Improve your waistline, improve your health. Belly fat increases your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. In women, a waist measurement of more than 35 inches is a sign of too much unhealthy belly fat. If you make the effort to lose weight through healthy changes to your diet and lifestyle, you can reduce your waistline and keep it at the size you desire.
Work With a Personal Trainer
You may dread the idea of meeting with a personal trainer, but you will most likely enjoy the results. A personal trainer can take your goal of improving your waistline and give you specific routines and exercises that will help you achieve your goal. Also, a personal trainer will give you the skills to continue your workouts on your own.
Whether you hire a personal trainer for an extended period of time and always work out with her, or you meet with her for only two to three sessions, the costs will be worth it.
Get Plenty of Fiber
Fill your meals and snacks with fiber. High-fiber foods help get your digestive system working at its best to get excess foods out quickly. Also, fiber-rich meals will quickly fill you up and keep you satisfied for extended periods of time, making it likely that you will eat fewer calories. Add fiber to every meal with vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes.
As you add fiber to your diet, you body will need to get used to the increase, but you should shoot for 25 g to 35 g of fiber per day.
Strengthen Your Abdominal Muscles
Doing abdominal muscle workouts alone will not improve your waistline, but when combined with aerobic exercise and a healthy diet, it can help. Try abdominal exercises such as crunches, planks, push-ups and pelvic tilts and lifts. As you begin to shed excess fat, the results of your abdominal muscle-building exercises will begin to show. The extra muscle will help you keep control over your waistline and maintain the smaller size.
Eliminate Calories
By trimming your overall calorie intake, you can reduce the size of your waistline. Eliminate foods from your diet that contain calories but offer very little if any nutritional benefit, such as candy, sugary sodas and chips. The Diet Channel points out that by eliminating one can of sugary soda from your day, you can reduce your calorie intake over a year by 54,750 -- which means you will lose more than 15 lb. in the year.
Quench Your Hunger
Let water do more than quench your thirst -- drink water to also quench your hunger. Drink a glass of water 20 minutes prior to every meal and snack, and drink a glass with each meal and snack. The water will fill you up, helping you eat fewer calories.
