Losing weight can seem laborious as it can require a lot of effort. To execute a successful plan, you need to change many of your lifestyle habits, including the type of food that makes up your meals, the amount of food that you consume in a day and your activity and exercise level. Once you start losing the weight, you’ll most likely find that your stomach is flatter and that you feel healthier, fitter and have an abundance of energy.
Minimal Calories
Losing weight is a simple equation of burning more calories than you consume. However, severely reducing your calories and eating too little can backfire and cause adverse effects such as slowing down your metabolism, fatigue and a breakdown of discipline due to hunger. The University of Maryland recommends that, minimally, women should eat 1,200 calories per day and men should not drop below 1,400.
Long-Term Success
Losing weight slowly will lead to greater long-term success than employing the use of a fad diet. Most quick fix eating plans work by either severely cutting calories or eliminating entire food groups and are not realistically sustainable for long periods of time. Plus, the weight usually lost on these plans is water weight and will be quickly gained back once you resume normal eating. Prepare to lose 1 to 2 lbs. a week for the best chance at success. One lb. of body weight equals 3,500 calories, so plan your diet accordingly by cutting or burning 500 to 1,000 calories per day.
Healthy Food
In order to lose weight in the belly area, you must eat healthy foods while at the same time eliminating those that contain added sugars, saturated fats, trans fats or that are processed. Instead switch to whole-grain cereals, whole-wheat bread, lean proteins, fruits, legumes, vegetables and healthy mono and polyunsaturated fats. If you are not used to eating whole, real foods then this can take some getting used to; however, once you begin to construct meals that contain whole, real foods, you will likely see that you are not only losing weight but you are feeling better overall.
Exercise
Adding exercise to your daily or weekly schedule will greatly help you to lose weight in your stomach as well as your entire body. High calorie-burning exercises include indoor cycling, running and swimming, which "Fitness Magazine" reports burn 425, 405 and 324 calories, respectively, in just 30 minutes. Try mixing up your routine and do a different form of cardio exercise four to six days per week in order to stay engaged and prevent boredom.
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