best exercise for the development of your abs and destruction of your lower belly fat.
For a great abdominal workout try Perfect Fitness Ab Carver Pro. It is designed to give an effective workout on abs and arms, strengthening the core muscles and sculpting your arms.
Running to Burn Calories and Keep Fit
Staying fit and healthy is critical to a peaceful way of life. Belly fat is a sign of unhealthy lifestyle and it could result from poor eating habits or a lack of exercise, and increases the risk of cardiovascular disorder. In women, it creates issues during menopause. Regular cardio exercise is the best way to burn out belly fat.
Running for 1 hour a day can burn 1000 calories, and it is indeed quite challenging to take it up a morning routine. A beginner can initially start running for 10 to 15 minimum a day and gradually increase it to 1 hour a day.
Consulting a doctor in advance would be a prudent step if you are thinking on taking up running.
Effective Running
Go for a good sports shoe that is comfortable and a well-fitted outfit that helps to absorb the sweat and allows the skin to breathe. A sweat band on the wrist will add comfort while running. Early morning running is advisable as you feel fresh and the air is less polluted.
To have a safe running, it is a good practice, to dedicate 10 to 15 minutes to warming up exercises. This prepares the body for the next vigorous physical activity. Even while winding up, you could follow simple relaxing breathing techniques and cool-down stretching, thereby leaving you fit and active in the rest of the day.
Best Running Shoes
Benefits of Running
Running and jogging both have health benefits. Heart and lung conditions improve with running. It further burns excess fat, improves sleep, strengthens muscles all over the body, including the belly and generally assists in prevailing over mental issues and even depression.
All running is beneficial but the speed of the run, and the longest has the direct effect on the fat and calorie burning issues.
Further, there is a relationship between the speed of the run and weight of the runner. The experts and figures compiled by the Mayo Clinic, estimate that, at 8 MPH a 123-pound woman, running 10 minutes could lose about 130 calories, whereas a 170-pound man would lose 150 calories. It is normally understood that at higher intensity, a runner will burn more total calories and fat and carbohydrate calories.
The specific question, does running burn belly fat can be answered in 2 ways. As a general calorie consuming activity, running does contribute to the burning of belly fat along with the rest of the fat, but needs supporting activities specifically to target the belly fat. Patience and well balanced diets with specific workouts are a must for effective loss of fat.
Any special exercises targeted specifically at the belly fat like simple crunches can tone the abdominal area, but remember any such exercise alone will no get rid of stubborn belly fat and must be always accompanied of cardiovascular exercises such as running.
In other words, running prepares your body for the changes in store, and along with a healthy planned diet, is an imperative prelude to belly workouts. Bear in mind that, without the initial running, the workouts will not be as effective.
© 2015 lovethisstuff
What's You Best Tip to Lose Fat?
lovethisstuff (author) from London on May 22, 2015:
Glad to help. Thanks for your comments!
DebMartin on May 21, 2015:
Wow. A very comprehensive and informative hub. Thanks!
thebrownbear on May 20, 2015:
Oh I love that you given me another reason why I should go for a massage more often! Thanks!