If you are trying to lose fat around your midsection to get a leaner looking stomach, you might be taking the wrong approach. Most people think that the best way to get a lean stomach is with lots of repetitions of abdominal exercises. But let me let you in on a little secret, no amount of crunches or sit-ups is ever going to help you lose that last bit of body fat around your stomach. If your goal is to lose stomach fat, you need a more comprehensive approach. I will teach you how to lose stomach fat fast, by following a good nutrition plan.
Why Diet Matters as Much as Exercise
Getting down to your goal weight is all about the effort, but it doesn’t matter so much whether your focus is on diet or exercise. As long as you eat less calories then you burn, you will lose weight. Losing fat is a totally different story, especially if you are focusing on removing fat from a certain area of the body like the midsection. When you exercise, your body doesn’t always burn fat, since carbs are a quicker form of energy for your body to use.
Second, exercise mostly works your muscles, which isn’t necessarily the best technique for fat loss. Doing a million crunches will help tone the abdominal muscles, but it might not get rid of the layer of fat that is hiding your toned muscles. Cardio exercise is the best type of exercise for fat loss.
Your diet is just as important as exercising, because if you do not get your nutrition right, your body fat percentage will not go down. Lowering your percentage of body fat is much harder than losing weight. The best way to lose the body fat in your midsection is to have a solid plan for both exercise and nutrition.
Strategies for a Better Nutrition Plan
1. Keep It Simple.
Most people make nutrition harder than it has to be by over thinking their diet plan and making it so complex or restrictive that it is impossible to follow. No matter how scientifically sound your nutrition plan is, if you cannot follow it or stick to it on a regular basis, then it is just not going to work out. If counting every single calorie or carb is just going to overwhelm you, then make a simpler plan.
What’s better, a slightly oversimplified plan that still produces results, or a plan that you will give up on after a day or a week? If your diet and nutrition plans always seem to end in binges of pizza and beer, you need a different approach. The best advice anyone has ever given me is to start small, and make bigger changes once you’ve gotten used to your plan.
2. Keep It Balanced, With Everything in Moderation
Some people try to cut out entire food groups when they are trying to lower their percentage of body fat. It just isn’t necessary to go to these kinds of extremes. Your body needs a well-balanced diet with foods from all of the major food groups.
You might have heard that you have to cut out fats and carbs completely to cut your body fat. This is simply not true, because it assumes that all carbs and fats are bad for you. You definitely want to reduce your intake, but you don’t want to get rid of them completely. Not all foods are created equal, so you just have to learn the right foods to eat.
Important Rules for a Fat Burning Nutrition Plan
Eat Plenty of Lean Protein
You definitely want to make sure that you are eating plenty of proteins, but do you know why? Proteins that are lean and low in fat take more energy for your body to consume. The end result is that more of the energy from protein is converted to muscle, and less converted to fat. This is very important for anyone who is trying to achieve fat loss around their stomach or anywhere else.
Drink Plenty of Water
Drinking enough water is important for everyone, especially those who exercise on a regular basis. Your body will become dehydrated as you sweat, so drinking water helps to keep you healthy. What many people don’t know is that drinking plenty of water can help you burn more fat. The science behind this is fairly complex. All you really need to know is that drinking more water helps to make your liver work more efficiently, which means that your liver can do a better job at converting stored fat into energy. When the liver works more efficiently, your body burns more fat.
Eat Your Fruits and Veggies
Fruits and vegetables are important mostly because there is no way to get essential vitamins and nutrients without them. The biggest benefit to eating them is that they are not very dense in calories or high in fats. You can eat several cups of many fruits or vegetables without doing any real harm to your diet, and because they are low in fat, they won’t throw your diet off track
Moderate Your Carb Intake:
Carbs are the type of fuel that your body burns when you need quick energy. Whatever excess carbs you consume will be converted to body fat, so it is important to eat carbs in moderation. Go for complex carbs and whole grains that are rich in fiber, to keep you feeling full.
Eat the Right Kinds of Fats in Moderation
If you are trying to burn stomach fat, it is easy to get in the mindset that all fats are bad. This is not true. Not all fats are created equal, and there is such as thing as a healthy fat. You should avoid foods that are rich in saturated fats and trans fats. The best types of fats are monosaturated fats, and are found in foods like olive oil and nuts. These so-called healthy fats can help you burn more fat.
There is no easy way to simply get rid of the fat from your midsection. To learn how to lose stomach fat fast, you need a well-rounded approach. Go for the right types of exercise to maximize your fat loss, and don’t forget about the importance of your nutrition plan.
