Overweight does not necessarily equal unhealthy.
There are actually plenty of overweight people who are in excellent health.
Conversely, many normal weight people have the metabolic problems associated with.
That’s because the fat under the skin is actually
not that big of a problem (at least not from a health standpoint… it’s more of a cosmetic problem). It’s the fat in the abdominal cavity, the belly fat, that causes the biggest issue.
If you have a lot of excess fat around your waistline, even if you’re not very heavy, then you should take some steps to get rid of it.
Belly fat is usually estimated by measuring the circumference around your waist. This can easily be done at home with a simple tape measure. Anything above 40 inches (102 cm) in men and 35 inches (88 cm) in women, is known as abdominal obesity.
Here are 5 evidence-based ways to lose belly fat.
1. Don’t Eat Sugar… and Avoid Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Like The Plague
Added sugar is extremely unhealthy.
Studies show that it has uniquely harmful effects on metabolic health.
Sugar is half glucose, half fructose… and fructose can only be metabolized by the liver in any significant amount.
When you eat a lot of refined sugar, the liver gets
flooded with fructose, and is forced to turn it all into fat.
Numerous studies have shown that excess sugar, mostly due to the large amounts of fructose, can lead to increased accumulation of fat in the belly.
Studies show that sugar-sweetened beverages are linked to a 60% increased risk of obesity in children… per
each daily serving.
Make a decision to minimize the amount of sugar in your diet, and consider
completely eliminatingsugary drinks.
Bottom Line: Excess sugar consumption may be the primary driver of belly fat accumulation, especially sugary beverages like soft drinks and fruit juices.
2. Eating More Protein May be The Best Long-Term Strategy to Reduce Belly Fat
Protein is the most important macronutrient when it comes to losing weight.
It has been shown to reduce cravings by 60%, boost metabolism by 80-100 calories per day and help you eat up to 441 fewer calories per day.
If weight loss is your goal, then adding protein to your diet is perhaps the
single most effective change you can do.
Not only will it help you lose… it can also help you avoid re-gaining weight if you ever decide to abandon your weight loss efforts.
Bottom Line: Eating enough protein is a very effective way to lose weight. Some studies suggest that protein is particularly effective against belly fat accumulation.
3. Eat Foods Rich in Fiber… Especially Viscous Fiber
Dietary fiber is mostly indigestible plant matter.
It is often claimed that eating plenty of fiber can help with weight loss.
What this implies, is that soluble fiber may be particularly effective at reducing the harmful belly fat.
The best way to get more fiber is to eat a lot of plant foods like vegetables and fruit. Legumes are also a good source, as well as some cereals like oats.
Then you could also try taking a fiber supplement like glucomannan. This is one of the most viscous dietary fibers in existence, and has been shown to cause weight loss in many studies.
Bottom Line: There is some evidence that soluble dietary fiber may lead to reduced amounts of belly fat, which should cause major improvements in metabolic health.
4. Aerobic Exercise is Very Effective at Reducing Belly Fat
Exercise is important for various reasons.
It is among the best things you can do if you want to live a long, healthy life and avoid disease.
Getting into all of the amazing health benefits of exercise
is beyond the scope of this article, but exercise does appears to be effective at reducing belly fat.
However… keep in mind that I’m not talking about abdominal exercises here. Aerobic exercise (like walking, running, swimming, etc) has been shown to cause major reductions in belly fat in numerous studies.
Another study found that exercise completely prevented people from re-gaining abdominal fat after weight loss, implying that exercise is particularly important during weight maintenanc.
Bottom Line: Exercise can be very effective if you are trying to lose belly fat. Exercise also has a number of other health benefits.
5. Track Your Foods and Figure Out Exactly What and How Much You Are Eating
What you eat is important. Pretty much everyone knows this.
However… surprisingly, most people actually
don’t have a cluewhat they are really eating.
I think that for anyone who
truly wants to optimize their diet, tracking things for a while is absolutely essential.
It doesn’t mean you need to weigh and measure everything for the rest of your life, but doing it every now and then for a few days in a row can help you realize where you need to make changes.
If you want to boost your protein intake to 25-30% of calories, as recommended above, just eating more protein rich foods won’t cut it. You need to actually measure and fine tune in order to reach that goal.
