Five Hacks To Get Rid Of Belly Fat
|Soooo… which part of your body are you most sensitive about? While everyone has a different answer, one of the most common ones would be the belly. I know that holds true for me too. How do we deal with it? Ask an expert, of course. Today, we have a special guest post by Luke Douglas from Ripped.me. Hopefully this helps you (and me too!).
You know that great feeling when you look in the mirror and see your muffin top spilling over, making your clothes bulge and giving you that wonderful appearance of a flabby ball of dough? Yeah, we’re not huge fans either. And the worst thing is, belly fat seems to be the most stubborn thing you’ve ever encountered. It just won’t leave, no matter how nicely you ask.
It got pretty comfortable and it just doesn’t see why you two can’t be pals. So, what do we do with this unwanted guest that just won’t take the hint and be gone? Can we ever have the flat abs of our dreams? Yep, we absolutely can, but it won’t happen overnight. Luckily, we’re here to provide support and a few useful tips that can help you get rid of those love handles and live a healthier life.
One: Stop focusing only on cardio
Cardio is great! Really! No need to send in the wolves, we’re not trying to prevent you from doing cardio. If you like it, you should definitely keep doing it as much as you like, but if you want to see results, you should consider strength training. People, especially women, are afraid of lifting weights because they think it will make them look too buff and that it won’t actually help them lose weight.
However, this just isn’t true. Strengthening your muscles actually makes you lose fat a lot faster, and the added energy and sheer power you’ll feel is pretty damn amazing. As for bulking up – one, it doesn’t happen without insane amount of weight lifting, and two, muscles are pretty sexy, especially on a woman. Besides, being strong is quite fun.
Two: Try a few supplements
Now look, this isn’t your get out of jail free card. Supplements, on their own, won’t do much, because there are no magic ways to become slim with no effort involved. Not even liposuction can do that, so that’s not the point of supplements either. What they can do, however, is help you along.
Good weight loss pills can speed up your metabolism and if you couple them with diet and exercise, they can give you faster results. Do make sure that anything you buy is from a brand you trust. There are too many illegal pills that are not only ineffective, but harmful for your health.
Three: Eat the right food
Your body is used to certain amounts of food and if you try to make an extreme change overnight, it will rebel and give you hunger pangs that are very hard to control. There’s also a difference between eating 500 calories of sweets, and eating 500 calories of broccoli. Gradually replace sugary things for fruit, and throw out any fast food from your diet and eat leans meats, vegetables, nuts and oats.
Four: Be aware how many calories you’re burning
You can’t out-exercise calories. Did you know that two slices of pizza have about 500-600 calories in them? Did you know that you need at least an hour of medium-intensity exercise to get rid of those calories? Make sure you know exactly what you’re taking in when you eat and keep in mind that eating bad food will make your workouts harder and that you do absolutely need to diet if you want to lose weight.
Five: Have patience
Unless you have only a few extra pounds, you won’t lose all your unwanted weight in time for the summer vacation. It’s a process, and you shouldn’t take extreme measures. You can try to starve yourself and exercise two hours every day for two weeks and you will lose weight, but everything will bounce back pretty quickly. Weight loss happens after you make a conscious choice to improve your health.
It’s about long term lifestyle changes, not quick solutions. Have patience, and commit to this journey.
The biggest mistake people make when attempting to lose their belly weight, or any kind of weight, is usually their attitude. Don’t berate yourself, and don’t think of diet and exercise as some form of punishment.
Find the way to enjoy the process, because it really is a very fun process if you have the right approach. You’re learning how to lead a better life and you’re working on your body and your skills. That’s pretty amazing, so focus on the positive aspects and enjoy yourself.
Luke is a fitness and health blogger at Ripped.me and a great fan of the gym and a healthy diet. He follows the trends in fitness, gym and healthy life and loves to share his knowledge through useful and informative articles. You can check out his profile on Facebook and Twitter.
Also published on Medium.
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