Losing belly fat faster is becoming a popular trend nowadays. How to get rid of belly fat is not only to look smarter but also a prominent public health issue for health care professionals.

How to lose belly fat? How can you quickly reduce a spare tire of belly fat? Do I look like a dad-bod? Or some people may call it a stress bulge. These are the questions that people are looking for answers to.

Having extra belly fat makes us more prone to many diseases and may cause depression in some people because of poor physical appearance.

There are types of belly fat that an individual needs to understand. Belly fat denotes fat surrounding the abdominal region of our body, known as the belly. If we talk about medical prospects of belly fat, there are two types:

• Visceral fat: This form of fat surrounds our internal organs like the stomach, liver, and intestines.
• Subcutaneous fat: This form of fat is the fat stored under our skin.

Health problems that are caused due visceral fat are riskier and more dangerous as compared to subcutaneous fat. Research shows that visceral fat is strongly associated with insulin sensitivity and cardiometabolic health risks (1).

Individuals can adopt various lifestyle standards and dietary variations to lose belly fat. It's challenging to target belly fat, especially when you try to lose belly fat with only dietary interventions and no physical exercises due to your busy life schedule.

But losing weight generally will help you shrink your waist. Slowly and gradually, one can lose some belly fat and it will significantly help reduce the dangerous layer of visceral fat that increases the risk of many health problems.

Why is belly fat harmful to your health?

A poor dietary routine can raise the number of fat stored in our belly. Any stored fat in our body can directly increase our blood cholesterol level leading to a high risk of hypertension (high blood pressure).

Several studies have identified the potential risk of many cardiovascular diseases cause due to visceral fat (2).

High blood cholesterol can cause blood clots in the arteries and veins, which can lead to brain hemorrhage (stroke) and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes (3).

Being bulky may not always be the leading cause of health disorders, but having a high level of body fat is the principal cause of major illnesseses.

Additional belly fat may also increase the risk of:

• heart diseases
• heart attacks
• high blood pressure
• stroke
• type 2 diabetes
• asthma
• cancer

What are the most common causes of the belly fat

Some of the fundamental reasons for excess belly fat in our body are:

• Poor dietary habits, including binge eating and high consumption of calories
• Too much consumption of alcohol
• Lack of exercise
• Stress and anxiety
• Genetics
• Poor sleep patterns

Tips on how to lose belly fat faster

Following are some of the essential tips and strategies. If we adopt them in our day-to-day life, we may be capable of losing some of the undesirable belly fat to live a healthy life and feel confident in our appearances.

1. Watch your eating habits.

A considerable measure of weight loss is being aware of the choices that an individual is making. For example, One might lose track of what he is drinking or eating while being on an outing with friends.

Several research studies have concluded that small positive changes in eating behavior, increase in physical activity, and improving nutrition can helps maintaining a healthy body weight (4).

Several small changes that an individual should try to adopt includes:

• Developing habits of healthy eating.
• Watching the calories count and religiously tracking them.
• Not bringing unhealthy food items to the home, such as chocolate and foods that are high in fats. So when one will not have to see them, this will stop the desire for eating them.
• Not watching TV while having a meal.
• Trying to cook everyday fresh at home and not bringing any readymade or junk food to the home.

2. Track your total calories.

The most straightforward approach to weight loss is cutting down more calories than you consume. For example, 3,500 calories equivalents one pound of fat, you need to count how many calories you need in a day to lose a pound.

The easiest way to track and count your calories is to download an App or even just keeping a diary will also help you keep track of how many calories you want to cut from your everyday diet or burn calories at the gym to meet your target.

Research shows that various dietary approaches with the lowest caloric content have been suggested to treat and prevent obesity in adults which significantly reduces the risk of obesity-related comorbidities (5).

• Always check the calorie content on a packet of biscuits and chocolate so that when you eat, you will know the amount of calories you have to burn in the gym or sports activities.
• While working in an office mostly sitting, avoid foods that are high in calories count.
• Always look for calories count when you buy food; a fat-free food or vegetarian food, or any food that promises health benefits does not mean that it has fewer calories.

3. Increase the amount of fibers in your diet.

Refined carbs and sugary food do not tame the starvation, it increases the desire to eat more.

Instead of that, consume more fiber-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, whole-grain bread, beans, legumes, chia seeds and oats.

Dietary fibers benefits in slowing down the digestion process so you will feel full for a longer period of time and will eat less in the next meals. Foods that are high in fiber prevents obesity and can also helps in treating obesity related disorders (6).

The mechanisms for this protection is the reduction of  macronutrients absorption and enhanced satiety. Foods high in fibers are helpful for gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acids. These mechanisms explain why high fiber diets are helpful in losing weight including the stubborn belly fat.

A research study shows that for those who have a hard time ensuring a strict diet, the weight loss approach can be made easy by increasing fiber intake, leading to weight loss. It has also been reported that the intake of fiber results in less weight regain (7).

4. Improve your diet plan

Several studies suggest that a healthy and balanced diet can help an individual lose weight, and it is also possible to have a positive effect on their overall health (8).

The best diet plan for losing weight more effectively is to stick with a diet that is low in carbs and high in fats and protein. The most popular diet plan for losing belly fat these days is the ketogenic diet plan.

According to many studies, the ketogenic diet burns fat more effectively and helps in losing excess body fat. High-carb foods including white bread, sugar and sodas that are easy to digest are avoided in a ketogenic diet plan (9).

To lose belly fat faster, it is strongly recommended to avoid or reduce the intake of the following foods in their diet to lose weight quickly and effectively:

• sugar or foods with high sugar level,
• fatty foods, 
• soda drinks,
• alcohol.

The above mentioned food items have small nutritional content and high calories. It is recommended to eat fruits and vegetables, which are complex carbohydrates full of fibers and helps in fat loss from the body.

5. Stop the consumption of alcohol and sugary drinks

If you are trying to lose an excessive amount of abdominal fat or just want to slim your belly, you must monitor your alcohol consumption. Following are some of the important reasons you need to avoid alcohol if you are looking to lose your belly fat faster.

• Alcoholic beverages often contain extra sugar, which increases the chances of weight gain.
• Drinking more sugary drinks and alcohol will expand your stomach muscle size which directly increases the desire to eat more. The more expanded stomach a person has, the more he/she will eat to fulfill the eating desire of having more food.

Several observational studies have been performed and it has been concluded that an increased consumption of alcohol and sugary beverages is associated with an increase in body weight and adiposity (10).

6. Intake of Coffee may induce weight loss.

Caffeine, the active ingredient of coffee has been used for obesity management. It is known that caffeine through several mechanisms can induce weight loss and burn body fat. A meta-analysis of several randomized controlled trials demonstrated that consumption of caffeine may reduce BMI, weight and body fat (11).

 In a cross-sectional study of 2129 men and women, consumption of coffee was significantly associated with losing weight and weight loss maintainers stated a potentially higher intake of coffee compared to the general population (12).

7. Eat more protein.

If you are looking forward to managing your weight and losing your belly fat faster, a protein-rich diet will help you achieve your desired goals.

Proteins decrease the appetite and desire to eat more mainly because they take more time to digest in the body when compared with non-complex carbohydrates.

Studies have shown that the more protein-rich diet you will take, the longer the effect will last and less desire to eat more food (13).

Another reason is that protein-rich diets help lose belly fat and manage weight because the consumption of protein decreases the release of a hunger hormone called ghrelin. This hormone reduces the appetite by producing a feeling of fullness and subsequently eating less to maintain average body weight (14).

In addition to controlling body weight, protein-rich diets lower blood pressure and reduce triglyceride levels in the body. This mechanism helps to reduce belly fat by reducing visceral fat around the belly and storing fat under the skin.

Protein-rich diets have been considered as a successful and beneficial strategy for management of body weight, treatment and prevention of obesity, and for losing fat mass

The suggested high protein diet for weight management ranges from 1.2 to 1.6 g proteins per kg of body weight, improving appetite and controlling body weight (15).

If you are looking for some healthy strategies to lose your belly fat faster and to maintain your body weight, replacing your carbohydrate diet with a protein-rich diet will be a beneficial and efficient strategy.

Healthy protein sources include meat such as beef, chicken, pork, and lamb, plant-based sources such as beans, lentils, beans, and edamame, fatty fish such as salmon, trout, and tuna and eggs.

8. You should increase your exercise routine:

An inactive lifestyle can cause many health problems, including a gain in weight and an accumulation of fat around the belly.

People who walk regularly at least 5-10 thousand steps a day, have fewer chances of gaining weight. They challenge their body to lose stored fat by increasing the number of burning calories.

If you are trying to lose belly fat, you must include a good amount of exercise in your daily routine such as walking, running and jogging.

Studies have shown substantial effects of abdominal workouts on abdominal fat. Exercising for strength training and aerobic exercises can help people in challenging their belly fat. Physical exercise is the most efficient way of losing belly fat (16).

9. Reduce your stress level

Stress can cause an individual to gain weight. The release of the stress hormone cortisol impacts a person's craving and results in the intake of more calories.

Studies have reported strong inter-relationship between obesity and stress. According to a study, individuals with an abdominal obesity have elevated levels cortisol (17).

A research study investigated the individual differences in the outcome of stress on body mass index (BMI). The study found that women who are more exposed to daily stressors in their lives use cognitive strategies to restrain their dietary intake during periods of stress. Their eating behavior alters, leading them to gain weight (18).

Stress-relieving strategies include meditation and mindfulness, and gentle isometrics exercises, such as yoga, which help in reducing stress levels.

10. Improve your sleeping pattern

Sleep is vital to an individual's overall health, too little sleep can severely impact health. The main purpose of sleep is to allow the body to recover, rest and heal.

Getting adequate, good-quality sleep is important when you are trying to lose overall body weight, or lose belly fat faster.

Studies have found a strong association of short-sleep period and poor sleep quality with obesity. Sleep is considered a major modulator of glucose metabolism and neuroendocrine function.

Loss of sleep is associated with decreased insulin sensitivity, increased levels of cortisol and ghrelin which can subsequently result in gaining weight and obesity (19).

A recent research study conducted on 496 young adults concluded that reduced sleep or sleep deprivation is associated with a high risk of gaining weight and obesity during young adulthood (20).

A large-scale research study conducted on 68,183 middle-aged women over a period of 16 years concluded that a habitual sleep duration of fewer than 7 hours was associated with an increase in weight gain and future obesity (21).

10 Best exercises that will help you to lose your belly fat

If you are having a tough time trying to fit into the costume you bought last year or if your belly fat is giving you stress and anxiety. You might need to implement some lifestyle modifications to get rid of your stubborn belly fat and look smarter.

Stomach fat can cause negative effects on your health too if it is not addressed at the correct time. For certain, belly fat does not look worthy on you visually. But the more important reason for you to address it is its long-term results on your health.

Sideways from dieting, exercising is one of the common peak strategies acquired by those trying to lose extra pounds. It burns calories, and this shows a key role in weight loss (22).

Studies have suggested that along with assisting you to lose weight, workout has been linked to many other advantages including better mood, stronger bones, and a decreased risk of many chronic illnesses (23).

Research shows that the best way to lose belly fat is by exercising and physical activity. If you are serious about losing your  boday weight especially belly fat, you might need to put in extra time to exercise in your daily routine to target your belly fat (24).

There are several great fat-burning abdominal exercises which have proven good effects in losing belly fat. In this article, we will present you ten simple exercises which you can do at home to help you lessen your belly fat.

1. Walking or Running

Moving your legs can help you reduce or remove belly fat by increasing calories burn so the body can use stored fat in the belly. Walking and running are two of the simplest and greatest fat-burning exercises.

Running essentially burns more calories, but walking can provide you great effects too.

2. Flutter kicks exercise

• Start by lying on a rug or yoga mat. Keep your legs collected, then lengthen them in the forwarding direction facing you.
• Make tighter the abs, lift your feet off the rug, and initiate moving your legs up and about.
• You must repeat 15 times, break and then repeat 15 times once more.

Benefits:

Flutter kicks will benefit you to:

• burn your calories
• get a boundless cardio workout
• development of your endurance
• lose belly fat & burn calories

3. Reverse crunches exercises

• Start by lying flat on your backside and place your leg up in a 90-degree direction.
• Place your hands level on the ground or behind your head and neck.
• Pull your legs and hips up in the direction of the ceiling and bring your knees near your chest.
• You should repeat 15 times, break, do 15 times once more.

Benefits:

Reverse crunches will benefit you to:

• stimulate the major abdominal muscles
• improve your posture
• tone your inferior abdominal muscles
• lose belly fat & burn calories

4. Lunges by way of front kicks exercise

• Start with your feet organized.
• Step back with one foot to far-reach a lunge.
• Step back to the initial position, swing your leg over, and far-reach a kick.
• Return to the initial position.
• Now repeat 15 times, break, go for 15 times once more.

Benefits:

Lunges by way of front kicks will aid you to:

• get an abundant cardio boost
• advance your core stability
• increase your flexibility
• tone your gluteal muscles
• lose belly fat & burn calories

5. Mountain climbers exercise

• Start in high plank point.
• Place your hands below your shoulders and prolong your legs behind you.
• Tuck your tailbone in as you involve your core muscles.
• Must keep your body in a straight line during this exercise.
• Bend one knee and pull it to your chest, then uncurl it behind you, and change sides.
• Now repeat 15 times, break, repeat.

Benefits:

Mountain climbers will benefit you to:

• get a full-body training
• improve your mobility
• burn your calories
• involve your upper arms muscles
• lose belly stored fat

6. Bicycles crunches

• Start by lying on the rug and keep your hands by your sides or behind your head.
• Lift both legs off the mat and flex them at the knees.
• Bring your right knee near your chest, carry your left leg away.
• At that time, take your right leg away and carry your left leg near to your chest
• Keep performing it as if you are riding a bicycle.
• Now repeat 15 times on both sides, break, then repeat once more.

Benefits:

Bicycles crunches will help you to:

• firm the hip muscles
• stimulate the upper abdominal muscles
• tone your thighs
• lose belly fat & burn calories

7. Bench hops exercise

• Place your hands on a chair or bench.
• Bring your feet composed on the right side of the chair or bench.
• Keep your back straight.
• Bend your knees, jump over the bench to the left side, then rapidly jump back to the right side.
• Move hurriedly and smoothly.
• Do not take gap between hops.
• You should perform 20 bench hops, break and repeat once more.

Benefits:

Bench hops will aid you to:

• tone your legs
• strengthen your lower body muscles
• burn calories & lose belly fat

8. Crab toe touches exercise

• Sit on the rug with your feet in forward-facing direction with your knees bent.
• Place your hands behind you and lift your hips off the rug.
• Bring your right hand up with simultaneously lifting your left leg and touching your left foot with your right hand.
• Return to the raised position and change sides.
• Keep alternative back and forth.
• You should complete 16 touches, break, do 16 reps.

Benefits:

Crab toe touches will benefit you to:

• improve your core strength
• increase weight loss
• speed up your metabolism
• lose belly fat & burn calories

9. Lying Leg Raises exercise

• Lie down on a carpet.
• Place your thumbs below your hips with your palms even on the floor.
• Lift your feet from the ground a little, look up at the roof, and involve your core. This is known as the initial position.
• Raise your both legs to 90 degrees and gradually bring them back down.
• Exactly before touching the ground, raise your legs once more.
• Perform three sets of 15 reps.

Benefits:

Lying Leg Raises exercise will benefit you to:

• develop your endurance
• lose belly fat & burn calories
• strengthen your core muscles

 10. Heel Touch exercise

• Lie down on a carpet.
• Kneel your legs flexed with your feet broader than shoulder-width at a distance, and flat.
• Keep your hands by your adjacent, chin up, core engaged and shoulders relaxed.
• Bend sideways and try to touch your right heel through your right hand.
• Bend toward the other side and try to touch your left heel through your left hand.
• Perform this exercise 20 times to finishing one set.
• It would be best if you do three sets of 20 reps.
• Take a 20-second pause before performing the second and third rep.

Benefits:

Heel touch exercise will benefit you to:

• get a full-body training
• improve your mobility
• burn calories
• involve your upper arms muscles