You might refer to it as "love handles or your "spare tire" --- the ring of belly fat around your middle that never seems to go away. The solution isn't found in any single diet or exercise method; instead, it's a healthy combination of the right foods, a reduced-calorie diet and targeted exercise. Skip any one of these factors and you won't see results as quickly.
Hormones and Belly Fat
According to C.W. Randolph, Jr., M.D., and Genie James in "From Belly Fat to Belly Flat," your hormone levels may be adding to your love handles. A condition called "estrogen dominance" creates a hormone imbalance in both men and women when their bodies don't produce enough progesterone to balance the production of estrogen. Excess estrogen leads to an increase in body fat stored specifically around the abdomen. Randolph and James suggest eating foods that contain nutrients that reduce excess levels of estrogen, including citrus fruit, spinach, broccoli, oatmeal, beans, lentils, whole grains and flaxseed oil.
Counting Calories to Lose Belly Fat
The formula for losing weight is simple: burn more calories than you take in and you'll lose weight. If you take in 2,000 calories per day, for example, cutting that intake by 500 calories results in a weekly deficit of 3,500 calories, equivalent to 1 lb. In fact, Mayo Clinic nutritionist, Katherine Zeratsky, notes that eating fewer calories appears to kick-start weight loss faster than exercise.
Exercising to Lose Belly Fat
The more calories you burn through exercise, the more pounds you'll shed. Harvard Medical School calculated the number of calories burned in a number of popular gym and outdoor activities. The top-rated calorie burners at the gym include vigorous pedaling on a stationary bike, step aerobics and a session on the ski machine or elliptical trainer. Outside the gym, your best bets for calorie burn include running, bicycling, playing handball, swimming or rock climbing.
Targeted Ab Exercises
The American Council on Exercise studied a number of common ab exercises and rated them in terms of effectiveness in activating the upper abs, lower abs and obliques. In terms of home exercise equipment, study leader Dr. Peter Francis found that a simple medicine ball can be extremely effective. Doing crunches on top of a medicine ball activated the "most muscle activity in the obliques," the report notes. For best results, Francis recommends a daily 5-minute session of targeted ab exercises.
Healthy Weight Loss
Just as you didn't gain weight overnight, you shouldn't expect to lose it that quickly, either. The government's Weight-Control Information Network notes that losing weight at a rate of a half pound to 2 lbs. a week is likely to be healthy. If you lose 3 or more pounds per week, you may not be giving your body the calories and nutrients it needs to stay healthy, possibly resulting in complications such as gallstones and heart rhythm problems.
References
- "From Belly Fat to Belly Flat: How Your Hormones Are Adding Inches to Your Waistline and Subtracting Years from Your Life"; C.W. Randolph, Jr., M.D. and Genie James; 2008
- MayoClinic.com: Walking: Is It Enough for Weight Loss?
- Harvard Medical School: Calories Burned in 30 Minutes of Leisure and Routine Activities
- American Council on Exercise: New Study Puts the Crunch on Inefficient Ab Exercises
- WIN: Weight-Loss and Nutrition Myths
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