It is known that excessive belly fat is linked to many dangerous chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
Therefore, maintaining a trim midsection could not only make you look great but also help you live longer.
Kerry Stewart, Ed.D., director of Clinical and Research Physiology at Johns Hopkins, provides 8 tips to help people lose belly fat.
Do exercise regularly
Physical activity could help burn belly fat. This is because exercise reduces circulating levels of insulin and causes the liver to use up fatty acids, especially those nearby visceral fat deposits.
For most people, 30 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every day could be effective to lose belly fat.
Do strength training
Moderate strength training, such as weight lifting, could help build lean muscle mass.
These lean muscles could help people burn more calories each day.
Choose a low-carb diet
Recent research has shown that a low-carb diet is more effective in reducing belly fat than a low-fat diet.
For example, a Johns Hopkins study showed people on a low-carb diet lost an average of 10 pounds more than people on a low-fat diet—28.9 pounds versus 18.7 pounds.
Avoid highly processed foods
Most processed foods are high in trans fats, added sugar and added salt. These things can make it hard to lose weight.
Read food label carefully
Even healthy food sometimes contain too many unhealthy things. For instance, some low-fat yogurt is low in fat but high in sugar.
Some green salad dressings may contain lots of fat, salt, and calories.
Think a long-term eating plan, not a diet
A healthy diet works only when you can stick to eat. It can bring health benefits in the long run.
On the other hand, a short-term diet may help you lose weight but when you stop it, you may regain the weight.
Researchers recommend a low-carb eating plan, which can shifts your intake away from foods high in carbs and sugar and without much fiber, like bread, bagels, and sodas.
Focus on how your clothes fit, not the scale reading
If you build more muscles and lose more fat, the weight scale reading may not change much.
However, you will feel your pants become loose. That’s a better mark of progress.
For women, a healthy waistline is less than 35 inches. For men, the number is less than 40 inches.
Stay with people who care about the health
When you stay with family members and friends who care about health, you are more likely to have healthy lifestyle habits.
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