What to eat to lose belly fat
How to lose belly fat by eating right
If things are starting to go apple-shaped for you, then you might be interested to know what to eat to lose belly fat. Excess belly fat is a major problem for almost anyone who has it. Not only is a pot belly unsightly to look at, but it can also be quite hazardous to health. Belly fat is the main reason why people with “love handles” run an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
People who suffer with fat bulging around their abdomen are constantly despairing over what to eat to lose belly fat. Many will go on a crash diet or hit the gym in an attempt to reduce their belly fat, but the results of these exercises are not always what we hoped. The simple truth is that you need to know what to eat to lose belly fat properly.
Dieting
Many people resort to desperate measures because they don’t know what to eat to lose belly fat and so they instead take the dramatic approach and try skipping meals, crash dieting or jumping on the band wagon with one of the latest ‘fad’ diets, all of which usually fail. The reason these fail is because it’s not possible to just ‘spot-reduce’. When you are trying to reduce the fat in your body, you will find that you lose fat everywhere at the same rate, including your thighs, buttocks and abdomen. Therefore, it can be tricky to lose belly fat and not have an adverse effect somewhere else. This is why knowing what to eat to lose belly fat is so important.
Nutrition
There are some important rules surrounding nutrition that need to be followed when trying to lose belly fat. The first thing is to avoid your usual three meals each day. Instead, try and change to eating 5 or 6 much smaller meals. It’s as much about knowing when and how much to eat as it is to know what to eat to lose belly fat.
But how does this help?
When we only eat three meals a day, we go for longer without food and so we feel very hungry just before meal times. This causes us to binge on food and actually eat more than is necessary, resulting in us over eating. When you eat smaller, more regular meals, you don’t feel so hungry and the effect is that you only eat what your body needs.
Of course, you also need to know what to eat to lose belly fat, AND what not to eat to lose belly fat. If you seriously want to slim down your pot belly, avoid the following fatty foods like the plague:
- French fries
- Crisps
- Any saturated fat
- Burgers
- Pizza
- Coke/Pepsi
- Spaghetti
- White bread
- Alcohol
- Foods rich in refined sugar
What you must do is avoid taking in excessive amounts of calories into your body, which all of the above have in excess. Avoiding these foods and eating smaller but more frequent meals is a great start to losing belly fat.
Here is what to eat to lose belly fat:
It’s essential to eat the right foods if you want to lose noticeable amounst of belly fat. The most important thing is you need to eat meals containing lots of fruit and vegetables each day. There are also some foods that are known for their ‘fat-fighting’ abilities. This is because they are able to reduce your appetite and lower the amount of cholesterol in yoru body as they only generate healthy fats.
The following foods are ‘fat-fighters’:
- Whole grain foods
- Oats
- Raw fruit
- Fresh vegetables
- Lean meats
- Egg whites
- Sea foods
If you are trying to reduce the amount of visceral belly fat around your abdomen, it’s also important to eat lots of fat-free dairy foods products like skimmed yoghurt, skimmed milk etc. Another good tip is to eat a few sprouts with every meal (a bowlful should be plenty). Sprouts are great because not only do they make us feel full, but they can increase our body’s calorie burning capacity more significantly than any other food. You can also make yourself feel full by consuming a bowl of soup and a light salad before, or with your meal. Be sure to include protein rich foods in your meal too, and some whole grain bread (not white bread). Berries and nuts can also be eaten, either with meals or as snacks. Nuts are especially good as they have lots of healthy fats that can fight the bad fats in your abdomen.
