Weird Ways To Lose Belly Fat

Despite what makers of gimmick products would have you believe, no massage device, abdominal exercise machine, laxative or pill magically incinerates your belly fat. Fad diets aimed at banishing your belly can do more harm than good. Belly fat's stubbornness stems from the fact that the body burns fat in the opposite order that it stores fat. A few weird, yet safe and healthy strategies may help you lose belly fat.

Misconceptions

Weird fad diets that promise to help you lose your belly fast by eating nothing but cabbage soup, fasting for 15 days or eating "negative calorie" foods work by encouraging your body to shed water weight and slowing down your metabolism. When the body's calorie needs for basic physical processes and activity aren't met, it catabolizes your muscle tissue. This means your body turns into a self-cannibalism system. Your body loses healthy lean tissue and your metabolism slows down because your body thinks it's starving.

Eating Fat

The No. 1 weirdest way to lose belly fat is to eat fat.. Eat the right kind of fat, monounsaturated fatty acids, abbreviated as MUFA, and your body burns belly fat. Researchers led by Juan A. Paniagua González published their findings in the March 2007 issue of the "Journal of Diabetes Care." Examples of foods high in MUFA include avocado, olives, olive oil and dark chocolate. It's important to make sure you aren't adding calories when you add MUFA foods to your daily intake.

Reducing Alcohol

Even though it's called a "beer belly," many people resist the idea that limiting alcohol can help you lose belly fat. Like it or not, knocking back the beers -- and other alcohol -- contributes to gaining belly fat, according to MayoClinic.com. Cutting down on brews and booze ranks as an effective way to lose belly fat. Limiting alcohol to two drinks a day for men and one for women benefits your health and reduces unnecessary calories to help you lose belly fat.

Lift Weights in the Morning

Although you can't make your body burn fat off of a specific area, you can encourage your body to burn more fat. Working out in the morning tends to burn more fat, rather than burning the energy from your most recent meal. Including resistance training in your weekly exercise program helps your body to burn belly fat. Add strengthening exercises to your exercise routine two to three days a week, the Weight-Control Information Network website advises.