Can't Lose Belly Fat? Try These 3 Tips!

Belly fat seems more stubborn than other fat, doesn't it?

Most people struggle with belly fat because they focus on isolating the issue.

They do a bunch of cardio to try to burn off fat. Usually cardio they hate.

Then they do abs exercises to try to tighten up that area and make it more solid.

Now while cardio and abs exercises can be part of a plan to lose belly fat, it really takes more of a whole body approach to get the belly fat off and keep it off.

And that's the tough part.

I'm going to share three tips to help you reach your belly fat goal and one special bonus tip at the end that kind of puts it all together.

Eat Protein To Lose Belly Fat

Eat protein and eat it first if you've got extra fat hanging around your belly area you need to expend more calories than you take in.

It's what we call a calorie deficit and that can come from either side.

Either calories in or calories out.

Defining Calories In Calories Out

Calories in, the food and drink that we consume, tends to be the quicker way to lose fat.

It will give you a more noticeable result in the short term.

But ideally you want to hit this from both sides.

I'm sure that you've heard, "It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle!"

And as cheesy as that is, it kind of is.

There needs to be some lifestyle change in order to see a dramatic Improvement in your physique.

If you reduce your calories temporarily without making any changes to your daily life, then you're only going to have a temporary result.

You're just dieting and that's likely to be a temporary change.

The Benefits Of Exercise For Belly Fat Loss

Research does show that people who keep weight off long-term tend to be exercisers.

At a minimum we should be exercising for our health anyway.

Both strength training and cardio and daily movement like walking.

Diets To Lose Belly Fat

There are tons of different methods for reducing your calories.

Even trendy diets like intermittent fasting or keto can help you do it.

Dropping your calories doesn't mean that you need to track them necessarily but you need to have some awareness of the calories in foods.

Calorie tracking is just an effective way of learning more about your food and making more mindful choices.

Calorie Deficit Without Counting Calories

Keeping your calories under control naturally can involve weighing or measuring or just measuring your portion sizes so they're reasonable.

Many times people will just eat out of a box or a bag and they're consuming many more calories than they might think.

This is particularly important for more calorie dense foods. Even healthy foods, like nuts.

You probably want to portion them because it's very easy to consume lots of calories with those foods.

You want to be particularly careful with those ultra-processed treat foods because they give you a lot of calories but they also don't fill you up very much. So you're more likely to eat more food later on. And managing your appetite is really the key to natural calorie control.

Benefits Of Protein For Reducing Belly Fat

Protein keeps you fuller for longer and it it reduces the blood sugar response that can result in cravings later on.

Eating protein first with a meal can be helpful because one you make sure that you get in enough protein for the day. Then the protein can help crowd out other foods.

If you chew slowly and thoroughly and take your time with your protein then move on to your vegetables, you may not have space for other things. Including dessert!

Not to say that you shouldn't enjoy dessert or treat foods once in a while. But portion sizes are definitely an important part of that.

Protein Recommendations For Belly Fat

I recommend a minimum of 0.7 g per pound of body weight per day of protein.

That will help you not only maintain and build muscle, but I'm going to explain how that's really important for reducing your belly fat long term.

You're also going to have more satiety with your meals. Then it's easier to maintain a lower calorie intake for belly fat loss.

Cardio For Belly Fat Loss

"I really need to burn off my belly fat, so I need a lot of cardio. Aerobic activity burns tons of fat."

Yes, that's true and in any case even the general health recommendations are 150 minutes of cardio per week.

That really should be part of your plan anyway, if you want to be healthy.

Lowering Your Body Fat Percentage

But if you're 10 lbs or less from your goal weight and you're just carrying a little bit of extra belly fat you really need to focus on lowering your body fat percentage.

In most cases the best way to do that is by increasing your muscle.

Your body fat percentage refers to the percentage of fat compared to muscle and other lean tissues.

If you increase your muscle mass, even if you were to keep your fat mass exactly the same, you would have a lower body fat percentage.

That's usually the key to getting rid of belly fat.

While there are some genetic variations, of course, the lower your body fat percentage the more likely you are to have visible abs.

The Benefits Of Muscle For Losing Belly Fat

Muscle is slightly more metabolically active than fat.

So if you have a body that has more muscle then you're going to be burning off more calories all the time.

This makes it easier to get into a calorie deficit because your calories out are slightly greater.

But also, a body with more muscle tends to be more active, easier to move around. You're probably going to find exercise more pleasant. And overall you'll be moving more and burning off more calories.

Weight Training For Fat Loss

Most people think of weight training for muscle building.

And, of course, it does that.

But it's extremely important for fat loss.

I call it muscle-focused fat loss and it's what I teach to the members of my online program, The Lean and Strong Academy.

It really is about that concept that I'm telling you about now.

Focusing on getting more muscle in order to eventually lose fat.

Be Consistent For Belly Fat Results

It's really important to be consistent with physical activity.

Just like nutrition, exercise and just bodily movement over the course of the day really come comes down to consistency more than intensity.

A lot of people get really enthusiastic, say at the start of the year. They want to work out really hard and heavy 5 days a week and then it kind of peters off as the months go by.

The calorie expenditure goes back down again.

You're much better off doing consistent weight training sessions say three times a week. Getting in your cardio, and just doing that on a regular basis.

Everything I guess in moderation, making sure to do it consistently.

Making Lifestyle Changes To Lose Belly Fat

Yes, it is a lifestyle change.

You can't sit around on the couch and just wish your belly fat away.

This needs to be integrated into your day-to-day.

It doesn't have to be anything crazy. You don't have to be doing high-intensity interval training. At all really! Although it can help with fat loss.

Staying Active

Going to the gym for 2 hours a day and then sitting at your desk all day like most of us have to is not actually making you active. The total amount of calories that you're burning isn't that high.

This is why it's often easier to hit the calories in and reduce your food intake and modify the macros there.

Increasing your protein, increasing your fiber. Rather than trying to increase your physical activity level excessively.

Because most people just don't have the time to do enough. If it requires you to be exercising an hour and a half every day in order to make maintain your belly fat where you want it to be (very visible abs) that's probably not sustainable for you.

Nutrition, exercise, and then movement throughout the day.

All of those things work together synergistically to get you that belly fat loss you're looking for.

Losing Belly Fat With Sleep

Here's my bonus tip that makes all of this a lot easier.

Make sure you're getting enough sleep.

And that doesn't mean just getting at least 7 hours every night.

It's also about going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time most days.

You want to be as consistent as possible with your sleep schedule.

I've definitely found that whenever I'm sleeping better, everything becomes easier.

So the workouts are better. I'm able to move around more during the day, rather than lying down on a couch, and just being like, "I can't be bothered."

When it comes to food as well you're more likely to want to reach for comfort foods and try to make things really easy. Order food delivery rather than preparing something that is going to be a better choice for you.

Sleep will affect your belly fat loss in so many ways.

You know that whatever extra calories you're taking in are going to be storing themselves around your belly fat area.

Now you're probably also wondering what role, if any, abs exercises make in reducing your belly fat.

I go through the evidence for spot reducing your abs and what workout program really works for getting rid of that extra belly fat.

Watch this video HERE.

Ivana Chapman