In these beautiful days when wearing light clothes and other swimwear is essential, many of you wish find a nice flat stomach. But did you know that storing excess pounds around your stomach and waist is as unsightly as it is dangerous for your health? Indeed, a plump stomach is often a sign of a much more annoying fat: visceral fat. In other words, the one that settles around your organs, even inside your body. The latter can become the cause of heart problems and type II diabetes, all the more reason to fight excess pounds located in the stomach. Find a belly flat should therefore become a primary objective, in summer… like winter! Fortunately, there are effective ways to refine your size and get rid of that irritating abdominal fat, as well as its cousin visceral fat. Here are 9 tips to give yourself every chance of finding a flat stomach.
1. You can’t choose which body part to lose weight on
Before launching into an endless series of “special abdominal” exercises, in the hope of quickly finding the flat stomach you dream of, you should know that it is scientifically proven thatwe can not choose the precise part of your anatomy where you will lose weight. Trying to only lose abdominal fat would therefore be a delusion. James O. Hill, executive director of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado, says, “You can’t target fat loss in specific areas.” Indeed, according to specialists, weight loss can only be global. Performing exercises on a specific area of the body will certainly allow you to build muscle there, but not to specifically get rid of the fat found there. Good news, however: when you lose weight, it is first and foremost in the upper body that fat is burned. Abdominal and visceral fat will therefore be the first to disappear! With a suitable diet and regular exercise, you will be able to see your overall fat mass melt away, particularly that of your stomach.
2. Exercise regularly
Sport is obviously an essential part of losing weight (and fat) wherever we tend to store it. It is this which will constitute the most effective way to lose belly fat. However, and for those of you who are less physically fit or less motivated, “moving” regularly will also be a solution to find a flat stomach and melt visceral fat at the same time.
So, exercising in a gentle way will be useful if you do it for at least 30 minutes and regularly (5 times a week). Whether it’s brisk walking, playing football with your children or gardening, these small efforts will count as “moderate exercises” and will be effective in limiting the storage of fat in the stomach. This is provided that these activities make you sweat a minimum and increase your heart rate.
The practice of so-called “cardio” sports will, for its part, be the most likely to allow you to eliminate fat located in the stomach. These intensive sports, to be practiced for at least 20 minutes 4 times a week, will mainly be running, swimming, cycling or aerobics.
3. Get rid of stress
As stress appears to be a factor favoring fat storage, it will be useful to avoid it as much as possible. Even more, practicing “zen” activities, such as yoga, meditation or pilates, will considerably reduce your propensity to store fat in the belly. Knowing that practicing a sport in general will also play this de-stressing role thanks to the release of happiness hormones (endorphins).
4. Get enough sleep, but not too much!
A 2010 Wake Forest University study showed that people who sleep too much (8 hours or more per night) and those who don’t sleep enough (5 hours or less per night) are most likely to store excess fat. abdominal and visceral fat. The ideal way to stay slim and healthy would be to sleep 7 to 7.5 hours per night. Likewise, it is important to go to bed and get up at fixed times so as not to disrupt your biological clock and thus not secrete fat storage hormones (cortisol).
5. Eat enough fiber
In addition to its benefits for transit, a 2011 study revealed that people consuming at least 10 grams of fiber per day (the equivalent of a cup of peas or two small apples) would produce less abdominal and visceral fat. . Daily consumption of wholemeal bread would, in the same way, beneficial for losing belly fat.
6. Consume foods rich in good fats
As many of you probably know, there are “good” and “bad” fats. These are bad fats (saturated fats), mainly of animal origin, which, if ingested in too large quantities, are responsible for various health problems such as cholesterol, heart problems and type II diabetes. “Good fats”, that is to say unsaturated fats (and more particularly polyunsaturated fats), are known to be beneficial. They are present in foods like nuts, seeds, sunflower oil and fatty fish. According to a recent Swedish study, people who consume these polyunsaturated fats gain more muscle mass and store less fat in the stomach than those consuming saturated fats.
7. Stock up on protein
If proteins are known to be essential for athletes, this also applies to people who are overweight. In other words, to be slim and have a flat stomach, you must consume enough of it. According to a study, an obese person ingesting twice as much protein as another will lose much more weight than the latter. Proteins play an important role in burning fat because they protect the body from insulin. However, this promotes the storage of fat, particularly in the abdomen.
8. Drink green tea
It is now proven that drinking green tea can help you lose belly fat. Combined with a little exercise, the antioxidants contained in this drink are stored by the body and promote weight loss in the stomach. In comparison, people who exercise as much without drinking green tea lose less fat.
9. Consume vinegar daily
As surprising as it may seem, the consumption of vinegar also has its role to play and can help you find a flat stomach! A 2009 Japanese study found that consuming a tablespoon of vinegar every day for 8 weeks would significantly increase belly fat loss. Vinegar would also burn our visceral fat. So, if you want to find a dream size, put yourself to vinegar!