Losing Excess Fat
Reduce your caloric intake. When it comes to losing weight, there is no way to spot-treat, or only lose weight from 1 part of the body at a time. If you want to lose belly fat, you will need to lose overall weight by reducing your caloric intake.
- Cut out about 500 to 750 calories daily from your diet. This small decrease in calories can help you lose about 1 to 1.5 pounds per week.
- Aiming to lose more weight than this per week is generally not advised by health professionals.
- Use a food journal or online tracker to get an idea of how many calories you currently eat daily. Subtract 500 to 750 from that total to get an idea of how many calories you should consume daily to result in moderate weight loss.
Focus mostly on protein, fruits and vegetables. Studies have shown that following a lower carbohydrate diet can not only help you lose weight quickly, but specifically decrease the amount of stomach fat you have.
- Fill up on 3 – 4 oz of lean protein at each meal (about the size of a deck of cards).
- Choose mostly non-starchy vegetables (like peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, cauliflower or lettuce) and aim for a serving or 2 at each meal. Have 1 to 2 cups of leafy greens.
- Eat 1 to 2 servings of fruit daily. Fruit contains natural sugars and should be eaten in correct portion sizes — 1/2 cup for most fruits or 1 medium piece.
- Examples of lower carb meals include: mixed green salad with raw vegetables, 5 oz of grilled chicken and an oil-based dressing, 1 cup greek yogurt with nuts and 1/2 cup of fruit, or grilled salmon with a small salad and steamed broccoli.
Limit grains. Foods like bread, rice and pasta can be a part of a healthy diet; however, these foods are significantly higher in carbohydrates than other foods. Limit these to help you stick to your lower calorie diet.
- Foods to limit include bread, rice, pasta, crackers, chips, tortillas, English muffins, etc.
- Limit portion sizes to 1 oz or 1/2 cup. Do not avoid grains altogether. Choose grains with lots of nutrition and that will keep you full, like quinoa or oatmeal.
- In addition, aim to choose 100% whole grain options. These foods are higher in fiber and other nutrients that are apart of a healthy diet.
Skip added sugars. Studies have shown that sugar (especially added sugar) is 1 of the main culprits in excess stomach fat Limit foods high in sugars.
- Added sugars are those that companies add to a product during the manufacturing process. For example, cookies or ice cream have added sugar, which you might expect, but items like crackers, juice, pasta sauce can also have a lot of added sugar.
- Natural sugar is not added and is contained naturally in foods. For example, fruit has some sugar, but it’s natural sugar. Foods with natural sugar are much better choices as they generally have more essential nutrients.[5]
- Get in the habit of reading food labels, and beware of hidden sugars in any packaged foods. Learn the different names for added sugar and note that there may be multiple forms of sugar added to 1 product.
- If you have a sweet tooth, choose healthy options like honey, dark chocolate, dried fruit, and Greek yogurt to satisfy your cravings.
Drink plenty of water. Staying hydrated is crucial to maintaining your body’s normal functions and studies have shown that drinking plenty of water can also help you shed pounds faster.
- This is partially due to the fact that water helps keep you full so that you eat less.
- Aim to drink at least 8 to 13 glasses of water per day. Drink 1 to 2 glasses before each meal to help curb your appetite and make you fuller faster.
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