How To Lose Belly Fat

Surprise: Everyone has some belly fat, even people who have flat abs.

That's normal. But too much belly fat can affect your health in a way that other fat doesn't.

Some of your fat is right under your skin. Other fat is deeper inside, around your heart, lungs, liver, and other organs.

It's that deeper fat -- called "visceral" fat -- that may be the bigger problem, even for thin people.

Deep Belly Fat

You need some visceral fat. It provides cushioning around your organs.

But if you have too much of it, you may be more likely to get high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia, and certain cancers, including breast cancer and colon cancer.

The fat doesn't just sit there. It's an active part of your body, making "lots of nasty substances," says Kristen Hairston, MD, assistant professor of endocrinology and metabolism at Wake Forest School of Medicine.

If you gain too much weight, your body starts to store your fat in unusual places.

With increasing obesity, you have people whose regular areas to store fat are so full that the fat is deposited into the organs and around the heart, says Carol Shively, PhD, professor of pathology-comparative medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine.

How Much Belly Fat Do You Have?

The most precise way to determine how much visceral fat you have is to get a CT scan or MRI. But there's a much simpler, low-cost way to check.

Get a measuring tape, wrap it around your waist at your belly button, and check your girth. Do it while you're standing up, and make sure the tape measure is level.

For your health's sake, you want your waist size to be less than 35 inches if you're a woman and less than 40 inches if you're a man.

Having a "pear shape" -- bigger hips and thighs -- is considered safer than an "apple shape," which describes a wider waistline.

“What we’re really pointing to with the apple versus pear,” Hairston says, "is that, if you have more abdominal fat, it’s probably an indicator that you have more visceral fat."

Thin People Have It, Too

Even if you're thin, you can still have too much visceral fat.

How much you have is partly about your genes, and partly about your lifestyle, especially how active you are.

Visceral fat likes inactivity. In one study, thin people who watched their diets but didn't exercise were more likely to have too much visceral fat.

The key is to be active, no matter what size you are.

4 Steps for Beating Belly Fat

There are four keys to controlling belly fat: exercise, diet, sleep, and stress management.

1. Exercise: Vigorous exercise trims all your fat, including visceral fat.

Get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least 5 days a week. Walking counts, as long as it's brisk enough that you work up a sweat and breathe harder, with your heart rate faster than usual.

To get the same results in half the time, step up your pace and get vigorous exercise -- like jogging or walking. You'd need to do that for 20 minutes a day, 4 days a week.

Jog, if you're already fit, or walk briskly at an incline on a treadmill if you're not ready for jogging. Vigorous workouts on stationary bikes and elliptical or rowing machines are also effective, says Duke researcher Cris Slentz, PhD.

Moderate activity -- raising your heart rate for 30 minutes at least three times per week -- also helps. It slows down how much visceral fat you gain. But to torch visceral fat, your workouts may need to be stepped up.

“Rake leaves, walk, garden, go to Zumba, play soccer with your kids. It doesn’t have to be in the gym,” Hairston says.

If you are not active now, it's a good idea to check with your health care provider before starting a new fitness program.

2. Diet: There is no magic diet for belly fat. But when you lose weight on any diet, belly fat usually goes first.

Getting enough fiber can help. Hairston’s research shows that people who eat 10 grams of soluble fiber per day -- without any other diet changes -- build up less visceral fat over time than others. That’s as simple as eating two small apples, a cup of green peas, or a half-cup of pinto beans.

“Even if you kept everything else the same but switched to a higher-fiber bread, you might be able to better maintain your weight over time,” Hairston says.

Top 7 foods to reduce belly fat

A bloated stomach not only hampers your personality but also makes you uncomfortable. We share a list of food that aids in getting a flat stomach.

Almonds: This tiny food is not only rich in skin-boosting vitamin E and protein, but their richness in fiber content helps you to stay full for a longer duration. Even though they are slightly high in calories but that will not contribute to belly fat, so keep swapping a handful of almonds as snacks to curb your hunger. 

Apples: Apples are packed with fiber, which makes your belly feel full. Thus, avoiding over eating; besides it also fills your body with maximum nutrients.

 fat

Avocado: This is a truly magic fruit, due to their richness in various vital nutrients. Avocado is rich in fiber, which helps to keep hunger at bay and the presence of monounsaturated fatty acids helps to burn belly fat easily.

Cucumber: Cucumber is an extremely refreshing and low-calorie food. They contain approximately 96 percent water content, which makes it a cooling food. One full cucumber contains just 45 calories, making it sexy stomach food.

Green leafy vegetable: Want to get a flat tummy instantly? Then fill for plate with green leafy vegetables. All types of green leafy vegetables are extremely low in calories, full of fiber and offer several vital vitamins and minerals that help to ease water retention without causing the bloating and tummy discomfort.

Beans: Consuming beans on a regular basis helps to get rid of the body fat, develop body muscles and improves digestion. Beans also help to feel full for a longer duration, thus avoiding over indulgence. Add beans to your diet, if you want your middle to be sexy and firm.

Watermelon: The name says it all - this giant fruit contains 82 percent water, which helps to keep you full for a longer duration and also removes excess sodium present in the body. This super sweet fruit, is also rich in vitamin C and contains barely 100 calories in one cup. So start eating this delicious fruit as a snack, if you wish to have a body like your favourite celeb.

Growing older is inevitable, but looking your age is not- and slashing years off your ageing body starts with eating the right foods. A healthy diet loaded with lean protein and whole grains will allow you to retain muscle tone but lose excess fat as you age, while plenty of antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies will help stave off those wrinkles. 

Say yes to whole grains: The waistlines of middle-aged people who ate white bread and other white carbohydrates expanded three times more than those who ate whole meal foods, according to an American research.

See fish as your ally: Fish is a great source of the protein leptin, which acts like a hormone in the body and controls your appetite so you don't overeat. Oily fish such as salmon contains high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which are potent wrinkle-fighters at any age. In fact, the 'fish facelift diet' was created as a result of this.

Bacteria buddies: After you turn 35, levels of friendly gut bacteria drop significantly, leaving you at an increased risk of sluggish digestion and bloating. To combat this, have a probiotic drink or yoghurt every day.

Ditch the biscuit: For every decade you age once you turn 30, your body needs around one per cent fewer calories. The good news is you can easily drop these calories just by stopping your mid-morning biscuits or not having that extra slice of toast.

Go easy on the booze: Reduce your alcohol intake to a small glass of red wine with dinner at weekends only. Not only is booze brimming with calories, drinking too much alcohol dehydrates skin and can age you prematurely. 

Stop skipping meals: This is a habit women tend to hang on to all their life, but you can get away with it in your 20s. In your 30s and 40s, all those decades of emergency dieting will have slowed your metabolism down permanently, making it tough to stay slim. Never go without food for more than three hours. 

Slash your salt intake: Too much salt is bad for your body, as it causes water retention, leaving you heavy and sluggish. Besides, with age, the body's ability to shift excess fluid also slows down. Cutting down salt will decrease this bloating. Beware of hidden sources of salt — often found in ready meals, soups and bread. 

3. Sleep: Getting the right amount of shut-eye helps. In one study, people who got 6 to 7 hours of sleep per night gained less visceral fat over 5 years compared to those who slept 5 or fewer hours per night or 8 or more hours per night. Sleep may not have been the only thing that mattered -- but it was part of the picture.

4. Stress: Everyone has stress. How you handle it matters. The best things you can do include relaxing with friends and family, meditating, exercising to blow off steam, and getting counseling. That leaves you healthier and better prepared to make good choices for yourself.

“If you could only afford the time to do one of these things," Shively says, "exercise probably has the most immediate benefits, because it gets at both obesity and stress.”