Belly Fat Reduction Tips

Reducing the size of your belly requires you to lose weight throughout your body. The concept of spot reduction appears to be a myth, according to the American Council on Exercise. Making positive lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise, will help you take inches off your waistline and the rest of your body. Just increase the calories you use each day and decrease the number of calories you consume.

Make Better Food Choices

Eating foods high in "empty" calories and fat content will only add inches to your waistline. When eating, you should focus on consuming more fruits and vegetables, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A 1-oz. bag of corn chips provides you with the same number of calories as one cup of fresh strawberries and one cup of carrots with 1/4 cup of low-calorie dip. By eating a fruit or vegetable for a snack, you reduce your calorie intake by 50 percent.

Eat Smaller Portions

While a serving size equals the amount of food listed on a food's nutrition label, a portion size equals how much of that food you actually eat, according to the Weight-Control Information Network. By reducing your portion size to equal that of a serving size, you will help yourself consume fewer calories and increase your ability to track your calorie intake. Other things that may help you reduce your portion sizes include using smaller dishes, preparing meals in advance, packaging food according to the recommended serving size, chewing your food more, eating more slowly and eating meals at regular intervals.

Increase Your Physical Activity Level

Your physical activity level reflects the amount of exercise you get on a daily basis. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that you get 30 minutes of moderately intense exercise on at least five days each week. If you do not have time to put in a standard 30-minute exercise session, such as aerobic dancing, brisk walking or cycling, you can break the 30 minutes into a few shorter sessions each day. Your exercise sessions can take the form of climbing the stairs instead of using the elevator, parking farther from your destination, push-mowing your lawn or even playing actively with your dog or children.

Perform Strength Training

You should try to perform eight to 10 strength training exercises for eight to 12 repetitions on at least two days of the week, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. Strengthening exercises that help train all the major muscle groups in your body and help tighten your abdominals include squats, lunges and dead lifts. The best exercises for initiating your abdominal muscles include the bicycle maneuver, captain's chair, exercise ball crunch, vertical leg crunch and reverse crunch, according to a study performed by the Biometrics Lab at San Diego University and commissioned by the American Council on Exercise.