How to Quickly Lose Belly Flab

How to Quickly Lose Belly Flab
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Quickly losing belly flab involves more than just ab exercises. In fact, ab exercises will do very little for fat in your belly. The tried and true way to slim down your abdominal fat is by losing weight throughout your whole body. This means you have to be willing to change your lifestyle completely. The faster you want to accomplish this, the more disciplined you have to be.

Step 1

Follow stricter eating habits. Wean out foods in your diet that are high in saturated fat, sugar and sodium like processed meats, deep fried onion rings, cupcakes, candy bars and cheeseburgers. Include more low energy-density foods like fruits, vegetables, greens and whole grains. According to MayoClinic.com, these foods take up a lot of volume but are low in calories.

Step 2

Reduce your daily caloric intake by 1,000 calories. This will cause you to lose about 2 lbs. a week, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Determine your current daily intake by tracking your calories for a full day. Include both food and liquid calories when you do this.

Step 3

Drink a glass of water before every meal to fill up your belly. Replace all of your calorie-containing beverages with water to save yourself calories. The Institute of Medicine recommends that women get about 11 cups a day and men get about 15 a day.

Step 4

Eat healthy snacks in between your meals to prevent yourself from getting hungry. Snack on dried fruit and nuts, cheese sticks with raw vegetables or high-fiber granola bars. Make sure to keep these snacks small. All you want to do is take the edge off your hunger.

Step 5

Perform cardio to burn calories and further promote weight loss. Do any type of cardio that you enjoy like jogging, swimming, biking, step aerobics, jumping rope or kickboxing. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 60 to 90 minutes of cardio for weight loss. Work out three days a week on alternating days.

Step 6

Increase your muscle mass to reduce your belly flab. Focus on doing compound exercises that target more than one muscle at a time and cause you to contract your abs. Bench presses, shoulder presses, back rows, dips, squats and deadlifts are compound exercises that target all of your major muscle groups. Aim for three or four sets of 10 to 12 reps, and work out three days a week on noncardio days.

Step 7

Tighten your abdominals as you lose flab. Perform ab exercises from various angles to target as much of your midsection as possible. Hanging knee raises, alternating leg lifts, side crunches, Russian twists and sit-ups are exercises. Aim for three sets of 15 to 20 reps, and work your abs after your weight training sessions.

References

Article reviewed by JudithT Last updated on: Dec 23, 2010

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