(ThySistas.com) Hand’s up if you’re one of the millions who find themselves with a stubborn layer of fat around their waist?
Many people find that they have problem areas where they just cannot get fat to budge. There are a lot of annoying gimmicks about how to get rid of belly fat but no “magic bullet” to make that spare tire go away.
The good news is that with diet and exercise together, you can burn your excess fat and by following four belly fat busting tips.
Four Steps To Minimizing Belly Fat
There are four keys to controlling belly fat: exercise, diet, sleep, and stress management.
1. Exercise
Vigorous exercise trims fat, including visceral fat. It can also slow down the build-up of visceral fat that tends to happen over the years.
How much exercise does it take? Half an hour of vigorous aerobic exercise, done four times a week, a Duke University study shows.
What counts as “vigorous”? Jogging, if you’re already fit, or walking briskly at an incline on a treadmill, if you’re not yet ready for jogging. Vigorous workouts on stationary bikes and elliptical or rowing machines are also
effective.
Moderate activity – raising your heart rate for 30 minutes at least three times per week – also helps. It slows down how much visceral fat you gain. But to torch visceral fat, your workouts may need to be more vigorous.
Rake leaves, walk, garden, go to Zumba, play soccer with your kids. It doesn’t have to be in the gym.
If you are not active now, it’s a good idea to check with your health care provider before starting a new fitness program. They’ll probably be thrilled that you want to get started, and will check that you’re ready for it.
And forget spot-reducing. There aren’t any moves that specifically target visceral fat.
2. Diet
There is no magic diet for belly fat. But when you lose weight, on any diet, belly fat usually goes first.
A fiber-rich diet may also help. People who eat 10 grams of soluble fiber per day, without any other diet changes, build up less visceral fat over time than others. That’s two small apples, a cup of green peas, and a half-cup of pinto beans, for example.
Even if you kept everything else the same but switched to a higher fiber bread, you might be able to better maintain your weight over time.
3. Sleep
Getting the right amount of sleep helps. In one study, people who got six to seven hours of sleep per night gained less visceral fat over 5 years, compared to those who slept five or fewer hours per night, or eight or more hours per night. Sleep may not have been the only thing that mattered — but it was part of the picture.
4. Stress
Stress happens. It’s what you do with it that matters.
You probably already know that people tend not to make the best food choices when they’re stressed. And when you’ve got chronic stress, that can be a problem.
Get a social support (turn to your friends and family), meditating, and exercising as ways to handle stress. Signing up for a workshop or some counseling sessions can also help you tame your stress.
Short on time? If you could only afford the time to do one of these things, exercise probably has the most immediate benefits, because it hits both obesity and stress response.
Written By Brittany Gatson