So you want to get rid of that stubborn belly fat? For
years people have jumped from one fad diet to the next, but when does it end?
Burning stubborn belly fat doesn't have to be rocket science. If you follow
these steps, I will GUARANTEE you'll lose that belly fat quick!
Most people think that you can lose belly fat by doing
sit ups. This just isn't the case and the truth is that it starts and ends in
the kitchen. Without proper diet, you'll be wasting your time and it'll be like
trying to put out a fire with gasoline.
Below I will outline some good steps to take to start
your journey on weight loss. It isn't just to reduce belly fat, it is to reduce
the overall fat content of your body. Once we kick start that process, the rest
will follow.
How to reduce belly fat:
Step 1: Understanding weight loss.
In order to reach the goal that you want you have to
understand what to do, and then go do it. This is the formula for success. The
first part of course is to educate yourself on what needs to be done. You're
already on that part of the journey seeing as how you stumbled across this
article.
Our bodies work like a computer. You download more games,
software, movies and your computer begins to collect all of this information
and memory is used. However, it is now running slower and not as good as when
you first got it. Why? It's because its clogged with useless information,
taking up a lot of memory. If you start to delete some of the memory the computer
will start to run faster and more efficient.
Our bodies, like computers, collect "memory" or
really, calories from food. Our food gives us the energy to keep going on a
daily basis. When you overeat and clutter your body with unneeded energy, it
saves some for later because its already got enough to run on. When you do
this, you gain weight. However, on the flip side if we take away some
energy(calories) our bodies will start to burn what it has already for its dose
of energy.
So, now that we got through that let's start putting it
to good use.
Step 2: Find out how many calories(energy) your body
needs to stay at the weight you are.
This is such an important step because it is the
foundation for the diet that we will create for ourselves. To find out how many
calories you need, simply conduct a Google search with the phrase "daily
calorie maintenance calculator" and many free options will come up. Pick
one and start to enter your information (height, weight, activity level) so
that the calculator can tell you how much you need.
Great, once you have that its time to put everything
together. So, let's say that you're 6'1 ft weight at 210 lbs. The calculator
told you that you need about 2,300 calories a day to stay where you are. We are
going to cut 20-30% from this number to lose weight. That's about 460 calories.
So, if we cut 460 calories from 2,300 we can GUARANTEE weight loss, it's that
simple.
Step 3: Sign up to a calorie tracking website.
The beauty of these websites is that they are completely
free and offer such great communities for people to come together to accomplish
the common goal of losing weight. Two examples include myfitnesspal and
caloriecount. When you sign up, you enter your information and they set you up
with how many calories you have to burn each day and you go on from there.
You enter in the food you ate for the day and it tells
you all the nutritional values as well as how many calories you have left
remaining for the day. This is crucial because if you're able to maintain a
calorie deficit, you WILL lose weight. This is science! It is fact!
These websites also have such an encouraging community
whose main focus is the same as yours! You already have something in common
with everyone so why not make friends and make this journey that much better.
Step 4: What to eat?
The biggest question of them all. You aren't going to
believe what I'm going to say but I assure you that science will never let you
down. You can eat... WHATEVER you want. That's right. I said it.
Now, let's not get carried away. Do you think that eating
10 slices of pizza a day will help you lose weight? Of course not. You have to
always be thinking in terms of how many calories you have that day. Let's say
you have a very light breakfast and lunch. You come home from work and haven
eaten anything. You estimate you have about 1200 calories left. There's a lot
of leeway here and you can basically eat anything you want in moderation.
Even if you grab 2 slices of pizza ~400 calories, you'll
still be losing weight for that day because you have created a large enough
deficit for this to happen. It's not rocket science people!
Step 5: How often to eat?
There is a huge myth about eating every 3 hours and
keeping your metabolism high. This is true and if you do eat every 3 hours more
power to you. However, today in our busy lives we're lucky if we get to sit
down for 3 meals a day.
Don't stress over WHEN to eat, stress over about WHAT to
eat and HOW MUCH.
Remember, anything in moderation is fine and as long as
you're keeping with your calories goal, you'll be on your way to a slimmer you.
Another myth is that eating at night will make you gain
more weight. This couldn't be more wrong! Eating at night is just like eating
at any other time in the day. Also, if you find yourself getting home at night
with 1000+ calories left for the day don't starve yourself because you think
eating at night is bad. Grab a few healthy snacks and always remember to keep
track of your calories no matter what!
Step 6: Water, water, water
Drink Water! And plenty of it! Sometimes our bodies think
that we're hungry when in reality we're just really dehydrated. Water is the
life fuel of planet earth. If we ran out of water, we wouldn't last for more
than a month, tops.
Instead of drinking extra calories, replace any soft
drink in your diet with water. You'll be amazed at how effective this is at
cutting weight. If you drink a can of soda a day, you'll be taking in about 200
calories a day roughly. If you multiply that by 30 days, you'll get a little
over 3,500 calories... a pound of fat! So, if you start by eliminating that
soda, you'll be saving a pound of fat a month. Not bad at all.
Step 7: Lift Weights
Yes, you knew this was coming. Lifting weights isn't
absolutely necessary for burning belly fat, but it makes it THAT much quicker.
It is known that a pound of muscle burns more calories than a pound of fat,
even when you're sitting down or sleeping. That being said, the more muscle you
have in your body, the more calories you'll be burning, doing NOTHING.
How awesome is that? Also, whenever you work out you'll
be burning tons of calories that will actually let you eat a little more of
what you want to. You won't have to be too picky about what to eat because
you'll know that you'll just burn those calories off.
The calorie count websites that I mentioned earlier all
have calculators that let you log what you worked out and for how long. In
turn, they'll tell you how many calories you burned and they'll add that to how
many calories you have left for the day. Don't skip out on weights if you have
access to them. Not only will they help you lose weight, your body will look
much better once you've lost it.
Step 8: Cardio!
Cardio should be in everyone's fitness schedule. It is so
good for your heart health and also great for losing weight. If you add only
20-30 minutes of cardio a day, you'll have such an easier time losing weight.
Some types of cardio include walking, running, the
elliptical, biking, etc. Don't be afraid to mix it up because it keeps your
body guessing. Cardio is also good because it puts your body into a mode where
it'll keep burning calories well after you're done with your work out.
One of my favorite cardio workouts is actually jump
roping. This easy to do workout burns TONS of calories and its actually FUN! A
jump rope session of about 20-30 min can easily burn 400+ calories.
Step 9: Take pictures and toss out your scale!
Get rid of that scale. Your weight is going to fluctuate
on a daily basis and if we have a scale nearby we're going to want to see our
results. Well, if you don't have a scale how can you see results? Pictures.
Pictures are great because they remind you of the
progress and you can see it visually. Once you see your progress you'll stay
focused and motivated. It gives you the confidence that what you're doing IS
working.
The trick is to not take pictures too often. Try to take
1 every 2 weeks. Every 2 weeks take a picture and track your results. You'll be
surprised to see how much your body changes in 2 weeks. Once you see that first
picture and you notice subtle changes you'll start to get excited and don't be
surprised if you increase your cardio or workout. That's what motivation does.
Step 10: Never give up!
This is the last step, and the most crucial. Many people
give up because you don't lose weight overnight. It just isn't possible. You
need patience and perseverance to keep consistent. You have to have faith that
its working because if you don't, you'll go back to your old overeating habits.
The key is motivation and if you stay motivated daily,
you'll realize that each day is one step closer to your goal. If you REALLY
want to lose weight you HAVE to put the time and dedication in. Don't take 2
steps forward and 5 steps back. Take 2 baby steps forward every day and soon
you'll arrive at your destination.
If you follow these 10 basic steps, you'll definitely
lose weight. No matter how long it takes, remember that if you take it one day
at a time, you'll get there. Weight loss isn't rocket science, it is BASIC
science.
If you get only one thing from this article, remember
that it is calories in vs calories out. This is gold! Keep your calories at a
deficit and you'll see the weight loss you've always been dreaming about. Good
luck on your journey!
Losing weight REALLY is SIMPLE. However, you have to know
what you're doing or you'll be stuck in the same place.