If you are faced with unsightly belly fat, there could be several reasons why. Some people have genetics to blame for why their belly is large while others have nothing to blame but how they take care of themselves. How active you are, what you eat and how busy your lifestyle is are all major contributors to belly fat.
Poor Diet
Poor eating habits are a major contributor to belly fat. But there may be several reasons why your body distributes more fat to your belly as opposed to your hips, arms or thighs. Low metabolism, age and hormonal factors such as menopause can cause higher concentrations of belly fat. Even if you have some odds stacked against you with a pre-disposition to body fat, you can make healthier food choices to reduce your belly fat. Create healthy meals and snacks derived from the main food groups -- lean proteins, low-fat dairy, fresh vegetables, fruits, beans and grains. Try to keep your overall caloric intake under 2,000 calories a day and total saturated fat grams under 20 g a day.
Exercise
Exercise is a vital tool for combating belly fat. If you neglect to add exercise to your daily routine, belly fat can appear. You should strive to be active everyday through aerobic exercise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that healthy adults get 30 minutes of exercise each day up to five days per week. If you cannot exercise daily, try to implement other aerobic activities such as gardening, housework or walking your dog. Lack of exercise will cause fat to build up in the abdominal area.
Dieting
You may think that going on a crash diet and restricting your carbohydrates or fat grams will lead to losing belly fat. This result is likely temporary and can cause you to gain belly fat that may be challenging to get rid of. The reason for this is your body's metabolism is affected each time it believes it is in starvation mode. It will send a response to the brain to begin to store fat -- especially in the belly area -- for a time of famine. Over time, crash dieting will become harder and belly fat may be impossible to lose naturally.
Disease
One danger of accumulated belly fat is visceral fat. This is a type of fat that lies deep below your subcutaneous fat pockets. Visceral fat can actually surround the vital organs in your abdomen such as your liver and make them work harder, resulting in poor organ health that can contribute to disease. Women are more prone to visceral fat because of hormonal fluctuations and pregnancy. Over time, a larger belly area can lead to type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease.
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