Although exercise can certainly help you lose weight, changing your diet to adopt more healthy eating habits will also contribute to weight loss if you are overeating. You can't make your body lose weight in your belly first, but if you are losing weight, it will come off the abdomen sooner or later. An article in USA Today called "Belly Full of Danger" says that to lose belly fat you should adopt "a new lifestyle that reduces your caloric intake, improves the quality of the food in your diet and increases the amount of daily exercise," according to George Blackburn, associate director of the division of nutrition at Harvard Medical School.
Step 1
Write down everything you eat for one week to see your eating habits. Add up your total calories to see how many you can cut. Andrea Wenger Hess, a Joslin Diabetes Center nutritionist, says that it is dangerous for women and men to eat fewer than 1,200 and 1,400 calories per day respectively. Cut between 250 and 1,000, depending on how many you have to spare. An article in AARP magazine called "How to Lose Your Spare Tire" specifically recommends cutting the "five C's: candy, cookies, cake, cola and chips." Limit the amount of processed foods you eat as well.
Step 2
Give yourself about 100 to 200 calories a day for something you really enjoy eating. This will help satisfy your desire for your favorite foods so you do not give into cravings or binge eating, says Dr. Pamela Peeke. "Plan your indulgences into your schedule," says Peeke in a University of Maryland Medical Center article. "Keep the portions down, savor, taste and enjoy it." Peeke is the author of "Fight Fat After Forty" and is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Step 3
Chew slowly. Wenger Hess warns that "It takes 20 minutes before your brain realizes it's full," so resist the urge to quickly eat everything on your plate. Instead, take your time and stop eating when you feel full.
Step 4
Eat only when you are hungry, and not when you are feeling emotional. Eating too much when you are worried or anxious can easily happen before you realize it. Try talking to a friend, going for a walk or doing some deep-breathing exercises. Wenger Hess warns that "Food never solves the problem, and usually it just contributes to a cycle of guilt, low self-esteem and overeating."
Step 5
Do not eat to cope with stress. Instead, try activities that will reduce your stress. Elissa Epel, Ph.D, says that "stress influences where that fat actually gets deposited on our body." Dr. Epel is an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco's Center for Obesity Assessment, Study, and Treatment. She suggests yoga and meditation.
Tips and Warnings
- Although changing your diet will help, experts say that 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity exercise on most days of the week is important for belly fat loss.
References
- Belly Full of Danger
- How to Lose Your Spare Tire
- "NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training: Course Manual;" National Academy of Sports Medicine; 2008
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