While genetics are largely to blame for the parts of your body where you tend to accumulate fat, you do have control over what you eat and how much you exercise. According to New York City fitness consultant Stefan Aschan, your metabolism slows down 2 percent per decade after age 20, meaning that you are no longer as efficient at burning calories. To lose weight and body fat, you must burn more calories than you take in through a combination of healthy diet and exercise.
Step 1
Cut out sugar and refined carbohydrates such as white bread, rice and pasta. According to The American Council on Exercise Fitness, refined carbs cause the pancreas to produce a dramatic spike of insulin, which may lead to storage of excess fat around the abdomen. Look out for foods containing high fructose corn syrup, another calorie-laden refined sugar.
Step 2
Eat five to six mini-meals a day and combine protein with complex carbohydrates at every meal. Eating throughout the day stokes your metabolism and helps keep you full. Examples of healthy mini-meals include cottage cheese with fruit, whole-grain hot cereal with a scoop of protein powder, or whole-wheat pita bread with a spoonful of unsweetened nut butter.
Step 3
Drink at least eight glasses of 8 ounces of water a day. A 2008 study by the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise at Virginia Tech concluded that adults who drank at least 17 ounces of water before every meal on a low-calorie diet lost more weight over a three-month period than those who ate the same diet, but did not increase their water intake.
Step 4
Exercise for at least 30 minutes, five days a week. Cardiovascular exercise such as running, walking, or dancing, helps you lose inches and body fat. If you prefer not to join a gym, find a walking buddy or get a secondhand bike and head to the local park. You may also want to consider interval training, in which short bursts of high-intensity exercise are followed by longer periods of moderate intensity movement.
Step 5
Add strength training to your workout routine. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, meaning it burns more calories even when you're resting. You can train with weights or perform exercises that utilize body resistance, such as sit-ups, pull-ups and push-ups.
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