One of the biggest questions I get asked on a daily basis: How do I lose belly fat? I’ve tried doing endless sit-ups, abdominal crunchesetc, tried every possible diet known to man, worked out until exhaustion but still can’t seem to lose belly fat. Please help me!
The majority of people who ask this question are men, and it’s because genetically men hold more fat on their belly than anywhere else on their body, just as women tend to hold more fat around their hips, buttocks & thighs.
We all want those elusive six-pack abs, but what is really required to lose belly fat and reveal those six pack abdominal muscles once and for all? The steps below have been scientifically proven time and time again, and providing you follow them correctly you will see result.
The Science Behind Belly Fat
In general belly fat is the first area where people lose weight, in fact 99% of people will lose weight from the belly first in comparison to any other area on the body.
The reason is down to the type of fat stored around the belly, this type of fat is called Visceral fat. Visceral fat covers and protects organs and is more metabolically active compared to other fat types in the body, this is the reason why 99% of people lose weight in the belly first because this fat can burn quicker than any other type of fat!
You Can’t Lose Fat on your Belly Alone
If you burn fat you lose it from all over and not just your belly, yes I know that you will see a decrease in belly fat before anything else but you can’t lose fat on your belly alone and doing abdominal exercises alone will do nothing towards losing belly fat.
Now that you have accepted you cannot spot reduce (you have accepted this right?) You need to work on the biggest factor that is causing you to hold onto belly fat: Calories!
Step 1: Reduce the Amount of Calories you Consume on a Daily Basis
To lose fat around your belly you must reduce the number of calories you consume on a daily basis. For your body to function it requires a certain number of calories to keep you alive, to keep your brain functioning, heart beating, blood pumping, organs functioning etc.
The minimum amount of calories required to keep you alive whilst maintaining your current body weight is called the “calorie maintenance level”. To lose belly fat you need consume fewer calories per day than this number, so let’s assume your maintenance level is 2,000 calories per day, to lose belly fat you need to reduce your intake so you are consistently below 2,000 calories per day. For a more detailed explanation see my weight loss section.
Step 2: Perform Compound Exercises
A compound exercise is a movement that requires more than one joint to move during the exercise: barbell squats, deadlift, barbell bench press, wide grip pull ups are all examples of compound exercises, to read more visit my section on building muscle.
In order to lose belly fat you need to perform big compound exercises, doing these exercises will burn more calories and build muscle in comparison to doing endless crunches or sit-ups and will allow you to lose belly fat faster. Secondly, performing compound exercises will strengthen your core muscles, because you have to balance yourself to perform the movements.
Step 3: Do Cardio Vascular Exercises
Whilst you don’t actually need to do any exercise in order to lose belly fat it is seriously recommended. Doing cardio vascular exercise is great if you want to burn some additional calories and feel better about yourself, strengthen your heart, improve your breathing, lymphatic system and just overall health. I strongly suggest cardio vascular workouts to supplement your other belly fat burning activities.
Step 4: Drink Plenty of Water
That’s right, you thought you could avoid drinking water, sorry no can do. Drinking water increases your metabolism (the rate at which you burn calories) can increase by as much as 30% according to some scientific studies.
Whilst I will say that there is no magic number to the amount of water you should consume (as this changes by temperature, activity levels, age and many other factors) you should aim to drink whenever you are thirsty, don’t drink for the sake of drinking!
So why does drinking water increase metabolism? Well it’s because once water is consumed the body heats it up so it can be used within the body, the process of heating the water causes your body to burn calories, thus increasing your metabolism.
Step 5: Reduce Alcohol Consumption
I love beer (and some wines) but I try to keep them to a minimum, drinking too much alcohol too often will cause your body to hold onto belly fat, if you want to lose fat around your belly you need to keep alcohol consumption to an absolute minimum.
Step 6: Eat Healthy, Non Processed Foods
This should be an obvious one, but eat as healthy and as often as you can, stay away from fast and processed foods, stick to healthy natural foods such as fish, meats, beans, nuts, low fat dairies, fruits and vegetables.
Avoid simple carbohydrates such as candies, sodas, chocolates, cakes, potato chips etc. Of course you can consume these every so often, but try to consume them at a minimum (just like alcohol). Yes this may seem boring but hey, you wanted to lose belly fat so you have to work on it!
Step 7: Reduce Carbohydrate intake & Change to Wholegrain Foods
Carbohydrates give us energy, the problem is most people over consume the amount of carbohydrates they need on a daily basis, causing them to hold onto excess fat around the belly.
Providing you don’t go over your calorie maintenance levels with carbohydrates you will not put on any more weight, however by reducing the number of carbohydrates you consume will drastically cut down the amount of calories you consume.
If you can’t cut carbohydrates out of your diet I strongly suggest you stick to wholegrain breads, pastas etc.
Step 8: Monitor your progress
Make sure before you begin your belly fat shredding journey that you take measurements of your waistline and also take images from the front and from the side. Every time you measure yourself & take pictures make sure you do this first thing in the morning on an empty stomach to ensure accuracy.
Take images and measurements weekly and keep everything safe, don’t be alarmed if your progress slows down after the first few weeks, in general people lose the most belly fat within the first few weeks then it slows down, this is natural and nothing to worry about.
Step 9: Keep Going & Stay Motivated
The hardest part of losing belly fat is not necessarily the work involved, it’s about staying motivated and keeping the process going. You will have down times when you just have to eat those bad foods or over consume alcohol, or have a week or two off the gym (we all do it and its nothing to be ashamed of). You just need to make sure you don’t give up completely, to help you with this you should refer to progress pictures and measurements you took when you first started.
I understood that I gain muscles by the amount of calories I consume after a work. Please tell me how can I lose belly fat, without redusing my calories intake.Thank you.
Hi Isshaq, sorry but you need a reduction in your caloric maintenance level, the simplist way to do this is by reducing your calorie intake so that it falls below this level. You can also do it by increasing the amount of calories you burn (by performing longer cardio workouts that burn calories). But remember, to lose fat you need to reduce caloric intake one way or the other.
John,
Great site. You really seem to have a passion for helping others which is admirable. I’m 40 and started weight training and cardio about 8 months ago but did not change my diet. Over the past two months I have been eating more often with more protein and less processed foods. I have also been caculating my adjusted bmr and trying to stay about 700 calories per day under. I don’t seem to be losing fat quickly, especially in the breast and abs but have increased my muscle mass. I do three day splits and 30 minutes of burst training on a spin bike. Can you elaborate more on how burst training works and the benefits over a longer sustained pace? One fitness expert I listen to said that 31 minutes of proper burst training should help your body continue to burn fat for up to 48 hours. Thanks again for this wonderful site. The information is very well organized and easy to understand.
Hi Patrick
Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated!
To answer your question: You cannot spot reduce with fat loss, genetics dictate where fat is lost from, not the exercises you perform, for example doing endless crunches will not make you lose fat on your abdominals.
Can I ask how much weight you are loosing per week? because if you are losing 1-2lbs per week this is perfect!
Burst training or “interval training” is definitely the best method, probably because it mimics real live events such as playing soccer or football, where the players will use bursts of energy at random intervals. Interval training will also help your VO2 max (lung capacity) which will improve your endurance, allowing you to train longer and harder.
Just remember, the key to losing weight is calories, for every 1lb of fat there is 3,500 calories. So if your maintenance level is say 2,500 calories per day, by lowering it to 2,000 per day (500 calories less) this means that after 7 days (7 x 500 calories = 3,500) you will lose 1lb fat every 7 days. I created a page on how to lose weight which has a more detailed explanation of calories.
Hope this helps!
You say, reducing Carbohydrates is very important, but on the other side you suggest Fruits, which contains amounts of Carbohydrates, how much Fruits can I eat?
Another Question, since Fruits contain Carbohydrates, should I avoid eating them afternoon?
Hi Sascha
Well spotted, however the number of carbohydrates in fruits is very small in comparison to other carbohydrates, such as pasta, rice, potatoes etc.
No, you can eat fruit in the afternoon, you can eat them 24/7 if you wish.