Burning fat from your midsection can be very difficult and frustrating. Many people feel that they are powerless to make a change. They slave away doing hundreds of crunches and starving themselves, yet they do not achieve the weight loss they desire. Abdominal fat is very hard to burn because our bodies store it as a survival mechanism against starvation. A few powerful dietary and exercise strategies can help you to trick your body into burning fat from your midsection, and you can do it without a single crunch, while continuing to enjoy some of the foods you love.
Step 1
Do three full-body resistance-training workouts per week, training every other day. While you may think that weight-lifting is just for bodybuilders and strength athletes, it is actually a very effective way to burn fat directly from your midsection. Resistance training increases the body's production of potent fat-burning hormones, in addition to burning fat while you workout and for up to 48 hours afterward.
Step 2
Add cardiovascular exercise to burn extra fat. Do 30 minutes immediately following your resistance training. According to the book "Combat the Fat" by Jeff Anderson, this strategy helps to directly target body fat in trouble areas. You do not even need to do high-intensity cardio exercise. In fact, low-intensity cardio spares muscle tissue, while paring away unwanted body fat.
Step 3
Eat only clean foods at most of your meals for the week. Clean foods are the healthiest versions of the foods you probably already eat. However, these foods are not readily stored as body fat and are very nutrient-dense (packed with vitamins and minerals). Choose lean proteins such as chicken, fish and turkey, low-glycemic carbs like oatmeal, brown rice and whole grain breads and pastas, as well as healthy fats like olive oil, avocados and nuts and seeds.
Step 4
Divide your daily nutrition into five or six smaller meals, spread two or three hours apart throughout the day. Eating more frequently reduces hunger, stabilizes blood sugar, elevates metabolism and keeps your natural levels of the stress hormone cortisol low. The abdomen, in particular, has a lot of receptors for cortisol, which means that stress and high levels of this hormone can cause belly fat storage and may even inhibit fat burning.
Step 5
Cheat on your diet once per week, contained to one meal. Just eat anything that you want. Pick foods that you have been craving like ice cream, pizza, cookies or cake. The only rule is that you must not binge or eat to the point of sickness, and you cannot have more than one cheat meal per week. This technique prevents the body from slowing metabolic rate in response to lower caloric intake, and actually enables you to continue burning fat from your midsection at a high rate from week to week, without hitting dieting plateaus.
References
- "Combat the Fat"; Jeff Anderson; 2008
- "The Abs Diet"; David Zinczenko; 2004
- "Xtreme Lean"; Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman; 2006
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