Belly fat is one of the most common problems associated with modern lifestyle. Fast food diets, lesser physical activity and lack of exercise routines, amidst other factors, are increasingly causing people to acquire paunches because of fat depositions under the stomach. Bellies not only harm an individual’s personality, but they also pose several health risks. Belly fat has been associated with ailments as critical as cardiovascular ailments, and also diabetes. The deepest fat layer which can neither be seen nor be touched is made up of visceral cells, and it is the one which does maximum harm. The visceral fat cells are capable of producing substances like hormones, which can cause problems like insulin resistance and breast cancer. A fatty liver also results in increased insulin resistance, and might even speed up the onset of stage 2 diabetes.
After reading all these problems, it is evident you might want to lost the excess belly fat. The first step that you should take is to wrap a measuring tape around your waist at the navel’s level. If it more than 35 inches in a female or 40 inches in a male, then the condition is unhealthy. You must start taking proper measures to lose fat, the best one being aerobic exercises. There is no method of spot reduction of belly fat, but aerobics cause it to burn away the fastest apart from the fat loss throughout the body.
Instead of crunches, sit ups or other exercises which work your muscles, try to focus on calorie burning exercises. A combination of cardiovascular and resistance exercises will work better and also tone your muscles while burning the excess unwanted fat. Exercising has more benefits than simply helping you get in shape. It also reduces stress and levels of insulin in your blood, which in turn causes reduction of Cortisol hormone that is responsible for deposition of belly fat.
Merely visiting the gym and burning calories will yield no results if you don’t make a check on what you are eating. Restricting your calorie intake is essential to make sure that the exercising you do provides visible results. Always make a note of how many calories you consume, and it should not be more than what you burn out while exercising.
Proper dieting will ensure that you retain your fit figure once you acquire it. Eat whole grain food instead of refined grains, because they stimulate glucose and insulin responses of the body, which speeds up the fat burning process.
Avoid food with Trans-fat like cookies and crackers or anything else with partially hydrogenated oil content, because they can cause deposition of more fat in your abdomen. On the other hand, increase your intake of mono unsaturated fatty acids or MUFAs, some rich sources being cashew and peanuts, soybean oil, avocado and olive oil. MUFAs are healthy, and are very helpful in burning belly fat.
The ratio of MUFAs in your diet should always be high, and always keep a check on how many calories you intake, because replenishing the calories you burn by working out so hard is not going to help at all. Brisk walking also helps a lot it helps keeping cardiovascular ailments at an arms length, pace your steps to get the best results. It should be noted that you mustn’t make a cut on your diet, dieting would instead make you weak, take healthy, nutritional diet, and keep a healthy regime. Exercise and proper diet intake can make you lean, mean machine.
