Normalizing your diet is the first step in the fight to burn fat in the abdomen. Exercise, although it accelerates the weight loss process, is not an essential factor. Ultimately, you can lose weight at home, lying on the couch, but carefully monitoring what you eat.
Belly fat is a particular type of fat that is easily formed when there is an excess of fast carbohydrates and saturated fat in the diet. That is why cutting down on these foods is important for burning belly fat.
This article describes what a diet to burn abdominal fat should look like, a clear and effective nutritional strategy to achieve good results.
RELATED: How Do You Get The Fat Off The Sides?
A simple diet to burn fat
In most cases, to lose weight and burn fat, simply limit your daily calorie intake without following any special diet. However, in the case of troublesome belly and side fat, this strategy doesn’t always work.
In particular, a diet that is too strict and with excessive calorie reduction can increase the level of the hunger hormones ghrelin and leptin, thus causing the rebound effect and the increase of fat in the belly.
The role is also played by the fact that this method can adversely affect the metabolism. With very few calories, your basal metabolic rate is lowered, and with the same calories your body gains weight faster.
That is why nutritionists recommend that a diet to burn abdominal fat is not too “hard”: healthy weight loss always takes time. Otherwise (especially when combined with training), rapid fat-burning results will be associated with health problems down the road.
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How do you burn fat?
The fat burning cycle consists of three independent steps:
- Mobilization of free fatty acids (FFA) from adipose tissue.
- Transport of AGL in the bloodstream
- Burns of free fatty acids in the form of oxidation to generate energy.
These processes are carried out by various organs such as the muscles, liver or heart.
Also, the initial mobilization of fat is largely determined by the level of hormones in a person’s body. For example with an average level of insulin in the blood, the release of FFA from fat cells is limited.
In other words, burning fat is easier with low blood glucose levels, which is achieved by avoiding carbohydrate foods .
Nutritional strategy to burn fat and lose weight
A healthy fat burning diet should start with limiting refined carbohydrates as much as possible; this is to sweets, refined flours, and sugary soft drinks. In addition, it is advisable to limit the consumption of potatoes and white rice.
The reason these foods increase your body fat is the ability to increase insulin production quickly. This hormone not only interferes with fat burning, but activates lipid storage mechanisms.
The second step in a fat burning diet should be based on fiber sources: whole grains and vegetables with a medium glycemic index , as well as low-fat protein foods and healthy fat sources.
Why this? Eating more vegetables and protein-rich foods can help reduce your appetite. The reason is that the fiber in vegetables physically fills your stomach without providing calories, and the proteins activate metabolic mechanisms that promote weight loss.
The 16: 8 diet is a good idea to burn fat
The 16/8 diet (or intermittent fasting method ) is a diet that consists of avoiding eating for 16 hours. Food is consumed exclusively in the 8-hour period, starting with a hearty lunch at noon to an early dinner. Breakfast is generally omitted and the calories are divided among the remaining meals.
Intermittent fasting reduces sensitivity to carbohydrates and allows the body to shed fat stores more quickly. In addition, the production of the hormones ghrelin and leptin gradually normalizes, which affects the feeling of hunger and satiety.
Why is it difficult to lose belly fat?
In “problem” areas (that is, in the lower abdomen and in the fat area of the lower thighs), blood flow is usually worse than in the fat surrounding the internal organs.
This makes it easier for the body to extract free fatty acids in the abdomen. Fortunately, the increased heart rate achieved through cardiovascular exercise (eg, brisk walking, cycling, swimming) speeds up blood flow in the body.
That is why aerobic exercise helps improve the fat burning process in the abdomen.
ABSTRACT
The dietary strategy for burning belly fat is to limit fast carbs as much as possible, as well as supplement with regular cardiovascular exercise. Additionally, intermittent fasting and the 16/8 diet can be used to restore the production of hormones critical to fat metabolism: insulin, ghrelin, and leptin .
