When it comes to losing weight, Belly fat can be frustrating to get rid of. So whether you’re about to approach your weight loss journey or perhaps hit a wall in the middle of trying to lose weight; you might start asking yourself,
“How long does it take to lose belly fat?”
Believe it or not, many studies have shown that having too much excess fat on your belly or what we call “visceral fat” can get particularly harmful. It could eventually lead to health problems such as Type 2 Diabetes or even Heart Disease.【1】 You can have another thing to worry about rather than your clothes not fitting as they used to.
Especially, Men are more likely to accumulate abdominal visceral fat than women because men are bigger than women more chyle particles, after the meal, chyle particle overload caused by congestion, prompting chyle triglycerides are LPL hydrolysis, the release of fatty acids was abdominal visceral fat cells store, cause abdominal visceral fat.【2】
But don’t fret! It’s not like we’ll leave you hanging with information like this. We will explore everything there is to know how long it takes to get rid of belly fat and exactly how fast you can burn belly fat. What does it take to grab some inches off your waist?
We’ll go over all of that and more, so continue reading down below!
How Long Does it Take to Lose Belly Fat?
There’s no real “exact” answer for this brewing question.
Every person’s body is different, but if you want to get technical, registered dietitian Jim White, who is also the owner of Jim White Fitness and Nutrition Studios, you could reduce around 2 inches off your waistline matter two weeks.
But since each person has different types of bodies, the rate at which you’ll lose may differ from person to person. As long as you start getting active and set a proper calorie deficit, it will be possible to trim your waist in no time.
As with any form of the fitness journey, having a proper diet and getting the right exercise are still the key factors to lose belly fat successfully.
By the time you finish reading the following 5 questions, I believe you will know the answers.
Shall We Need Setting a Calorie Deficit?
To lose a single pound a week, you must eliminate as much as 500 calories from your diet per day. Reducing about 500 calories per day in your diet will eventually lead your body to burn 3,500 calories – which amounts to 1 pound of fat – by the end of the week.
If you want to lose belly fat effectively, you have to know which food to eat and the physical activities you can do to burn more calories.
What Kind of Food to Avoid when Trying to Lose Belly Fat?
1. Sugary foods and Beverages – If you have a sweet tooth, it is unfortunate that you will have to cut down or eliminate eating any food from your diet entirely, such as candies, chocolate bars, or beverages such as processed fruit juices. Studies have shown that sugar tends to spike the body’s insulin levels, making it store fat. So cutting a sugar diet will surely be one step ahead in the right direction if you’re aiming to lose belly fat.
2. Alcohol – We’ve all heard the term “Beer Belly” before. While studies have shown that drinking beer doesn’t specifically cause belly fat, it does increase overall body weight. It could cause setbacks to not only your diet but also your exercises as well. I mean, you won’t be hitting the gym with a massive hangover now, will you?
3. Carbonated Drinks – Drinking soft drinks can lead you to pile on the excess pounds around your waist. Researchers found that people who drink sugary sodas gain fat in the worst possible places, including some wrapped around your internal organs. Research also shows that the people who often drink sugary drinks gained about 27% more visceral fat than people who rarely indulged in the same sugar-filled beverage.
4. Fast Food – Eating Fried Food is a typical delicacy we often indulge in and love. You can never go wrong with Fried Chicken, Burger, or Even French Fries at your local fast food joint. Unfortunately, if you are trying to lose weight, this is one type of food you can say goodbye. Anything fried is cooked with excess fat, which piles on the calories of fat your food should only have, so you should avoid eating it as much as possible.
What Kind of Food to Eat to help you Lose Belly Fat?
1. Vegetables and leafy greens – Fiber-rich food such as vegetables can help cleanse your stomach and aid digestion. They also help promote vitamin absorption, which would help your stomach prevent it from storing excess fat. It helps it burn and convert fat into energy.
2. Fruits – Fruits are loaded with vitamins and rich in anti-oxidants. They also have proven effects in boosting your metabolism as well.
3. Protein – Believe it or not, getting the right amount of protein in your diet can help you lose weight as it is one of the building blocks of muscle in your body. Having more powers means the faster it will be for your body to burn fat.
4. Water – You can never go wrong with your regular reminder of how important water is to your health. From promoting healthy circulation around the body, drinking plenty of water also helps keep the skin clear. It helps make you feel revitalized every day.
Do Ab Exercises Burn Belly Fat?
As much as you’d like to believe, ab exercises don’t necessarily contribute that much to burning that much belly fat. Sources say that these exercises are devised to strengthen your core, promote endurance, and build muscles, such as your abs, in your body.
However, that doesn’t discredit its benefits and importance to achieving a healthy body. Doing ab workouts can help your body’s overall stability and capacity to lift heavy objects; the best way to add ab exercises into your workout routine is by adding cardio into the mix. This way, you’ll lose belly fat and have muscle gain at the same time.
What are the Best Exercises you can do at Home to Burn Belly Fat?
How to get a flat stomach by exercising at home? Here are a few home-workouts you can try!
Bicycle Crunches
Bicycle Crunches is the best Ab workout you can do as it hits every muscle of your abs, including your deep abs and obliques. If you think the best way to get a flat stomach is by doing sit-ups, then the results you can get from doing bicycle crunches makes it the ab exercise to beat. The cycling motion it has gone with your legs also makes it an excellent fat burner. It will keep your core tight and engaged throughout the workout, which will improve your endurance, posture, and overall strength.
How to do it:
1. First things first, lay your body flat on the floor and have your lower back pressed to the ground with your knees bent. Keep your feet on the floor and put your hands behind your head.
2. Pulling strength from your core, contract your body inwards to your abdomen.
3. Hands-on your head, pull your shoulders back and lift your knees to a 90-degree angle upwards.
4. With your feet off the ground, rotate your legs in a bicycle-motion as if you are pedaling in the air. Remember to angle it above your hips.
5. Turn your torso as you aim your knee up towards your elbow, then proceed to repeat the motion to the other side.
6. Repeat.
Burpees
This Calisthenics type of exercise relies on your whole body’s weight for resistance. It also effectively hits every muscle in your body, making it an excellent cardio exercise to add to your cutting workout plan.
How to Do it:
1. Prop your body in a squat position with your feet and shoulders complete apart to gain momentum.
2. With your hands lowered towards the floor, proceed to kick your feet so that you’re in a push-up position.
3. Harden your core by keeping your body erect as possible from head to toe before doing one push-up.
4. Kick your feet backward before landing them back firmly on the floor until you are standing again with a quick jump.
5. Land with your knees bent and repeat.
Mountain Climbers
Mountain Climbers is an excellent full-body exercise that works on multiple muscle groups all at once. It improves your body’s overall strength in the arms, shoulders, core, and quads. This heart-pumping exercise can help you burn fat in all the right places.
How to Do it:
1. In a plank position, keep your weight evenly distributed. Prop your hands a shoulder-width apart.
2. Tighten your core, and be sure to keep your back as straight as possible.
3. Draw in your knee towards your chest and set a motion of having one knee out to having another knee in as fast as you can.
4. Remember to keep your breathing in check as you do this exercise.
Push-ups
This compound exercise is one of the best exercises you should add to your workout plan. Push-ups burn calories and it keeps your whole body, especially your core, engaged. It grants you multiple health benefits from strength gains to fat loss.
How to Do it:
1. Prone your body on the floor and have your back as flat as possible.
2. Remember to keep your core tight and your body straight.
3. Proceed to bend your arms and inhale as you lower yourself to the floor with your elbows at a 90-degree angle.
4. With an exhale, push your body back-up slowly. Keep in mind to prevent your elbows from locking.
HIIT
A HIIT or High-Intensity Interval Training involves doing a series of exercises with minimum rest time. The great thing about doing a HIIT workout is that you can do it for 15 minutes and get maximum benefits from whole-body training in a short period. Studies have also shown that your body continues to burn more calories throughout the day after executing your HIIT workout.
Surely, Steady-State Cardio is good for our body as well, which one is better for belly fat between Steady-State Cardio vs. HIIT?
Yoga
Having Yoga as a daily part of your routine not only reaps maximum benefits for your mental and spiritual health, but it does have the capacity to burn calories as well! A study from Sage Journals regarding Yoga in the Management of Overweight and Obesity found that doing yoga can help you reduce stress and weight loss by burning calories, which may help you be more health-conscious about eating.
Dancing
Dancing is the most fun and entertaining way you can do to burn belly fat fast. From aerobics to Zumba or any workout dance you may find on Youtube can offer you a ton of benefits from putting you in an excellent mood, sheds a positive light to exercise, and giving you maximum results by reducing your belly fat significantly over time.
Running
Running is the best cardio exercise that you can add to your daily routine. It is one of the most used types of exercise for building strength, endurance, and weight loss all into one as it puts all of the muscles in your body into high gear.
You can undoubtedly get a flat stomach by running just about 20 to 30 minutes a day. Moreover, it would push your body enough to turn your residual fat into energy and enable you to burn your belly fat faster.
Well, running is one of best way for your health body, but how to start running ?
Walking
It might be a daily activity that we often overlook since it is a part of our daily lives from getting from place to place. However still, walking helps you burn more calories than you might think. If you are uncomfortable with running as an exercise, then walking is the best bet for you. For example, if you walk a mile for about 20 minutes, this will trigger your body to dig into your fat reserves for energy; that’s why it is an excellent form of exercise you can add to your day. So you can get a flat stomach by walking.
Bottom Line
Losing belly fat is difficult, but when done right, it can give you the flat and toned stomach you are looking for! And it doesn’t matter at all how long it would take for you to lose belly fat; again, it’s different for everyone. But that doesn’t make you a lost cause. As long as you do the right diet combined with the perfect exercise, you’ll burn your belly fat in no time.
