1. Eat Right:
Reducing abdominal fat is 80% about eating right foods. Have a healthy and balanced diet, with adequate macro and micro nutrients. Most importantly, skip takeaways and fast foods. Eat food prepared at home. Don’t have time? Then go for raw fruits or veggies, or steam cooked veggies instead.
2. Drink Water:
Many forget about drinking water and confuse being thirsty for tired or hungry and end up nibbling sugary or fatty foods. Always carry a water bottle and make sure you keep sipping water throughout the day. You need to drink 6 – 8 glasses of water, though this depends on your weight and lifestyle. Calculate accordingly and make sure you consume enough water.
3. Short Bursts:
According to recent studies, instead of working out for hours, or running for few miles, doing short bursts of active exercises is very helpful with reducing stubborn fat. For example, if you are walking on a treadmill, randomly increase the speed for a few seconds and get back to walking.
4. Say No to Sugar:
Trying to get rid of your abdomen? Sugar is one thing you should greatly reduce, if not omit from your daily platter. There are many sources of hidden sugar, so it’s a good idea to reduce sugar. Use alternatives like honey, palm sugar, licorice extract, etc.
5. Reduce Sodium intake:
Of course, you need to add salt to your food. But besides sodium salt, you have potassium salt, lemon salt, sea salt that you can consider. Also, adding spices like pepper, a few herbs also help reduce salt requirement.
6. Vitamin C:
Vitamin C is important for the secretion of carnitine, a compound that helps body convert fat into energy. Besides, it also helps block cortisol, a hormone that’s secreted by the body when under stress. Spike in cortisol levels is the main reason for abdominal fat.
7. Fat burning foods:
There are many natural ways to reduce fat naturally using foods that help with fat reduction or burning. Garlic, onion, ginger, cayenne pepper, cabbage, tomato, spices like cinnamon, mustard etc are some of the fat reducing foods. Consuming a few cloves of raw garlic and a 1-inch piece of ginger every morning is said to help with fat metabolism. Having a glass of warm water with lemon juice and honey in the morning, is a popular option for weight loss. Likewise, there are many other ways to induct fat burning foods in one’s diet.
8. Include healthy Fats:
When trying to get rid of bad cholesterol, addition of good cholesterol is the way to go. Avocados, olives, coconut, nuts are few sources of good cholesterol.
9. Do not skip breakfast:
Many think skipping breakfast helps with quick weight loss. On the contrary, skipping breakfast is a major blunder. It increases bloating and pushes your body into starvation mode, a key for abdominal fat gain. Latest studies reveal having smaller and frequent meals is the key to maintain a healthy metabolism rate, which is important for weight management. So reduce the size of your meals and make up for it by snacking healthy. You could consider having dry fruits and nuts, raw veggies or fruits, steamed veggies, etc.
10. Sleep:
Wondering why we are talking about sleeping here! Adequate sleep is very important for weight management. Everyone needs 6 – 8 hours of sleep. According to a study, too much of sleep or the lack of it can lead to weight gain, increased risk of health disorders including cardiac problems or diabetes etc.