How Belly Fat Develops
As you get older, youll need less calories to keep your body working well. Changes to your hormones during this time mean that youll start to lose muscle and gain fat. This makes it harder for you keep to a healthy weight, but its not impossible. In fact, people aged 65 and over are generally healthier than their ancestors and tend to live longer.
Although you cant escape the ageing process, when it comes to managing your weight there are other factors you can control. This includes your lifestyle habits, choices, and behaviours, and how active you are.
Regardless of your height or BMI, you should aim lose weight if:
- you are a man with a waist measurement of 94 cm or more,
- you are a woman with a waist measuring 80 cm or more.
And, your risk of serious health problems will greatly increase if:
- youre a man with a waist measurement of 102 cm .
- youre a woman, with a waist measuring higher than 88cm .
If your tummy weight is in the higher risk category, then see a doctor for some advice. You might also want to see if you can be referred to a dietitian. They can help you to develop a personal plan for a healthier lifestyle.
Mountain Climber Plank Exercises
Many different types of plank exercises can help with weight loss. Mountain climbers are one of the most popular.
These exercises are relatively easy to learn. To get started, you need to lower your body into a high plank position. Your wrists will need to be positioned directly beneath your shoulders. Next, youll need to tighten your core and pull your stomach inwards. Once you are in this position, you will need to pull one of your knees towards your chest and then lower it back to your original position. Youll need to alternate sides and keep repeating this pattern.
Before starting this exercise, you will want to familiarize yourself with different plank positions. In addition, you need to keep your form correct to avoid placing too much stress on your back, wrists and elbows.
Swap Ketchup For Salsa
Sure, ketchup is tasty, but it’s also a serious saboteur when it comes to your weight loss efforts. Ketchup is loaded with sugar up to four grams per tablespoon and bears little nutritional resemblance to the fruit from which it’s derived. Luckily, swapping out your ketchup for salsa can help you shave off that belly fat at home without a diet. Fresh tomatoes, like those used in salsa, are loaded with lycopene, which a study conducted at China Medical University in Taiwan links to reductions in both overall fat and waist circumference. If you like your salsa spicy, all the better the capsaicin in hot peppers, like jalapeños and chipotles, can boost your metabolism, too.
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How Much Body Fat Should You Have
The way in which women could and should lose belly fat is different to that of men. Women need somebelly fat to function fat cells store oestrogen, so having too little can cause your whole hormonal function to go out of whack, causing serious health issues such as irregular periods and even infertility.
To that end, striving to lose fat from your stomach with the aim of getting a six-pack, for most females, wouldn’t be healthy. Instead, aim to sit within the 21-30% body fat category. This is what’s considered a healthy body fat percentage range for women.
Exercise 3 30 Seconds Of Mountain Climbers
Youll start in a plank position, what looks like a high push-up with your arms fully extended. Remember to keep your core muscles tight as you do these movements.
- Begin in a pushup position on the hands and toes
- Bring the right knee in towards the chest, resting the foot on the floor
- Jump up and switch feet in the air, bringing the left foot in and the right foot
- Continue alternating the feet as fast as you can
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Increase Protein In Your Diet
Protein can be a helpful way to lose weight because it makes you feel fuller than carbs and fat do. By including a lean source of protein in your meals you may find that youre not as hungry, and so eat less.
Make sure you include protein with each meal. Good sources include:
Good plant based sources include:
And remember that a portion of protein is about as big as the palm of your hand.
Go for foods that are rich in protein and low in fat. These are known as lean sources as some sources of protein can be high in saturated fat. Alternatively, there are lots of protein products on the market, such as supplements and powders. But if you decide to use these make sure you have a trained dietitian or nutritionist supervising your diet.
Look At The Quality Of Your Sleep
Dont underestimate the power of a good nights sleep, too. Yes, it can help combat under-eye bags but, according to the University of Leeds, adults who get more than six hours of sleep per night are likely to carry 3cm less around their waist.
Head to bed earlier and follow the WHhow to get to sleep guide to ensure a lack of shut-eye doesnt hold you back from losing belly fat.
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Effective Tips To Lose Belly Fat
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Belly fat is more than a nuisance that makes your clothes feel tight.
Its seriously harmful.
One type of belly fat referred to as visceral fat is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other conditions .
Many health organizations use body mass index to classify weight and predict the risk of metabolic disease.
However, this is misleading, as people with excess belly fat are at an increased risk even if they look thin .
Though losing fat from this area can be difficult, there are several things you can do to reduce excess abdominal fat.
Here are 19 effective tips to lose belly fat, backed by scientific studies.
What Is Belly Fat
Not all belly fat is created equal. The fat just under the skincalled subcutaneous fatis what causes that bulge over your waistband. You may not like the way it looks, but its less dangerous than visceral fat, which resides deep in the abdominal area and is associated with heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
It is metabolically active fat and secretes different hormones than other fat, says Dr. Kroll. Because of its location close to the portal vein, the main vein where everything that goes through our intestines is absorbed, it has a significant effect on our metabolism.
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People with higher levels of visceral fat are more likely to suffer from a variety of conditions, including high blood pressure and colorectal cancer. Abdominal fat can release more inflammatory cytokines into the bloodstream, so if someone with a lot of visceral fat were to have a heart attack or stroke, more damage could occur, says Dr. Kroll. In a pro-inflammatory state, theres also more chance for a blood clot to form as the result of a small injury, increasing the risk of blood clots and strokes.
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Best Exercises To Lose Belly Fat For Men
There are many exercises to choose from for males, but it is best to start with the best six exercises below that will yield huge payoffs: fewer injuries and more muscle.
=> Also have a look on our exercices list to lose weight and top 2020 weight loss apps.
Here are six exercises for men to consider that dont require any equipment :
How To Lose Belly Fat With Exercise
High-Intensity Interval Training workouts are a much more effective way to target your belly fat. Studies have found its more effective for fat burning around the abdominal area . It will also increase your heart rate and boost your overall fat burning.
This meta-analysis in the Journal of Obesity found High-Intensity Interval Training to be more effective for losing belly fat . The exercises below are effective at burning stomach fat as their cause and Afterburn Effect in your body.
This is when your body continues to keep burning fat well after you finish the workout. This will allow you to burn more fat not only off your belly but from the rest of your body as well.
Its known as the EPOC aka Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption. Studies have found it can cause your body to burn fat up to 48 hours after you finished your workout .
Slow-go traditional cardio isnt the best method to burn off your belly fat. Instead, use a High-Intensity Training Workout along with the exercises below. Traditional cardio works okay for losing visceral belly fat, but the methods below are much more effective .
Make sure you stay consistent with the exercises below to ensure you keep your belly fat off. This study found those who kept exercising better were prevented from regaining the belly fat that they had lost . Consistency is key!
To shred stomach fat fast youre going to have to increase the intensity of your exercises. The belly burning exercises below will do the trick.
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How Do You Measure Whether You’re Losing Belly Fat
There are a number of ways to see if your body is changing in the way you’re working towards but some aren’t as reliable as others.
‘Remember that scales dont take into account muscle mass so the best way to check your progress is by taking pictures,’ explains Belalij. ‘Take them in the morning under the same lighting and compare your physique each week. If you check your belly in the mirror every day, chances are you wont notice any differences, which could be disheartening.’If you do prefer to go by numbers, invest in a set of smart scales but only weigh yourself once a week.
Other options include using a tape measure to check your waist size and picking a favourite pair of jeans, trousers or a dress and gauging any differences in the way they fit. Callipers are far less reliable and can be prone to human error.
Why Youre Not Losing Belly Fat
The usual reason why people arent able to burn stomach fat is that theyre just focused on weight loss. If you just lose weight then youll also be losing muscle mass which wont change your body fat percentage.
When most are trying to get rid of their belly they focus mostly on cardio exercises like running, walking, biking, etc. And this is good too but youre not really going to be moving the needle when it comes to improving your body composition. Your body composition is your ratio of muscle to fat.
As you lose weight youll also be lowering your muscle mass unless youre strength training. This can result in you becoming skinny fat. This is when you appear to be thin but actually have high body fat. This is why you see some people that look skinny but actually still have a potbelly.
The best way to lose your belly pooch with exercise is to focus on those that are going to burn more calories while adding lean muscle. If you just do cardio workouts then this is going to be really hard to do. You should at the very least be adding in these belly fat burning exercises too.
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Consume A Combo Of Calcium And Vitamin D
Say cheese! Adding some extra calcium and vitamin D to your diet could be the best way to get the flat stomach you’ve been dreaming about. Over just 12 months, researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville found that obese female study subjects who upped their calcium intake shed 11 pounds of body fat without other major dietary modifications. To keep your calcium choices healthy, try mixing it up between dairy sources, calcium-rich leafy greens, fatty fish, nuts, and seeds.
Take A Pass On Sodas And Juices
Sodas and juices can be sneaky sources of calories, Gans says, and they dont fill you up. If you cut back on your source of excess calories, wherever they may be coming from, that will help you lose weight, she says. While most people are aware that sodas are often liquid sugar, juices tend to have a health halo that isnt accurate, Cording says. When you drink juice, it doesnt have the same fiber as youd get by actually eating a piece of fruit that will slow down digestion, she explains. It hits the bloodstream really quickly and you can have a blood sugar crash afterward. Weeding out these drinks from your diet will help cut out these excess calorie sources and regulate your blood sugar, she says.
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Which Foods Burn Belly Fat
If you want to reduce your belly fat, you will need to burn more energy and eat the right kinds of food. Make sure you eat a balanced diet. Try and include the following:
- At least five portions of fruits and vegetables per day
- Choose high fibre starchy foods such as oats, brown rice and wholegrain breads.
- Reduced fat dairy or soya drinks fortified in calcium
- Beans, pulses, fish, and eggs
- Eat small amounts of unsaturated fats such as olive oil
- Drink six to eight glasses of water each day
Finally, cut out sports drinks, sugar sweetened drinks and other foods that have a lot of added sugar in them. Avoid adding salt or sugar to your meals. Be aware that low-fat options might have high amounts of added sugar in them.
To Do A Basic Bodyweight Squat:
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Tips For Turning Fat Into Muscle
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Shop In Perimeter Aisles At The Market
The outside perimeter of the grocery store is where, typically, you find the produce department, the seafood, meat, eggs and dairy. The inner isles are usually where you find all the processed food that will increase your insulin levels and calorie intake.
Some items in the inner aisle you should look for, however, are rice, quinoa and nuts.
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Add Some Acidic Foods
Don’t buy your tickets to Bonnaroo just yet the kind of acid that will help you slim down is the stuff right inside your cabinet. A 12-week study published in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry revealed that obese study subjects who made vinegar part of their diet dropped more belly fat than a control group, and other research suggests that acidic foods, like vinegar, can increase the human carbohydrate metabolism by as much as 40%.
The Best Dumbbells To Use
This training plan shows how much you can achieve with just a set of dumbbells, and its certainly going to be more convenient to pick up a set for your home rather than heading to a gym to complete the workouts. We have an extensive round-up of the best dumbbells you can buy for your home, but there are few pairs we think are worth highlighting for this particular workout plan.
Thats because the renegade row exercise pops up in two sessions where you have to support yourself in the press-up position while holding dumbbells. Anyone who has ever done a renegade row will know that a dumbbell with a flat side makes the move far easier because it provides a more stable base than a round dumbbell. The York rubber hex dumbbells fit the bill, and give you a wide range of weights to pick from. If youve spent some time in the gym youll know what kind of weight suits you, although wed err on the side of lighter because youre doing 30-odd minutes of exercise with minimal rest the final round is going to feel a lot tougher than the first. If you can afford them, selectorized dumbbells like this PowerBlock set are even better because they offer eight levels of weight from 1.8-14.5kg.
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