7 Tricks to Get Rid of Annoying Body Fat
Belly fat is infuriating. It is obnoxiously persistent and acts as a constant reminder every time you slide on your skinny jeans that your New Year’s fitness goals (from the past five years) have yet to be met.
While there is no easy way to get rid of it, these points are proven to help fight fat in the best ways possible.
1. Wake up at the same time every morning
It sounds crazy, but a study by Brigham Young University discovered women who woke up at the same time every morning had lower body fat than those whose wake up times varied by more than 90 minutes.
2. Get enough sleep
Healthy adults need about seven to nine hours of sleep each night.
Not sleeping long enough builds fat up around your organs, according to a 2010 study by Wake Forest University School of Medicine. The study discovered there is a whole lot more to fat than just your diet. Those studied who got five hours or less of sleep a night had a large increase in visceral fat (dangerous fat around your organs).
3. Prioritize yoga and meditation
Yoga and meditation are stress relievers, and lowering stress is vital to keeping your body healthy. Stress can make you gain weight, because it heightens a hormone called cortisol. In the long run, cortisol increases your appetite and makes your body crave sugary, fatty foods.
4. Embrace unsaturated fat
Unsaturated fats come from seeds, nuts, fish, avocado and vegetable oils.
A breakthrough study examined 38 people for 49 days. Each person ate an additional 750 calories of muffins that the scientists made themselves. One group ate muffins made with palm oil (saturated fat). The other group ate muffins made with sunflower oil (polyunsaturated fat). Every participant obviously gained weight (that’s what happens when you eat an extra 750 calories every day), but those with the unsaturated fat muffins built three times more muscle mass than those who ate the saturated fat muffins.
So, replace your mayo with avocado, cheese with pumpkin seeds, cream cheese with peanut (or almond) butter and ranch with hummus.
5. Eat plenty of (the right) fiber
You’ve heard you should eat plenty of fiber, but taking a fiber pill likely won’t cut it. Your body needs both soluble and insoluble fibers. The best fibers for weight loss are found in plants like beans, flax seeds, edamame, asparagus, Brussels sprout and oats. These help you lose fat because you feel full longer, which prevents you from eating more.
6. Choose the right type of exercise
Sit-ups are great at tightening your abdomen, but it won’t get rid of your belly fat according to Harvard Health.
You need a mix of cardio workouts (like running) and strength training (like planks) for at least30 minutes a day. Strength training increases your muscle mass, which helps your body burn fat.
7. Cut refined sugar (soda is a HUGE no)
You’re going to hate this one, but it’s a must. Chances are, you are in taking WAY more sugar than you should. Refined sugar floods the liver with fructose, which forces the liver to turn it into fat.
The World Health Organization recommends 25 grams of sugar per day for someone on a 2,000 calorie diet. To put this into perspective, 1 can of soda is about 39 grams of sugar.
Written by Amberlee Lovell on FamilyShare