It’s no wonder that there are hundreds of searches online every day from people looking to find the best ways for how to get lose of body fat. Excess body fat is a target area for health issues, and the prevalence of obesity affects 39% of adults, but what really qualifies as excess body fat?
Most of the time when we hear about excess abdominal fat, we think of a body being overweight. It is important to first know how to determine what it means to be overweight to understand what an access in abdominal fat could be. The most common way to determine if a person is overweight is to calculate body mass index (BMI). BMI is an estimate of body fat based on comparing a person’s weight to their height. The higher a person’s BMI the higher risk they are to for disease and most likely are carrying too much body fat on their body.
For adults, a BMI of:
18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal weight
25.0 to 29.9 is considered overweight
30.0 to 39.9 is considered obese
40.0 and higher is considered extremely obese
It is important to remember that although BMI is generally a good way to estimate how much body fat a person has, it does not measure body fat directly and therefore is not reliable in all cases. For example, a person may weigh extra because he or she is athletic and has a lot of muscle, and not because he or she has excess body fat.
Still more often times than not, people are very focused on how to lose belly fat. They usually target the belly on their body as being the most problematic and focus on how to get rid of belly fat.
We sat down to with one of our ambassador, Robert (Max) Twitty to get his take on access body fat and find out his suggestions on how to get rid of belly fat. Take it away, Max –
Abdominal fat is not just a problem because it can look bad. Excess belly fat is linked to type 2 diabetes as well as heart disease.
Summer is just a season so getting your summer bod shouldn’t be your only motivation to lose your “dad bod,” a year-around body can help you live longer.
The good thing for many of us is, there are a few proven strategies that help you target the fat in the belly area more than other areas of the body.
Here are four ways to lose belly fat –
Cut Down On Sugar
Yes, it does sound easy, but we all know the reality that cutting out sugar from your life is like cutting off your arm. Cutting down is a more feasible approach. When you eat a lot of added sugar, the liver gets overloaded with fructose and is forced to turn it into fat. Try to make a conscious decision to reduce the amount of sugar in your diet, and as you progress, soon you will find yourself eliminating sugary drinks.
Step Up Your Protein
A great way of slimming down is to make sure you are full. Protein is an essential macronutrient when it comes to losing weight. Studies have shown that protein helps reduce cravings by 60%, boost metabolism by 80-100 calories per day and help you eat up to 441 fewer calories per day. You can determine which form of protein is best for your lifestyle choice, make sure you are consuming enough.
Load Up On Veggies
Hey, your parents told you as a child eat your vegetables for a good reason. Now as an adult you probably regret giving them a hard time about it. Fibrous greens help you avoid overeating and also push out unwanted waste inside your body. Not a fan of EATING your greens? Well, supplements like Eboost’s Spruce offers 1.5 servings and five essentials greens to add to your weight loss program.
Hit the Gym
90% of weight loss happens outside of the gym. Yes, adding 1 pound of muscle burns 50 calories but none of that will be useful if you don’t have a solid foundation of nutrition. Find what kind of fitness program is the best for you and stick with it. Aerobic exercise (like walking, running, swimming, etc.) has been shown to cause significant reductions in belly fat in numerous studies.
You know how to measure your BMI, you know a few ways to reduce belly fat, but now how do you know if you are getting results? The scale is one tool you can use but it can also be the most confusing to use too. One minute you could lose 10 pounds and the next all of a sudden gain a few pounds and not have changed a single thing within your plan to reduce belly fat. If you do like using the scale to keep track, then weight yourself every day but take the average of the week to determine your weight. This will be more accurate than if you fixate on the weight every day.
Another great way to measure your success is either by how your clothes fit but even more accurately with a cloth tape measure. It is important to keep a record of the circumference of different body parts like your arms, neck, chest, belly, thighs, etc. but if you are really fixated on reducing belly fat, then just measure your waist and hips each week. Monitoring your waist size at the navel is an easy way to tell whether you’re gaining or losing fat. All you need is a measuring tape. If your waist is expanding, you’re gaining fat. If it’s shrinking, you’re losing belly fat. Simple as that.
And last but not least a great way to monitor success is taking pictures every week. You will get to a point where one week will feel like you aren’t gaining much success as you did in the past. However, if you compare that week’s picture to one a few weeks back you will clearly see that you are certainly reducing your belly fat and staying right on track. This will also keep you motivated to keep up the great work.
