When you are trying to lose weight fast, even in your belly, you are in luck. Overall weight loss is the cure for belly fat because spot reduction does not exist. This means you cannot pump out thousands of crunches a day for your belly and expect it to shrink. Losing body and belly fat fast takes sacrifices on multiple levels. Of course, exercise is part of this plan, but you also need to make wise decisions during meal time.
Step 1
Monitor the calories you currently consume and cut back to promote weight loss. Track your liquid and food calories over three days, add up the total and reduce it by 500 to 1,000. This will lead to about 1 to 2 lbs. of weight loss a week, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Step 2
Choose foods that are high in nutrients and low in empty calories. Eliminate the ice cream, doughnuts, cupcakes, wings, white bread, meatball hoagies and candy bars from your diet. Focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, low-fat dairy, beans and fish.
Step 3
Eat small snacks between your meals. Snacking helps keep your appetite under control, which in turn prevents you from overeating. Aim for 100- to 150-calorie snacks, and make sure they come from healthy sources. A cup of plain yogurt with berries mixed in is a good snack option.
Step 4
Drink water as your only source of liquid. Flavored lattes, sweetened tea, soda, beer, wine, slushies and milk shakes are all high in calories, which can sabotage your fast weight-loss goal. Water is not only calorie-free, but it also helps hydrate your body. According to the Institute of Medicine, women should get about 90 oz. daily and men should strive for 125 oz.
Step 5
Move your body in a repetitive motion. Cardiovascular exercise causes a high caloric expenditure, which melts away pounds. Perform a type of cardio that you enjoy, and do it in an interval format to boost your progress even more. Interval training is done by alternating between high and low intensity. Aim for 30 to 45 minutes of interval training, and work out three days a week on nonconsecutive days.
Step 6
Include weight training in your workout regime to build muscle. Whenever you add muscle to your body, you naturally increase your resting metabolic rate. Perform exercises like push-ups, shoulder presses, lat pulldowns, triceps dips, biceps curls and lunges to work all of your major muscle groups. Aim for 10 to 12 reps, do three or four sets and take short rest breaks in between. Work out on three non-cardio days a week.
Step 7
Execute a series of ab exercises to tone your belly as you lose weight. Focus on the upper, lower and oblique region to ensure you maximize muscle fiber recruitment. Do exercises like hanging knee raises, side plank lifts, bicycle maneuvers and sit-ups. Aim for 15 to 20 reps, do three or four sets, and work your abs right after your cardio sessions.
References
- American Council on Exercise: Why is the Concept of Spot Reduction Considered a Myth?
- CDC: Losing Weight
- CNN: Snack Strategies: 4 Cases Where Eating Between Meals Can Work
- IOM: Dietary Reference Intakes: Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate
- MayoClinic.com: Interval Training: Can It Boost Your Calorie-burning Power?
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