A QUESTION I’M ASKED ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS IS HOW TO GET RID OF BELLY FAT?
THE TRUTH IS, THE TUMMY AREA IS ONE OF THE HARDEST PLACES TO LOSE WEIGHT AND OFTEN TAKES THE LONGEST TO SEE A REDUCTION IN BODY FAT.
There isn't a single diet, exercise, or pill that can target any given specific area. Crunches, salad, and ab work won't cut it.
You may be tempted to try a low carb diet, maybe keto or some other trendy fad that's currently circling your social media, but think again. Have these diets ever been successful for you in the past? No doubt you've lost weight from them but have you been able to maintain your results? Probably not. Did you lose weight or did you lose body fat?
The stats for maintained weight post weight loss are pretty shocking. Roughly 90 percent of people who lose a lot of weight eventually regain just about all of it and in some cases, even more.
Most diets will cause a weight drop in the scale due to the significant reduction in calories, but how do you differentiate weight loss from fat loss? The two are very different and weight loss is not where you want to be! An easy example would be Keto, in the first 1-2 weeks most individuals drop a significant amount of weight, this is down to the fact that carbs hold 3g of water for each gram you eat. So of course, when these are cut down considerably, there is now a lot less water in the body causing the scale to drop. This is weight loss, not fat loss.
Most individuals don't consume enough protein in general let alone when trying to lose body fat. The trouble with this is that muscle is then lost. This is far from ideal as the more lean muscle mass we have the better condition the body is in and the more food we can eat and maintain our weight. Not only is muscle mass important for our long-term health but it's also what gives the body the ‘toned’ appearance we are all after and enables us to manipulate our natural shape by building on top of what we already have.
When trying to lose fat, we want to retain as much muscle as possible whilst getting rid of the body fat. This can be tracked with calipers or a body composition machine. Neither are 100% accurate but will act as a marker of progress. If your fat % is reducing, you're on the right track. If the scale is moving but the fat % isn't, then you potentially need to increase calories and adjust your carb to protein ratio.
BELOW ARE 10 EFFECTIVE TIPS TO GET YOU STARTED
TIP 1:
Aim to eat between 0.7-1g of protein per pound of bodyweight.
TIP 2:
Optimize your digestion and sleep. If both of these are in a good place, the body is in a good place to drop body fat. Take notice of your bowel movements and what foods cause inflammation. Cut or limit these foods. Consider taking a sleep supplement such as sleep stack, if you want to improve the quality of your sleep.
TIP 3:
Identify your personal triggers and barriers and have alternatives ready to take their place. EG if you know you binge eat protein bars when you have them at home, only buy them singularly so the temptation is not there.
TIP 4:
Track your food intake and your training so that you can easily make adjustments and continue progressing. Without data, we don't know if we are making progress or not.
TIP 5:
Ensure you are using your time in the gym effectively and consistently. A minimum of three strength-based sessions a week is a good place to start. Hire a personal trainer if you aren't familiar with weight training already.
TIP 6:
Regularly check your body fat % to ensure you aren't just losing muscle and water.
TIP 7:
Take photos and measurements so that you can identify progress off of the scales.
TIP 8:
Aim for PB’s (personal bests) regularly to keep you motivated and progressing towards something. Relying on motivation alone won't last.
TIP 9:
Record your training sessions so you can look back and check your form is correct. Remember, performing exercises safely and effectively is key to getting the results you want from them.
TIP 10:
Stick at it. Be patient, aim for 1-2 pounds of loss per week.