Losing the fat around your midsection can be a battle. In addition to being a risk factor for several diseases, excess abdominal fat may make you feel bloated and discouraged. Luckily, several strategies have been shown to be especially effective at reducing your waist size. If you dream about having a flat stomach, this article may be just what you need.
Try curbing carbs instead of fats:�When Johns Hopkins researchers compared the effects on the heart of losing weight through a low-carbohydrate diet versus a low-fat diet for six months—each containing the same amount of calories—those on a low-carb diet lost an average of 10 pounds more than those on a low-fat diet—28.9 pounds versus 18.7 pounds. An extra benefit of the low-carb diet is that it produced a higher quality of weight loss, Stewart says. With weight loss, fat is reduced, but there is also often a loss of lean tissue (muscle), which is not desirable. On both diets, there was a loss of about 2 to 3 pounds of good lean tissue along with the fat, which means that the fat loss percentage was much higher on the low-carb diet.
Think eating plan, not diet:�Ultimately, you need to pick a healthy eating plan you can stick to, Stewart says. The benefit of a low-carb approach is that it simply involves learning better food choices—no calorie-counting is necessary. In general, a low-carb way of eating shifts your intake away from problem foods—those high in carbs and sugar and without much fiber, like bread, bagels and sodas—and toward high-fiber or high-protein choices, like vegetables, beans and healthy meats.
Become a label reader:Compare and contrast brands. Some yogurts, for example, boast that they’re low in fat, but they’re higher in carbs and added sugars than others, Stewart says. Foods like gravy, mayonnaise, sauces and salad dressings often contain high amounts of fat and lots of calories.
Focus on the way your clothes fit more than reading a scale:As you add muscle mass and lose fat, the reading on your bathroom scale may not change much, but your pants will be looser. That’s a better mark of progress. Measured around, your waistline should be less than 35 inches if you’re a woman or less than 40 inches if you’re a man to reduce heart and diabetes risks.
In addition to these mindsets, you can use the following 15 techniques to increase results.
Sources: Healthline.com & Hopkins Medicine
Losing Weight Leads to Heart Health
A diet that’s low in fat and carbohydrates can improve artery function, according to a 2012 study by Johns Hopkins researchers. After six months, those on the low-carb diet had lost more weight, and at a faster pace. But in both groups, when weight was lost—and especially when belly fat shrank—the arteries were able to expand better, allowing blood to travel more freely. The study shows that you don’t have to cut out all dietary fat to shrink belly fat. For heart health, simply losing weight and exercising seems to be key.
1. Cut Calories, but Not Too Much
It is a well-known fact that you need to cut calories to produce weight loss. One popular approach is to reduce your daily intake by 500–1,000 calories to expect to lose approximately 1–2 pounds (0.5–1 kg) per week. That being said, restricting your calorie intake too much can be counterproductive.
Eating too few calories can cause a major decrease in your metabolic rate, or the number of calories you burn on a daily basis. What’s more, this decrease in metabolic rate may persist even after you start behaving like you normally do. That means you may have a lower metabolic rate than you had before you severely restricted your calorie intake. Therefore, it is important that you don’t restrict your calorie intake too much or for too long.
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Eating too few calories may slow your metabolic rate, even in the long term. Therefore, it is important not to restrict calories too much or for too long.
Soluble fibers absorb large quantities of water and slow down the passing of food through the digestive tract.
This has been shown to delay stomach emptying, causing the stomach to expand and make you feel full. Furthermore, soluble fiber may decrease the number of calories your body is able to absorb from food. By eating soluble fiber, you are also less likely to accumulate fat around your organs, which reduces your waist circumference and the risk of several diseases.
Good sources of soluble fibers include oats, flaxseeds, avocados, legumes, Brussels sprouts and blackberries.
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Eating soluble fiber has been linked to a reduced risk of developing fat around your midsection.
3. Take Probiotics
Probiotics are live bacteria that are suggested to play a big role in weight loss and weight maintenance. Overweight and obese people have been shown to have a different composition of gut bacteria than normal-weight people, which may influence weight gain and fat distribution. A regular intake of probiotics may shift the balance towards beneficial gut flora, reducing the risk of weight gain and fat accumulation in your abdominal cavity.
Some strains of probiotics have been shown to be particularly effective at reducing belly fat. These include:
- Lactobacillus fermentum
- Lactobacillus amylovorus
- Lactobacillus gasseri
Probiotic foods include some types of yogurt, kefir, tempeh, kimchi and pickles. There are also a wide variety of probiotic supplements available. However, these supplements usually contain several strains of bacteria, so make sure to pick one that contains at least one of the strains mentioned above.
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Probiotics may help build up beneficial gut flora. Some Lactobacillus strains have been shown to be particularly effective at reducing waist size.
4. Drink Protein Shakes
Protein shakes are an easy way to add extra protein to your diet. Getting enough protein in your diet can boost your metabolism, reduce your appetite and assist with fat loss, especially from your midsection. Furthermore, studies have suggested that adding protein shakes to your weight loss diet may be especially effective at reducing your waist circumference.
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Protein shakes are an easy way to add extra protein to your diet. Including them as part of a weight loss diet has been shown to be effective at reducing your waist size.
Read our next article on the Best Protein Powders for Weight Loss.
5. Add Apple Cider Vinegar to Your Diet
Apple cider vinegar is linked to several impressive health benefits, most of which are mainly attributed to its content of acetic acid.
Shop for apple cider vinegar online.
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Apple cider vinegar is mainly made up of acetic acid, a compound that may reduce body fat accumulation.
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6. Practice Mindful Eating
Mindful eating is a technique that helps you recognize and cope with your emotions and physical sensations regarding food and hunger. It involves slowing down, eating without distraction, focusing on your physical hunger cues and eating only until you feel full.
Most studies agree that mindful eating helps you lose weight by changing your eating behavior and reducing stress-related behavior, such as stress eating and binge eating. Also, it is more likely to help you keep the weight off in the long term, as it focuses on changing your behavior.
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By eating mindfully, you can focus on your physical hunger and eating only until you’re satisfied. That reduces the risk of stress eating and binging.
7. Avoid Swallowing Air and Gases
The biggest source of gas in the diet is carbonated beverages such as soda. The bubbles in it contain carbon dioxide, which is released from the liquid in your stomach. This may cause stomach distention or bloating. This can also happen when you chew gum, drink through a straw or talk while eating.
Eating in silence, drinking from a glass and swapping carbonated drinks out for water may help you achieve a flatter stomach.
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Carbonated drinks and gum may both cause stomach distention and bloating in some people.
8. Reduce Your Stress Levels
Stress and anxiety are very common, and most people experience them at some point in their lives. Stress is linked to the development of many diseases, and it is also a common reason why people tend to eat or binge eat, often without being hungry in the first place. Also, stress triggers the body to produce cortisol, a stress hormone. It has been known to increase appetite and lead specifically to belly fat storage.
This may be especially harmful in women who already have a large waist, as they tend to produce more cortisol in response to stress, which further adds to belly fat gain. Try to add some stress-relieving activities to your daily routine, such as yoga or meditation.
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Stress triggers the production of cortisol, which increases appetite and drives belly fat storage.
9. Eat More Protein
Protein is the most important nutrient when it comes to weight loss.
Your body burns more calories digesting protein than fat or carbs. Therefore, a high-protein diet may account for an extra 80–100 burned calories per day. High-protein diets also reduce your appetite, make you feel full and help you retain your muscle mass during weight loss.
How much protein you need depends on many factors, such as your age, gender and activity level. Generally, you should aim to get 20–30% of your calories from protein on a daily basis. This can easily be achieved by incorporating a protein source in every meal.
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High-protein diets may increase your metabolic rate, reduce your appetite and help you retain muscle mass during weight loss. They are also linked to lower abdominal obesity rates.
10. Track Your Food Intake
When you’re trying to lose weight, it can be helpful to track your food intake. There are several ways to do this, but the most popular and effective ones are counting calories, keeping a food diary and taking pictures of your food. You don’t have to do this all the time, but it may be good to track your intake for a few days in a row every few weeks. This will make you more aware of your calorie intake and allow you to adjust your weight loss diet if needed.
Studies generally agree that people who track their food intake are more likely to reach their weight loss goals.
11. Get Enough Sleep
Getting a sufficient amount of good sleep is very important for weight loss. Studies have repeatedly shown sleeping less than five hours a night for adults and less than 10 hours for children is linked to an increased risk of weight gain. In women, short sleep duration is consistently linked to increased waist size, compared to those who get a good night’s sleep. Similarly, sleep-deprived people are up to 55% more likely to become obese. Luckily, shifting sleep duration from shorter lengths to healthier lengths has been shown to help eradicate these effects.
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Those who sleep too little are much more likely to gain weight and have increased waist circumference, compared to normal sleepers.
12. Eat Fatty Fish Every Week or Take Fish Oil
It is generally recommended to eat fatty fish once or twice per week. Fatty fish is very healthy and rich in essential long-chain omega-3 fatty acids and good-quality protein. Protein has been shown to help with weight loss, and studies have suggested that omega-3 fatty acids may also help reduce the accumulation of fat in the liver and abdominal cavity. If you don’t like eating fatty fish, you can get long-chain fatty acids from fish oil or fish oil supplements.
Shop for fish oil supplements now.
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The long-chain omega-3 fatty acids from fatty fish may help reduce the accumulation of fat around your waist.
13. Limit Your Intake of Added Sugar
Added sugar is linked to most of the common diseases in society today, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease, The intake of added sugar is way too high in most societies, and Americans eat about 15 teaspoons of added sugar daily. Added sugar is hidden in various foods, so it is very important to read the ingredient lists on foods.
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Added sugar has a direct link to increased waist circumference, especially in those who regularly drink sugar-sweetened beverages.
14. Replace Some Fat With Coconut Oil
Coconut oil contains a unique combination of fatty acids. It is one of a few foods that is rich in medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs). What’s more, coconut oil has been shown to more effectively reduce waist size than other types of fat.
Keep in mind that coconut oil is still fat with 9 calories per gram. Therefore, it is important not to just add coconut oil to your diet, but rather replace other sources of fat with it.
Shop for coconut oil online.
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Coconut oil is rich in medium-chain triglycerides. Replacing other fats with coconut oil may increase your energy expenditure, make you feel full and reduce your waist circumference.
15. Drink (Unsweetened) Coffee or Green Tea
Unsweetened coffee and green tea are among the healthiest beverages in the world. Drinking coffee has been shown to increase the number of calories you burn by about 3–11%. Similarly, drinking tea or taking green tea extract supplements has been shown to increase fat burning up to 17% and calorie expenditure by 4%.
This includes green tea, black tea and oolong tea.
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Drinking unsweetened coffee or tea may increase your fat burning and reduce your waist size.
Lifestyle Note Bottom Line
As you can see, there are many strategies that can help you achieve your goal of a flat stomach. By incorporating some of the tips mentioned above into your daily routine, you may get to see your six pack sooner than later. Keep in mind that it may take some time and effort, but will all be worth it in the end if done properly.
