A pot belly… love handles… the spare tire… call it what you will. It seems to be the area of your body that you’d really like to do something about.

Belly Fat

Not only is a firm, flat stomach the ultimate symbol of sex appeal, researchers have found that losing abdominal fat is one of the most important steps you can take to stay healthy for life. Most people realize that excess fat is unhealthy, but the key is where the fat is distributed. People with apple-shaped bodies (fattest in the abdomen) have a greater risk of heart disease and diabetes than those with pear shapes (fattest in the hips, buttocks, and thighs).

Fat in the midsection is stored deeper inside your body, in and around the liver and other organs. It’s called visceral fat. Fat in the hip and thigh region is mainly stored just under the skin. This is called subcutaneous fat.

It won’t surprise you to learn that the best way to lose abdominal fat is to eat right and exercise regularly. And there’s a growing body of research showing that the fastest way to burn off the fat from your belly is with a combination of weight-training and aerobic exercise.

Belly fat is stored energy. To get rid of the fat, you have to burn more energy (calories) than you eat on a regular basis.

Abdominal exercises like crunches and sit-ups won’t burn as many calories as a properly designed fat-burning exercise program. In other words, hundreds of sit-ups won’t make much difference to the appearance of your waist and stomach if your abdominal muscles are hidden under a layer of fat.

You need to follow few steps to activate your fat burning hormones –

– To burn fat, you need to do some moderate intensity cardiovascular activity.

– Do light weight training

– Reduce sugars, starch and saturated fats from your diet.

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Aero kickboxing is something which gives best results when done for 45 minutes to an hour every alternate day. Since this is a full-power workout, it helps burn more calories and results in quicker weight-loss.

So, while you are bobbing and weaving (ducking out of the way of intended hits, and then moving into a position for attack) and jumping amidst the kicks and punches of the kick-boxing routines, your heart rate will go up for the entire session. And by including intensive aerobic moves in the kickboxing routines, you can burn as many as 500-800 calories per hour.

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Burn Calories, Do Aerobics – The second step is to burn the fat that’s already present. The idea of spot fat reduction doesn’t really work in the beginning. You need to go for overall weight loss with specific attention to certain body parts. Get involved in cardio-aerobic activities. All activities that increase the heart rate and help in burning body fat come under the ambit of aerobics.

Rest, Regular Yoga along with these exercises can work wonders on you and can give you a toned body. The truth is, getting a flat stomach has almost nothing to do with training. It has everything to do with low body fat.

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The following pointers help you reduce fat easily and effectively –

• Eat lot of fresh vegetables like lettuce, leafy greens, salads, etc. Try to eat raw vegetables. Apart from this you can saute, bake, grill or have boiled vegetables. Add variety of vegetables and cook it in different ways.
• Foods that need to be deleted-Red meats (full of saturated fats), carbohydrates like rice, burger, pizza. Have proteins which are essential for energy during workout, for repair from wear and tear and for growth. Proteins also take care of cravings. Hence, you do not binge.
• Cut all sugars from your diet.  Fructose is different from sucrose but is still a culprit in fat gain. Similarly some vegetables that are high in starch should also not be consumed. Artificial sweeteners are even worse. Ban all fruits that are very sweet, alcohol, cakes, chocolates, cookies, processed food. Target should be to burn the stored fat in your body.
• Schedule your meals and stick to those schedules. Try to have early dinner.

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