Different bodies store fat in different locations. For some people, it may be the hips and thighs; for others, it's the stomach. Unfortunately, the only way to truly spot-reduce is through surgical means. However, you can reduce your stores of body fat through diet and exercise. Burning fat will cause your body to release fat cells from wherever it stores them. If your stomach is the place where the majority of your body fat seems to be stored, you will notice that it gets smaller with the rest of you, but will likely hang on to some of its fat stores until last, letting go of fat from everywhere else before it turns loose the last little bit stored in your stomach. Exercise and a healthy diet promote a better body shape than diet alone does.
Step 1
Reduce your caloric intake. To lose fat, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn.
Step 2
Add healthy choices like fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains to your diet in place of snack foods, sodas and desserts.
Step 3
Exercise five or six days per week. Start small with whatever you are capable of doing and build up the duration and intensity of your workout by about 10 percent per week until you are doing at least 30 to 60 minutes of cardiovascular exercise five or six days per week.
Step 4
Perform a full-body strength training routine two to four days per week that includes exercises for your core muscles --- abdominal, oblique and low back muscles --- to promote a well-toned shape.
References
- "The Complete Book of Personal Training"; Douglas Brooks; 2004
- "Krause's Food and Nutrition Therapy"; L. Kathleen Mahan and Sylvia Escott-Stump; 2008
- "Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism"; James L. Groff and Sareen S. Gropper; 2000
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