Abdominal fat is one of the hardest to lose, and requires consistency and discipline. It is essential to follow a healthy diet couple with the appropriate exercise regime, for effective fat loss.
The most efficient and healthy way to lose your stomach pouch is a combination of good eating habits, regular exercise, and some supplements to support your goal. Track your weight along with your workout and diet regimen, to ensure the effectiveness of your efforts. It is also important that you set realistic and healthy goals to lose the fat around your belly.
Healthy Diet
The secret to following a diet plan over a long period of time is to have flexibility in your menu. It is essential to educate yourself about the foods that are good for you, and those that you need to avoid. The table given below will give you a rough idea about which foods to avoid, and which ones to include in your diet.
| Avoid | Include |
| Burgers | Spinach |
| Pizza | Celery |
| Chocolate | Carrots |
| Beef | Fish |
| Pork | Chicken |
| Cookies | Cantaloupe |
| Fries | Orange |
Divide your day into six intervals, and eat a small meal in every interval, instead of eating two big meals. When you eat small meals it is easier for the body to digest the food. Have at least two portions of vegetables, and two portions of fruits every day. Fibrous foods like vegetables and fruits will fill your stomach, and will not add to your fat stores. Include fat-burning foods like broccoli, cabbage, asparagus, watermelon, beet root, etc., in your diet. Ensure that you drink lots of water to help the body flush out toxins. Stay away from processed foods and beverages, as well as cut down your alcohol intake.
Exercise
Regular exercise is the key to lose belly fat. Include a combination of resistance training and cardio exercises. One of the reasons why people stop exercising is that they get bored of doing the same routine every day. So try to include a variety of exercises in your workout routine. You can schedule two days of cardio exercises, two days of abdominal exercises, and two days of resistance training. Here is a table explaining a weekly exercise plan.
| Weekly Plan | |
| Day One | Cardio Exercises |
| Day Two | Upper Body |
| Day Three | Abs exercises |
| Day Four | Cardio Exercises |
| Day Five | Lower Body |
| Day Six | Abs Exercises |
Cardio Exercises
Start day one with 40-50 minutes of cardio exercises using a treadmill and cross trainer. In case of non-availability of gym equipment, you can jog for 20-25 minutes, and cycle for 20-25 minutes. Begin at a slow pace, and increase the pace for the last 5-8 minutes. This will increase your stamina, and help you burn the stored fats. Repeat the cardio routine on the fourth day with aerobic exercises or routines like swimming and stair stepper. To keep the interest levels up, make use of different cardio routines each week. You can also include dance routines like Zumba, or Kickboxing routines in your cardio plan.
Resistance Training
You have two days of resistance training so divide the routine into upper body exercises, and lower body exercises. Exercise your upper body muscles including those in the chest, back, shoulders, and biceps on day two of the week. You can perform a bench press, lat pulldown, overhead press, and bicep curls to stimulate your muscles. If you prefer working out at home you can do different variations of push ups, and pull ups to tone your upper body. On day five, you can indulge in lower body exercises like squats, lunges, calf raises, etc. Make sure you follow the correct form and technique during resistance training, to avoid cramps and muscle injuries.
Abdominal Exercises
In your weekly plan, you can include abdominal exercises on day three and day six. Use weight plates while performing exercises like crunches and reverse crunches. If you are a beginner, start without the weights, and then slowly include them in your routine. For toning the abdominal muscles inculcate exercises like crunches, reverse crunches, leg raises, oblique crunches, and the plank pose.
For effective fat loss, make sure you maintain a healthy lifestyle, and inculcate healthy habits like sleeping on time and avoiding late nights, refraining from alcohol intake after 1900 hours, as well as reducing the intake of coffee.
