4 Scientific Reasons for Belly Fat

We all know that eating too much and moving too little is the foundation upon which flab is built. But there’s more to the belly fat equation than ‘calories in and calories out’. Certain stressors, for example, will see you scaling your belt notches with very little effort. Here’s what you should look out for.

1. You’re Eating Trans Fats

If antioxidants are the good guys of gut health, trans fats are the super-villains. These sneaky fats actively contribute to your growing waist line – not just by adding new fat, but by moving fat from other areas of your body to your belly. During a six-year study at Wake Forest University, monkeys that were fed an 8 per cent trans-fat diet had 33 per cent more belly fat than monkeys that were fed an 8 per cent monounsaturated fat diet.

There are currently no legal requirements for food manufacturers to label trans fats, according to the British Dietetic Association, so you need to check ingredients lists for hydrogenated fats and hydrogenated vegetable oils. The biggest culprits? Your ‘cheat day’ favourites: cakes, biscuits, ice cream, popcorn, pies, fried food, fast food and takeaways.

2. You’re Seriously Stressed

When your cortisol levels are through the roof, it triggers the release of insulin, and this is where things go awry. Initially, the ‘fight-or-flight’ response shuts down your digestive system so you can deal with the “threat”, like a very hungry lion or, more realistically, a presentation at work. Once the danger has passed, your body seeks to replenish the hundreds of calories you burned fighting to the death/sweating at the thought of speaking in front of your colleagues and makes you ravenously hungry.

Since your blood sugar levels are now super low (thanks insulin) and your reward centres are blinkered (thanks cortisol) you wind up face-planting the biscuit tin rather than the fruit bowl. To make matters worse, cortisol helps to release myostatin, a protein that breaks down muscle.

3. You’re Drinking Too Much Alcohol

Can one too many pints really earn you a beer belly? Well, yes. As you gulp down your drink, your body turns the alcohol into acetate, which your body can’t store. It becomes your primary energy source, and the proteins, carbs and fats swirling around your digestive system are converted to fat by default.

Factor in the excess calories from your drinks (around seven per gram) – with the gut-busting kebab you pick up on the way home (‘drunk hunger’ is a real, proven thing) and suddenly you’re looking at excess fat storage.

Not only does a night on the sauce send your cortisol levels through the roof, it saps your testosterone, which means you’ll find it more difficult to build lean muscle and burn fat as fuel.

4. You’ve Got Too Much of the Wrong Gut Bacteria

Most of the bacteria that dwell in your gut are pretty useful. They produce hormones, regulate your immune system, digest food, extract nutrients, control your mood, manage your appetite and much more besides.

Now, two groups of beneficial bacteria are dominant in the human gut, the bacteroidetes and the firmicutes. However, the number of bacteroidetes is decreased in obese people when compared with lean people, according to research.

In another study, scientists took stool samples from 1300 twins and found that the less diverse your gut bacteria, the more likely you are to have belly fat. Grow your gut community to shed serious timber.

20 Scientifically-backed Ways to Lose Belly Fat

If you’re serious about banishing your ‘belly fat’ and improving your health, surviving on salad and hitting the treadmill for hours on end is a miserable (and highly inefficient) way to go about it.

Here’s twenty scientifically-backed ways to shift belly fat.

1. Hike up Your Metabolism

Your ultimate goal is to hike up your metabolism, but it’s important to know that your diet, how much muscle you have, how well you manage stress, and your quality of sleep all play a part in this.

2. Eat More Protein

Prioritise lean protein like beef, turkey, eggs, fish, chicken, and tofu. University of Missouri researchers compared the benefits of consuming a normal-protein breakfast to a high-protein breakfast and found the high-protein breakfast, which contained 35 grams of protein, prevented weight gain, reduced daily food intake and feelings of hunger and stabilised glucose levels among overweight teens who would normally skip breakfast.

Don’t know your steak from your salmon when it comes to deciphering protein, fats, and carbs? You need our ultimate guide to tracking your macros.

3. Eat Fewer Refined Carbohydrates

Limit foods high in refined carbohydrates and refined sugar (white bread, white pasta, white rice), and replace them with high fibre ‘complex carbs’ – think: whole grains, brown rice, sweet potato, oats, beans and pulses. Fill your boots with as many vegetables as possible – they’re low calorie, high in micronutrients, and the fibre in them will keep you full.

Snack on portion-controlled fruit, seeds and nuts. One study found that snacking on 42g of almonds per day (instead of munching on something high-carb with equal calories) helped to reduce belly fat and improved cholesterol levels. “The high levels of fibre are proven to combat excess calorie consumption later in the day,” says registered dietitian Lucy Jones.

4. Go Mediterranean

A 2019 review of evidence on the Mediterranean diet concluded that it «is associated with numerous health benefits and has been demonstrated to exert a preventive effect towards numerous pathologies, including obesity». Better yet, the diet boosts the number of healthy bacteria in your gut – a study published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition saw levels rise by up to seven per cent, compared with a western diet.

5. Eat Regularly

It’s also important to make sure you’re eating regularly. Avoid very low-calorie diets or ‘crash diets’, advises Reddy. “Periods of starvation can lower your metabolism and prevent you losing weight.”

6. Up the Intensity of Your Workout

Focus on increasing physical activity and building muscle to burn belly fat, recommends Reddy. “Mild activity such as walking is poor at burning fat due to its low energy consumption whilst intense cardio training will consume energy and increase metabolic rate after exercise,” he says.

7. Lift Weights too

Of course upping the intensity of your workouts will have a great affect on your body fat percentage, but balance your high-intensity workouts with weight lifting sessions and you’re onto a winner. Researchers at Harvard University followed more than 10,500 men over a 12 year period, and found that those who added 20 minutes of weight training to their regular cardio workout gained less age-related belly fat than those who pounded the treadmill.

Focus on compound moves like deadlifts, squats, kettlebell swings, lunges, chest presses, shoulder presses — compound exercises that work your entire body rather than isolating muscles. Like we’ve already said, you can’t ‘spot-reduce’ fat so endless crunches will do little for getting rid of your belly. For best results split your sessions over different days.

Not sure where to start? Our beginner’s guide to lifting weights will have you pumping iron like a pro before you know it.

7. Learn How to Manage Stress

You don’t have to take a three-month sabbatical in Bali or enrol on a ‘breathing class’ in a Scandi Yogi retreat to find inner calm. You don’t even have to meditate (though it’ll almost certainly help). If a few minutes of deep-belly breathing in a quiet spot doesn’t chill you out, try a bodyweight workout or taking a walk around the block. Exercise boosts your circulation, transporting cortisol to your kidneys, which flush it out.

8. Slow Down Your Eating

Eating slowly will also help cinch your waist, too. Inhaling croissants while run-walking to work will do little to satiate you – not that you’ll do much digesting anyway, with all that cortisol flooding your system. Instead, by making time to eat and focusing on your food (that also means not scrolling through Instagram), you’ll wind up eating less and you’ll feel fuller for longer.

9. Get Quality Sleep

Multiple studies have shown an association between short sleep and weight gain. When you’re low on Zzz’s, activity in the brain’s frontal lobe (the sensible decision-making part) is impaired. At the same time, the more ‘primal’ parts of your brain that deal with things like desire and motivation are lit up like the Blackpool Illuminations.

Inadequate sleep also wreaks havoc on your metabolism. When the body doesn’t get enough rest, it conserves energy by slowing down basic functions. The combination of untameable cravings, little willpower and inefficient processing is an open invitation for fat storage. Follow our advice to improve your sleep tonight.

10. Eat Naturally

11. Manage Your Cravings

Can’t stop snacking? It’s these habits that could be leading you to gain weight without you knowing it. A high-protein diet, for example, can help nix these hunger pangs — as the macronutrient decreases activity in the area of the brain that’s responsible for cravings.

12. Avoid Trans Fats

If you’ve been paying attention then you’ll know it’s best to avoid trans fats, but as well as a way of getting rid of your gut, avoiding trans fats also lowered the risk of inflammation, heart disease, insulin resistance and abdominal fat gain in both observational and animal studies.

13. Curb Your Drinking

They don’t call it a beer belly for no reason, so if you want to lose some size around your gut you can do worse than watching how much you drink. A study published in the European Journal of Nutrition found that «alcohol consumption in elevated amounts was associated with risk of abdominal obesity in men».

14. Stop Drinking Sugary Drinks

If there’s a hierarchy of sugary goods, then sugary drugs would sit even higher than sugary foods. However, even a small change to your habits here can make a big difference. That was proved in a study by researchers at Virginia Tech, which looked at the benefits of replacing just one sugary drink with water.

«We found that among US adults who consume one serving of sugar-sweetened beverages per day, replacing that drink with water lowered the percent of calories coming from drinks from 17 to 11%,» said study author Kiyah J. Duffey. «Even those who consumed more sugary drinks per day could still benefit from water replacement, dropping the amount of calories coming from beverages to less than 25% of their daily caloric intake.»

15. Try Intermittent Fasting

We’re not here to suggest that any fad diet will deliver the slim waist you crave, and ultimately the best diet is one you can stick to, but if you’re looking for a way to structure your eating then intermittent fasting may be the answer.

A study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago found that dieters who only ate between 10am and 6pm consumed around 350 fewer calories a day and lost about 3% of their body weight over a 12-week period.

16. Don’t Let Diets Take Over

If you find every spare second is given over to thinking about calories, plans and cutting, then maybe the best thing you can do is to take a break from dieting. Research by the University of Tasmania revealed that people who broke from their diet every two weeks and aimed to just keep their weight stable during that period lost more weight and gained less back when their diets had finished.

17. Set Targets

If you’re looking to lose belly fat, it’s important to know where you’ve come from and where you want to get to, so there’s nothing wrong with setting yourself a target, even if it’s ambitious. In fact, a study published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics found setting targets increased the likelihood of achieving «clinically significant weight loss» and, for some, setting ‘unrealistic’ targets improved their results.

18. Lose Weight with Friends

If you struggle to lose weight on your own, consider making it a team effort. According to a study published in the journal Obesity during a 12-week, team-based weight loss competition, getting encouragement from teammate increased the odds of achieving clinically significant weight loss by 20%.

«In our study, weight loss clearly clustered within teams, which suggests that teammates influenced each other, perhaps by providing accountability, setting expectations of weight loss and providing encouragement and support.»

19. Celebrate Little Wins

Although you’re ultimate goal may be to go from loose to lean, you don’t have to wait until you’ve achieved that to start celebrating. A study by the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that people who break their goals down and celebrate smaller achievements were more successful at gradually losing weight and were able to keep it off in the long run.

20. Combine All of the Above

No one method is going to get rid of your belly for you, so if you want to see results you’re going to have to take heed of the above advice and make changes to your diet, training and lifestyle as a whole.

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How to Lose Belly Fat – 19 Science Backed Ways

Are you looking for strategies to help you lose belly fat and get a flat stomach by running?

You are not alone!

In fact, a lot of beginners take up running because they want to lose weight and get a flat belly.

It makes perfect sense why.

When it comes to losing weight, it’s hard to beat running.

You can burn up to 600 to 800 calories while running, depending on your factors such as your size, training intensity, and fitness level.

But long runs alone aren’t going to help you lose that belly fat.

In fact, you need to back up your plan with the right diet and lifestyle changes—or else, you’ll fail miserably.

And you don’t want that.

In today’s post, I’m sharing with you some of the most effective ways to get rid of that stubborn belly fat and get a flat stomach.

But first things first, let’s discuss what’s belly fat as well as some of the dangers it poses.

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Then Check my Runners Blueprint System Here.

What’s Belly Fat?

Belly fat, or “visceral fat” in medical terms—is the most dangerous fat there is.

This lethal fat accumulates in the abdominal area and envelopes your organs.

Surveys show that 30 percent of U.S. adults are classified as obese.

That’s just over one in three people, making the US one of the fattest countries in the world.

Probability, half the population of the US will be obese by 2040.

This fat not only affects how you look, but it’s also a significant risk factor for many serious diseases, including:

How To Lose Belly Fat And Get A Flat Stomach

Here is a list of smart habits that will help you get rid of that dad’s bod and enjoy a sexier stomach.

*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I’d use myself and all opinions expressed here are our own.

Part 1 – Diet Changes to Get A Flat Stomach

The kitchen is the heart of the house and also where the battle for losing belly fat is won or lost.

Make the following changes to your nutrition plan and see your belly slimming down as a result.

1. Remove The Sugars

One of the best things you can do right now to get a flat stomach as soon as possible is to reduce your daily sugar intake.

Don’t take my word for it.

Here are a few studies:

Action Step

Cut back (or eliminate them for good) on all forms of refined and processed calories, including white bread, cookies, waffles, muffins, candy, chips, bagels, pastries, cakes, donuts, pasta, crackers, junk & fried foods and any other processed foods you get in a bag or a box.

I know that’s a lot, but you can do it in a slow manner.

2. Banish Liquid Calories

These liquid calories come in just about any form—soda, coffee, energy drinks, fruit juice, beer, and other sugar-sweetened beverages.

Liquid sugars are the worst as they don’t get “indexed” by the brain in the same way as it would index solid food.

In short, you end up taking in a lot of extra calories without even taking notice.

Even diet coke is bad for you.

A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that people who consumed diet soda on a regular basis gained about triple the amount of fat over a period of nine years as those who didn’t drink it.

That’s why I said any form of sugar, even artificial.

Action Step

Eat what’s essential and good for you.

Limit your intake of all sources of liquid calories, and that includes coke, sports drinks, beer, alcohol, juice, coffees, and other forms of sugar-sweetened drinks.

Instead, drink water.

Note – Looking for the best Beginner’s Guide To Running?
Then Check my Runners Blueprint System Here.

3. Eat More Healthy Fats

Are you in the habit of skimping on fats because you want to lose weight? That’s a big mistake

The truth is, not all fats are bad for you.

In fact, you need fats as much as you need carbs and proteins in your diet.

Healthy fats increase satiety levels, improve fat burning, increase metabolism, regulate blood sugar levels, etc.

Research published in the journal Diabetic Care reported that a diet rich in monounsaturated fats is more effective at regulating blood sugar levels than a high-carb diet

Another study published in the medical journal Appetite revealed that long-chain omega-3 fats could help control hunger.

Action Step

Healthy fats are abundant in:

4. Count Your Calories

Let’s be honest, we are terrible at guesstimating the amount of calories consumed during a meal, and the number of calories burnt during a workout.

Research out of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center found that subjects who kept track of calories consumed still missed roughly 18 percent of them.

Further research also has shown that people—both those who are overweight or those within a healthy weight—tend to overestimate the amount of calories burnt during exercise.

So, you are not alone.

Action Step

Learn how to log smarter.

There is a wide range of apps and online resources to help you simplify the calorie counting process—provided that you’re willing to engage in it regularly.

Here are a few apps and websites:

To figure out how many calories you should eat each day, use this calculator

5. Eat A High-Protein Diet

Protein is an essential nutrient that not only helps you build muscle but also loses weight.

During an experiment published in The FASEB Journal, female subjects were instructed to follow a diet for two months that consisted of roughly 30 percent protein, 30 percent fat, and 40 percent carb.

While the control group stuck to a diet that was 16 percent protein, 26 percent fat, and 55 percent carbs.

Result shown that the first group lost drastically more fat—including belly fat—than the other group without losing muscle mass.

Action Step

As a general guideline, roughly 30 to 35 percent of calories should come from lean sources of quality protein.

6. Eat Probiotics

Probiotics are various types of healthy bacteria found in a variety of foods and supplements.

These have a lot to offer, but more importantly, they help reduce tummy fat.

In research published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, subjects had two cups per day of fermented milk containing Lactobacillus Gasseri, (a probiotic strain), for a period of three months.

The subjects reported a reduction in abdominal visceral fat by roughly 4.6 percent and subcutaneous fat by just over 3 percent.

Another research shows the supportive result that: Probiotics are not only conducive to weight loss, but also work very well for belly fat.

Let’s say its like a detoxing agent.

Action Step

You need to support the growth of probiotic bacteria by eating plenty of prebiotic foods that naturally pack in a lot of soluble fiber.

7. Try Intermittent Fasting

A review of research conducted on intermittent fasting reported that subjects experienced a 4 to 7 percent reduction in abdominal fat within a period of two to six months.

Another research published in the journal Cell Research revealed that intermittent fasting could cause drastic weight loss in just weeks in a mice group who were fed a typical diet for two days, followed by a 24-hour fast.

So, how does IF work?

Intermittent fasting is effective due to a mix of the following mechanisms:

Action Step

In the past few years, I’ve experimented with a few different IF schedules, and this is my personal favorite as it’s easy to implement once your body has adjusted to the new eating approach.

The 16/8 method involves fasting for 16 hours per day, then having all of your meals in an 8 hour period.

For example, you could restrict your food intake to the hours of 1 pm to 9 pm.

So, basically, you’re just hopping breakfast and making lunch your first meal of the day.

Sure, feel free to drink your coffee in the morning—but that’s it.

Try to refrain from any sugar or sweets for breakfast if you don’t want to spend the remaining hours with hunger pangs.

I know there are a lot of IF variations, but 16/8 is the best and easiest form for beginners.

How Do I Become a Better Runner?

The answer to that question lies within my Runners Blueprint System.

My system was specially designed for beginners who either want to start running or take their training to the next level, but have little clue on how to do it.

And don’t worry, my ebook is written in a conversational, jargon-free, style. All you need to do is download it, follow the simple instructions, then start seeing results ASAP.

Here’s what it includes :

Click HERE to get started with The Runners Blueprint System today!

8. Drink Green Tea

When it comes to healthy beverages, green tea tops the list.

I’m talking about pure green tea, no latte, no frappe.

Just classic green tea ala Japan.

Research reported that drinking green tea can increase metabolism by up to 4 percent.

It may not seem as much, but it adds up.

What’s more?

According to research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, subjects who drank green tea with caffeine saw their weight drop and also reduced their belly fat more than those who only had caffeine.

Action Step

Shoot for 600 mg—or the equivalent of two to three cups of green tea per day.

For those with insomnia, try to have it gradually so you won’t disrupt your sleeping pattern.

9. Eat Plenty of Soluble Fiber

An experiment, published in the journal Obesity, reported that for every ten grams increase in soluble fiber intake per day, subjects were able to reduce their tummy fat by roughly 3.7 percent over a period of five years.

Examples of ten grams of soluble fiber include two servings of black beans, two small apples, and two cups of asparagus

Another study published in the Journal of Nutrition revealed that subjects who consumed more fiber from whole grains and cereals had less body fat and belly fat than those who skipped the fiber.

Action Step

Soluble fiber can be found in different foods, including:

10. Eat Fatty Fish

A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition that found that consuming omega-3 fatty acids from fatty fish, like mackerel, is effective at reducing visceral fat.

You can also turn to fish oil supplements if you can’t find a good fish source.

Research conducted on subjects with liver fatty diseases reported that fish oil supplements could drastically reduce abdominal and liver fat.

Action Step

Aim for, at least, three servings of fatty fish per week to get enough levels of omega-3’s.

Here are the few:

11. Go Easy on The Alcohol

They call it a beer belly for a reason.

A single serving of wine, beer, or spirits can pack in roughly 120 to 150 calories, and if you tend to overindulge, you can end with severe calorie overload.

A study published in Obesity found that alcoholic drinks make your brain more sensitive to the smell of food, increasing appetite.

Action Step

I’m not saying that you should give up beer altogether.

But a little moderation can go a long way in helping you get a flat stomach.

Part 2 – Exercise Strategies To Get a Flat Stomach

The way you run, and exercise in general, also matters when it comes to burning belly fat.

Apply the following strategies to ensure you’re making the most out of your sweat time.

12. Do Intervals

Running is great for burning calories and reducing belly fat, but to get the most out of it, those 45-minute long runs at a steady pace is not the best way to go.

Instead, do intervals by alternating between high-intensity bursts of running and slow jogging or walking for recovery.

Not only good for speed work, according to studies, intervals are proven to reduce belly fat and boost metabolism.

Action Step

Start with a proper warm-up of 5 to 10 minutes of slow jogging to raise your core temperature and get your muscles ready for the task ahead.

Go hard for 30 seconds, then rest for one minute, then go hard again.

Shoot for 8 or 9 on the RPE scale.

Repeat the process for 15 to 20 minutes. Don’t forget a proper cool down.

Note – Looking for the best Beginner’s Guide To Running?
Then Check my Runners Blueprint System Here.

13. No More Crunches

Classic ab exercises like sit-ups and crunches can strengthen your abs, but they’re not the most efficient exercises you can do to help you lose belly fat.

So what kind of ab exercises you should be doing?

You need exercises that engage multiple muscle groups and also challenge your cardiovascular system, so you end up burning off more calories.

These also work well for building strength in the core muscles—upper and lower abs, obliques, glutes.

Action Step

One of the best core exercises in the world is the good ol’ planks, where you hold yourself in a standard push-up position, core engaged, back flat, forearms resting firmly on the ground.

Planks cannot only hit your core hard, but they also activate your legs, chest, and shoulders.

Alignment first, strength later.

If you are beginner, then start with 3 to 5 sets of plank hold for 20 to 30 seconds each.

As you get stronger, hold it for longer and try adding in more variations.

14. Try HIIT Bodyweight Training

High-intensity interval training, as the name implies, consists of alternating between intense exercise intervals with recovery periods of low-intensity training.

Greek researchers found that performing intervals helped subjects lose more belly fat than moderate steady-state cardio training.

Another research published in the Journal of Sports & Physical Fitness showed that HIIT style workouts increase metabolism.

This means you continue burning calories at a higher rate for several hours post-workout.

Action Step

You can copy my bodyweight routine below and do reps as many as possible with good form.

Take 20 seconds of rest between each exercise, then rest for one to two minutes between each round.

Aim for six to eight rounds

15. Perform Resistance Training

Research reported that resistance training to be super beneficial for people with prediabetes, type II diabetes, and other metabolic issues.

For instance, this experiment revealed that a mix of strength training and cardio exercise is most effective in reducing visceral fat in overweight teenagers.

Action Step

Incorporate the following guidelines into your training program:

Lifestyle Changes To Get a Flat Stomach

Your everyday lifestyle choices can also affect your belly fat loss results.

I’m sharing with you below the exact measures you need to take to get your lifestyle up to speed.

The sweat will be for nothing if you neglect your lifestyle.

16. Sleep Well

According to a study published in the journal Sleep, people how logged six to seven hours of sleep during the night’s time had the lowest levels of visceral fat.

The researchers concluded that sleeping above or below that range was linked to more belly fat, and those who slept less than 5 hours reported the worst numbers.

In a 16-year study, 68,000 women who logged in less than five hours of sleep per night were likely to gain weight than those who slept seven hours or longer per night.

Research also has associated sleep deprivation with a number of conditions that contribute to excess visceral fats.

Action Step

Here is what you need to ensure that you are getting enough sleep.

17. Reduce Stress

A study from the Ohio State University revealed that stress could hinder you from losing weight, or even add more pounds, by disturbing healthy hormone regulation.

It will make you hungry as your body keeps on releasing cortisol as long as the stress continues.

The bad news is when you are stressed out, you will tend to go for high-fat, high-calorie treats, and foods because these foods stimulate the brain to release good-feel chemicals that ease the tension.

Action Step

Here are a few things you can do here:

18. Set Challenging Goals

Research reported in the Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics suggested that the key to long-term weight loss is setting challenging goals.

The study, led by researchers at Nottingham University, assessed the impact of goal setting in roughly 24,000 overweight participants for a 12-month duration.

The following conclusion:

Also, this falls within the expert recommendation for a safe weight loss of one to two pounds per week.

Action Step

As a rule of thumb, start out by setting short-term fat loss goals.

These shorter, mini, goals are gradual achievements that lead up to your ultimate goals.

A good example would be to lose one pound per week.

That might not seem like much, but it adds up.

Keep that weight loss consistent for three months, and you’ll achieve the longer-term goal of shedding 10 to 12 pounds, in other words, aim for 10-20% from your old bodyweight.

You should expect slow, gradual weight loss, but not instant results. Everything instant are never good.

Note – Looking for the best Beginner’s Guide To Running?
Then Check my Runners Blueprint System Here.

19. Stay Consistent

Consistency at its best!

The key to shedding the pounds and keeping them off is consistently losing a small amount each week, according to research conducted at the Drexel University.

Duing the experiment, a group of 183 overweight participants went on a weight loss plan for a year.

In the end, subjects who shed a consistent amount of weight over the first two months of the experiment ended up losing more weight than the yo-yo dieters, despite the latter group reporting bigger weight loss results to start.

Further research on achievement and personal success shows that the most successful people in the world—those you might consider lucky—possess a tremendous level of perseverance.

Never give up before you even start it.

Action Step

Make exercise a daily must remove junk foods from your life, do the work, and you’ll see improvement, but just not right away.

It’s okay to have some time for recreational foods or cheating day, but please limit it as much as possible.

Today’s post is full of useful strategies to help you burn belly fat and get a flat stomach.

But it’s up to you to get started on the path.

Eat right, exercise often and take care of your body.

The rest is just details.

Bonus Tip: How Do I Become a Better Runner?

The answer to that question lies within my Runners Blueprint System.

My system was specially designed for beginners who either want to start running or take their training to the next level, but have little clue on how to do it.

And don’t worry, my ebook is written in a conversational, jargon-free, style. All you need to do is download it, follow the simple instructions, then start seeing results ASAP.

Here’s what it includes :

Click HERE to get started with The Runners Blueprint System today!
Conclusion

I think that’s it for today.

Don’t worry, I will be writing more about running and weight loss in the near future.

Please do your best to put into action what you just learned so you can lose your belly fat and enjoy a flat stomach.

In the meantime, thank you for reading my post.

Feel free to leave your comments and questions below.

22 Tips to Lose Belly Fat Without Dieting

A slimmer waist, flat stomach, healthier body, and reduced risk of chronic disease start today with these healthy tips to lose belly fat that are supported by science.

Let’s face it: that marshmallowy middle didn’t get there overnight. Stressful days at the office, indulging in one-too-many cheat meals, or finding excuses to skip a day, week, or even a month’s worth of workouts are all making it easy to pack on the pounds—and making it difficult to get them off.

Watching that extra junk add up around your belly can put you at an increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, and early death. Luckily, losing weight and shedding belly fat doesn’t have to take forever.

Read on for 22 effective, diet-free tips for losing belly fat fast and naturally.

Start Your Day Early

Don’t let extra hours lounging in bed stand between you and a flatter stomach. While getting enough sleep can help boost your metabolic rate, sleeping in may undo any benefit you’d enjoy from catching a few extra winks. One Obesity study reveals that late sleepers who snoozed past 10:45 in the morning ate nearly 250 more calories over the course of the day, despite eating half as many fruits and vegetables as their early bird counterparts. Even worse, they chowed down on more salty, sugary, and trans-fat-laden fast food than those who woke up earlier. If you happen to head out of the house early, you’re in for an additional metabolic boost; researchers at Northwestern University have found that people exposed to just a short period of early morning sunlight had lower BMIs than their late-waking counterparts.

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Eat More Berries Loaded With Antioxidants

Instead of satisfying your sweet tooth with refined sugar, turn to berries and enjoy a slimmer waistline in no time without exercise. Berries are loaded with antioxidants, which can help reduce inflammation throughout the body, and research from the University of Michigan reveals that rats given a cherry-rich diet shaved off a significant proportion of their belly fat when compared to a control group. Berries like strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries are also loaded with resveratrol, an antioxidant pigment that has been linked to reductions in belly fat and a reduced risk of dementia, to boot.

Avoid Trans Fat & Hydrogenated Oils

Those trans fats on your menu are hiding out in plain sight and sabotaging your lean belly plans every time you eat them. If a food product says it contains partially hydrogenated oils, you’re eating trans fat, which can increase your risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, and obesity with every bite. In fact, research conducted at Wake Forest University reveals that monkeys whose diets contained eight percent trans fat upped their body fat by 7.2 percent over a six-year study, while those who ate monounsaturated fat gained just a fraction of that amount. Instead of letting harmful trans fat take up space on your menu, fill up with these healthy fats.

Switch to Sprouted Bread

While it’s often assumed that bread is off-limits when you’re trying to lose belly fat, the right bread may actually expedite the process. Switching to sprouted bread can help carb-lovers eager to get their fix without going up a belt size, thanks to the inulin content of sprouted grains. The results of a study published in Nutrition & Metabolism reveal that pre-diabetic study subjects whose diets were supplemented with inulin shaved off more belly fat and total weight than those whose meal plans didn’t pack this healthy prebiotic fiber.

Lift Weights

Do you even lift, bro? If you’re serious about getting rid of that belly fat fast, resistance training might just be the key. A study from the Harvard School of Public Health found that adding weight training to adult male test subjects’ workouts significantly reduced their risk of abdominal obesity over a multi-year study period, although doing the same amount of cardio had no such effect. Research from the University of Maryland even found that just 16 weeks of weight training boosted study participants’ metabolic rates by a whopping 7.7 percent, making it easier to ditch those extra inches around your middle.

Stop Adding Sweeteners to Your Food and Drinks

While many people turn to artificial sweeteners in a misguided attempt to whittle their waistlines, those fake sugars are likely to have the opposite effect. According to Yale researchers, artificial sweeteners are actually linked with an increased risk of abdominal obesity and weight gain, possibly because they can trigger cravings for the real stuff and spike insulin levels in a similar fashion to real sugar.

Eat More Fiber

The secret to a slimmer stomach in no time? A whole lot of fiber in your diet. Although many people are loath to add carbs to their diet when they’re trying to lose weight, adding the right, fiber-rich foods can help you to reduce belly fat quickly.

Here are high-fiber foods you should eat to lose stomach fat fast:

In fact, researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center found that every 10-gram daily increase in soluble fiber was associated with a 3.7 percent decrease in dangerous visceral fat over five years. Those who were active got even leaner, shaving off twice that much fat in the same amount of time. To start ditching that extra belly fat today, add the best high-fiber foods to your menu!

Swap Ketchup for Salsa

Sure, ketchup is tasty, but it’s also a serious saboteur when it comes to your weight loss efforts. Ketchup is loaded with sugar — up to four grams per tablespoon — and bears little nutritional resemblance to the fruit from which it’s derived. Luckily, swapping out your ketchup for salsa can help you shave off that belly fat at home without a diet. Fresh tomatoes, like those used in salsa, are loaded with lycopene, which a study conducted at China Medical University in Taiwan links to reductions in both overall fat and waist circumference. If you like your salsa spicy, all the better; the capsaicin in hot peppers, like jalapeños and chipotles, can boost your metabolism, too.

Get More Vitamin D

While few would suggest you start hitting up the tanning beds for better health, getting some natural sunlight can help you get rid of belly fat in a matter of weeks. Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that vitamin D-deficient overweight women between 50 and 75 who upped their intake of the so-called sunshine vitamin shed more weight and body fat than those who didn’t. To practice safe sun, make sure you’re limiting yourself to 15 sunscreen-free minutes per day. 6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Eat More Nuts

Sometimes, to whip your body into shape, you have to get a little nutty. While nuts are high in fat, it’s that very fat that makes them such powerful weapons in the war against a ballooning belly. In fact, a study published in Diabetes Care revealed that study participants who consumed a diet rich in monounsaturated fats, like those found in nuts, over a 28-day period gained less belly fat than their saturated fat-consuming counterparts while also improving their insulin sensitivity.

Try a High-Intensity Fat Burn Exercise Routine

Instead of subjecting yourself to another endless workout, crank up the intensity and you’ll see results faster than you ever thought possible.

These are the most effective exercises that can help you lose stomach fat fast and get rid of unwanted calories:

The results of a PLOS One study conducted at McMaster University in Ontario reveal that adult male study subjects who exercised intensely for a single minute had equivalent respiratory and metabolic changes to those who worked out at a slower pace for close to an hour, so if you want to burn through that belly fat, say so long to slow and steady.

Flavor Your Food With Garlic

A little garlic in your meals could mean a lot less weight around your middle. The results of a Korean study found that mice given a high-fat diet supplemented with garlic lost significantly more weight and abdominal fat than those who just ate fatty foods. Even better, they also improved their liver health, making it easier to stay healthy and burn off that excess fat in the long term. For more flavorful ways to make your food more enjoyable, turn to the metabolism-boosting spicy recipes and watch those pounds melt away.

Brush Your Teeth

Keeping a toothbrush handy can do more than polish up that smile (and counter the effects of all that belly-slimming garlic); brushing your teeth throughout the day can also help you ditch that belly fat fast. A study conducted by a sample of over 14,000 participants found that brushing after every meal was linked to lower weight. That minty toothpaste flavor not only clashes with virtually every food, but brushing may also trigger a Pavlovian response that tells your brain the kitchen’s closed.

Eat More Omega-3s with Fish

If you’ve got weight to lose and you want it gone fast, try swapping out your usual proteins in favor of fish. Not only is fish lower in calories than an equivalent amount of beef or chicken, but a study published in Obesity also reveals study subjects who added omega-3 fatty acids, like those found in fish, to their diets shed more weight and had an easier time keeping it off than those who skipped them.

Keep Whole Grains in Your Diet

You don’t have to go low-carb to ditch those extra pounds around your waist in a short period of time.

To get rid of belly fat, ditch refined grains like white bread and white rice, and eat more whole grains such as:

In fact, opting for more whole grains might just get you there faster. Researchers at Tufts University have linked eating three or more daily servings of whole grains to as much as a 10 percent reduction in visceral body fat, the kind that ups your risk for chronic diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

Add Some Acidic Foods

Don’t buy your tickets to Bonnaroo just yet; the kind of acid that will help you slim down is the stuff right inside your cabinet. A 12-week study published in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry revealed that obese study subjects who made vinegar part of their diet dropped more belly fat than a control group, and other research suggests that acidic foods, like vinegar, can increase the human carbohydrate metabolism by as much as 40%.

Snack on Veggies

Your parents weren’t kidding about how important veggies are for a healthy body. What they probably didn’t tell you, however, was that snacking on veggies is also one of the easiest ways to shed unwanted belly fat, too. According to a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, opting for non-starchy veggies, like cauliflower, broccoli, and cucumber, as snacks helped overweight kids shed 17% of their visceral fat while improving their insulin sensitivity over a five-year period. Think snacking on veggies will leave you hungry? The 20 Most Filling Fruits and Veggies will have your belly satisfied in no time.

Consume a Combo of Calcium and Vitamin D

Say cheese! Adding some extra calcium and vitamin D to your diet could be the best way to get the flat stomach you’ve been dreaming about. Over just 12 months, researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville found that obese female study subjects who upped their calcium intake shed 11 pounds of body fat without other major dietary modifications. To keep your calcium choices healthy, try mixing it up between dairy sources, calcium-rich leafy greens, fatty fish, nuts, and seeds.

Snack on Tart Cherries

That sour cherry is pretty sweet when it comes to your health. The results of a study conducted at the University of Michigan found that rats given high-fat foods along with tart cherries ditched nine percent more body fat than those in a control group over just 12 weeks. Cherries are also a good source of antioxidant pigment resveratrol, which has been linked to reductions in belly fat, dementia risk, and lower rates of macular degeneration among the elderly.

Ramp Up Your Cardio Exercise

You don’t have to be the next Usain Bolt in the making to enjoy some serious belly-slimming results from hitting the track from time to time. Even a moderate-rate jog a few times a week can blast through that belly fat; in fact, a study conducted at Duke University Medical Center found that, over the course of an eight-month study, overweight adult study subjects who jogged 12 miles a week lost the most belly fat and burned 67 percent more calories than participants who did an equivalent amount of resistance exercise, or a combination of cardio and resistance work.

Get More Sleep

Want to lose that belly fat fast? In your dreams! Seriously, though: a good night’s sleep is one of the best ways to get rid of that extra fat around your waist for good. Among the 60,000 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study, those who snoozed for fewer than five hours a night were at the greatest risk of becoming obese and gaining 30 or more pounds over the course of the 16-year study period when compared to those who slept for seven or more hours.