How Do I Quickly Lose Belly Fat With Diet And Exercise?

While the areas of your body where you are likely to gain fat depend largely on genetics, you do have control over how much you eat and exercise. According to Newsweek, weight gain around the middle is common as people age. There are a number of diets that claim you can lose belly fat fast by eating certain foods, but in reality the old adage is still true --- weight loss depends on eating fewer calories than you burn.

Step 1

Exercise for at least 30 minutes, five days a week. Cardiovascular exercise such as walking, jogging or biking helps you to lose fat all over your body, which is how you lose your belly. Don't think you have to do strenuous classes at the gym or become a marathon runner to reap the benefits of aerobic exercise --- walking around the neighborhood counts as cardio too.

Step 2

Drink a lot of water. Prevention.com reports that eight 8 oz. glasses a day rev your metabolism and lead to a burn of 35,000 calories a year. Drink your water cold so your body burns extra calories to warm it up. Combined with a sensible diet, this can lead to 10 pounds of fat loss. While this isn't the fastest method, it's an easy lifestyle change that can have big results over time.

Step 3

Add weight training to your exercise routine. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, which means you burn more calories even when you're at rest. Weight training can change your body rapidly, including your abdominals. Build the muscles in your stomach so that when you do lose fat, your belly looks toned. You don't have to lift weights to strength train. Exercises that use the resistance of your body, such as crunches and push-ups, also work.

Step 4

Eat five to six mini-meals a day, combining complex carbohydrates and protein at every meal. Eating throughout the day helps fill you up and stoke your metabolism. Examples of healthy mini-meals include a whole-grain tortilla with unsweetened nut butter, string cheese and fruit or a small dish of beans and rice.

Step 5

Refrain from starvation dieting, which slows your metabolism and causes your body to burn muscle rather than fat. Extreme low-calorie diets also sap the energy you need to exercise and sustain basic life functions.