Belly fat comes easily but it breaks a sweat to get rid of it. It is that one annoying fat that keeps on accumulating and even after making endless efforts it does not go away. This is what belly fat has in its very nature- the tendency to not go away easily.
In that scenario, what you actually plan to do?
To accept your body the way it is or make the right efforts in the right direction to get back to what you used to be.
The reasons for belly fat accumulation could be many but the solution to get rid of it is one- the consolidated balance of right diet and workout.
Doing any of them is just like exhausting yourself for no reason. So, get yourself acquainted with the right ways to get rid of belly fat and flaunt your beautiful body with no shame.
Before jumping on the solutions let us see what the reasons for belly fat accumulation are and then seeing individual solutions to it. While going through these reasons we can actually realize certain preventive measures to even avoid it at first place.
What makes you gain belly fat?
Sugary foods
One major reason for acquiring belly fat is high consumption of sugary foods. This includes regular stuff which has become a part of our normal daily routine like- tea, preserved juices, sweeteners, candies and gums, sodas, preserved yogurt and things like that. The worst part is we daily consume these high calories without even realizing how we are adding to the fats in our body.
Alcohol
Alcohol also has high-calorie contents which directly adds to the belly fat and hence the term beer belly has come to exist. It has also been studies that alcohol reduces fat burning process which adds to the process of acquiring fats.
Inactivity
One major and obvious reason for gaining belly fat is that people have become less active and tend to incline to more luxuries which do not let them take even the required physical strain. Physical activity is much of a need for a body like a fuel for a machine to keep the body moving and in the right condition. So, if you feel you have become lethargic lately then consider it to be the reason for your belly fat and start working towards it to redeem its effects.
Low Protein diet and Low Fiber diet
High proteins are a great help in increasing the metabolic rate so, they fasten the fat burning process also, and the other important reason is that high protein food makes you feel full and you eat less for longer periods. Similar is the case with fibers which lessens the calorie absorption rate of the body and kills hunger hormones. These are two essential elements of your diet and in their absence, you are very likely to acquire fats.
Stress hormone
Our body has produced stress hormones to let us deal with stress and similar issues. But if produced in excess it will lead to weight gain and this is what happens when you are in too much stress and your body tries to deal with it.
Belly Fat in women
In women, two major reasons for belly fat increase are menopause and PCOD which brings such hormonal changes which leads to weight gain, especially in the belly area. In that case, try to suppress the situation by taking appropriate hormonal medication to get rid of the extra fats.
Not getting enough sleep
This is one major reason for weight gain in most of the cases. Speaking precisely it leads to making us feel lethargic whole day and we are drifted from physical activity which leads to more weight gain and it also increases stress level which is one reason of weight gain in itself. To avoid this scenario, try getting enough sleep, so you feel fresh for the whole day and involve yourself in some sort of physical activity.
At first, you can try to prevent these situations. Still, if nothing seems to work then you can look for other options which will let you come to the desired outcome.
To reduce belly fat you cannot think of only one thing that would work. If going for that easy option, you will soon realize that your efforts are going in vain and you will see no good result.
To actually see a considerable outcome, you have to take to a balanced approach which includes both, right diet and workout regime.
Starting with the diet, we are going to introduce some really healthy foods which will make your belly fat go away:
Fruits
Fruits are a great source of vitamins and minerals which are highly essential for burning fats. These nutrients are found in citrus rich fruits like orange, lemon, kiwi, tangerine, apples, watermelons, grapes, and strawberries and even spinach. They are highly effective in burning fats and also increase the metabolism rate which lets the body reduce considerably.
So, make fruits an essential part of your diet. You should be consuming them every single day at any time. In fact, you can replace your habit of unhealthy snacking with fruit salads and fruit chats. This will soon start showing results.
Pulses
As talked above, we need to include proteins in our diet to keep hunger in control and fasten the metabolism to be able to burn fat faster and what else could be a better protein-rich food than pulses and cereals.
Remember, how our parents used to make eat pulses in the childhood since its high benefits have been known forever. Included pulses in your diet and you will see the considerable effect on your weight.
Not only thus, the lean protein present in pulses improves the overall body functioning and provides us with an inner strength which lets us undertake more physical activity than before. So, realize all these benefits by switching to a high protein diet with pulses.
Bring down the number of white breads you eat and the quantity of rice you used to take and increase the number of bowls of dal in your meal.
Fish
Have heard of Omega-3 fatty acids?
If yes, then you must be knowing how benefits these acids are in reducing inflammation in our body which increases the rate of the fat accumulation process.
Consuming fish will free your body from inflammatory problems like stress and inflammation and the high proteins present will obviously let you lose belly fat.
Almonds
Almonds are one of those foods which makes you feel full and are contains an incredibly low amount of fats and calories. So, what could be better than a food like this?
Consuming almonds in the morning with milk or even for snacking makes you feel full and suppress the hunger hormones. This keeps you away from in taking any more calories and you take the first step towards weight loss.
Mushroom
The research has found that a lack of Vitamin D is one major reason responsible for abdominal obesity. So, we need to make up for that by including more of Vitamin D rich food in our diet and one such high source of Vitamin D is Mushrooms.
Include mushrooms in your diet in any form to give high quantities of Vitamin d to your body. You can use it in salads, soups and other food preparations where it is used as the main ingredient like semolina macaroni or pasta.
Coconut oil
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Oil and greasy food are one major responsible which directly adds to the abdominal obesity. However, we cannot completely do without it as it is used in cooking. But we can certainly switch to other healthier options and one such option is coconut oil.
Use coconut oil for cooking and you will start seeing how your body starts to lose or at least stops putting on more weight.
Soups
There is a reason why soups are considered the best pre-supper food. They make you feel and hence reduces the total intake of calories in your meal.
This becomes more beneficial when you make low-calorie soups with high protein and high fiber foods. Then it becomes a healthy food in itself and at the same time suppresses your appetite so you consume fewer calories.
Eggs
How well we have discussed the benefits of protein for our body and how it helps in reducing weight.
Going back to that, we give are adding one more protein rich food in your diet which is an egg.
It is so highly rich in proteins and at the same time is a food which satisfies your hunger.
The best part of the day to consume eggs is in the morning. As we all know, we need to have a heavy breakfast to provide us with the energy for the entire day. So, if you start your day with an egg at breakfast followed by a low-calorie diet throughout the day then there could be no better effort towards belly fat reduction.
Salmon
Another key combination for weight loss is Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids and you know any food which contains both?
Salmon is that food which is rich in gut-healthy omega-3 fatty acids which lets the body lose weight.
This is one food which has low-glycemic contents so it does not spike of the insulin and fat storage in the abdominal area and hence is a good food to consume while you are on a belly fat reduction diet. Plus, the good point is fats in salmon are satisfying, which automatically prevents us from overeating.
Fresh and green farm vegetables
Green vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, water, and fiber which can help reduce belly fat by boosting your metabolism, supporting good digestion, and cleansing the body from all sorts of toxins and colon.
These veggies are low in calories but are very filling and so prevents you from overeating. Vegetables like spinach, cucumber, carrot, and beetroot, collard greens, radish greens, broccoli, and turnip are low calorie and nutrients rich vegetables which you should include in your diet.
Oats
Oats are highly rich in fiber and a great aid in healthy digestion. They are also very rich in carbohydrates which are equally essential part of your diet if you are working towards weight loss because they give you the energy to keep you moving for the day and also for an active workout.
The insoluble fiber contained in it reduces fat storage in the body and lets you lose weight.
This is best effective if you consume it in the morning with a bowl of warm milk with no sugar content. In that too, prefer plain oatmeal with no sugar and preservative content.
This would be very effective and will show considerable results very soon.
Brown rice
If you really want to lose abdominal fats then start switching your fatty eating habits with healthier ones.
One such basic attempt is to switch rice with brown rice. Brown rice contains 5 times low calories as compared to normal rice which we consume every day. If we switch to brown rice half job is already done and to add to that are other benefits like whole grain mineral content which lets us prevents insulin resistance in the body.
Green tea
Green Tea is a great help in weight reducing efforts. It contains hormone thyroxin which stimulates body slimming efforts by activating slimming thyroid hormones.
Apart from that, the pure and herbal contents of the tea give anti-oxidants to the body which purifies it from toxins and keeps us naturally healthy.
Black coffee
If you are going for the workout you need some energy to keep you going for a longer time and with greater strength and one best source for that energy is black coffee.
It is such a powerhouse of energy which gives us the strength for a workout and is also a great fat burner. This is one great habit which you can inculcate in you.
Chia seeds
Chia seeds have lately become a trend and a compulsory ingredient of health food. They are a great source of protein and fiber and including it in smoothies, salads, and breakfast foods make them more hunger satisfying which keeps us away from overeating and at the same time helps us burn some calories.
We should especially include it in snacks to keep us satisfied for longer times.
They also improve digestion and metabolism rate which lets us lose weight considerably.
These were some easily available foods that you can surely incorporate in your diet to reduce those extra pounds from the belly area.
These were the foods that you should incorporate in your diet to get rid of belly fat.
However, there are certain things which are strictly forbidden if you are working towards belly fat loss:
- Avoid packaged fruit juices, soda, and energy drinks.
- Cut carbs from your diet but not completely because you need some energy also to do workout which comes from carbs.
- Do not skip the workout part. Without doing some core belly fat exercise it is very difficult to get rid of it.
- Belly fat is very stubborn it just does not go away. Continuous and persistent efforts are required to get rid of it. So, the key is patience. Make sure you keep on making efforts and you will see efforts for sure.
- Also, you need to have plausible and realistic goals that are reasonable to achieve.
- Diet and workout both are equally important. They complement each other and would show the right results if done in the right way.
You’ve mention certain foods at the beginning of your article but than concentrated on vitamins and amino acids, so what exactly would you recommend? I mean the list of exact products like avocado, strawberries, spinach, lettuce etc. Please create the list of foods!