A lot of people are looking at their midsection and wondering how to reduce tummy fat. Many women find that even when they are lean and slender, they cannot totally rid their midsection of flabby skin. And they cannot figure out why.
For decades, we told people to work their abs over and over in order to make their stomachs smaller. We now know that you cannot spot reduce your body. Some of us are wired up in a manner that causes any weight gain we have to settle in certain spots.
However, if you really want to know how to reduce tummy fat, you can learn to drop it through your diet.
Foods that Reduce Tummy Fat
When your body has too much insulin, you will carry more weight around your midsection. Many women report that after hitting a certain age they will suddenly begin to get extra flab about their midsection after a lifetime of being more pear-shaped. “I’m losing my waist!” they cry.
Often this is due to having too much insulin in the bloodstream. How does that happen? When we eat foods with sugar in them—fruits, carbohydrates, sugary drinks, cookies, etc.—our bodies dump insulin into our bloodstreams. If it tastes sweet, then your body thinks it is sugar and releases insulin. Too much insulin in your body causes you to hold onto fat, which is largely stored around your midsection.
Another issue is that all that insulin in your bloodstream causes you to be hungry. Then you overeat, which isn’t helping your fat storage as well.
For this reason, you want to stick to healthy, whole foods. The cleaner your diet, the less insulin in your bloodstream, the less fat around your waist.
Many people who go on low to no carb diets often have a two-week phase at the onset of no carbs. They often report a sudden loss of weight around their stomach. The reason is simple. When you store insulin, your kidneys start to retain sodium and water—partly out of confusion and trying to correct this imbalance. When you abruptly remove those foods which drive up your insulin levels, the kidneys release all that. It is like having your kidneys wrung out like a sponge.
Opt for lean meats, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts. Healthy fats like avocados and olives will help. And what fruits you do eat should be low on the glycemic index so as to avoid an insulin dump.
If you cannot bring yourself to give up caffeine, switch to green tea instead of coffee. The tea contains enough caffeine to perk you up, plus phytonutrients that provide a host of other health benefits, including a faster metabolism!
When you know how to eat, you know how to reduce tummy fat. Tummy fat often comes from your diet. So the best way to solve it is through your diet.
Exercises that Reduce Tummy Fat
Diet is one side of the weight loss equation. The other way that will show you how to reduce tummy fat is exercise. This helps keep those insulin levels low. It doesn’t have to be fancy. A brisk walk for thirty minutes, 3 times a week will do the trick. You don’t have to run for hours or crunch hundreds of times. For example, you might work your arms and shoulders on Monday, your abs and core on Wednesday, and your legs and lower body on Friday.
Start each day with breakfast so your insulin doesn’t get out of whack. Always eat your whole grains and fruits with protein. Eat the protein first so the stomach gets busy digesting that. This way when the glucose hits your system, there won’t be a big burst of insulin.
While it is not possible just targeting your abdominal fat, cardio and strength training will help you reduce your overall body fat percentage. You can also do exercises that isolate your abdominal muscles, giving you a shapely six-pack that will emerge as soon as the extra fat is gone.
Take time in between sessions to rest, and always stay hydrated! Your body won’t burn fat as efficiently if you don’t drink enough fluids. Aim for 64 ounces of pure water daily, or as much as 1 ounce per pound of body weight.
When you know how to eat and exercise properly, how to reduce tummy fat becomes a backburner issue that will take care of itself.