Weight Loss Tips : Burn belly fat in just 7 days. % The Health Tales

Introduction

Belly fat is a common occurrence, especially in people older than 30. Although harmless when it is small, there are types of belly fat that can pose health risks. One type, called Visceral Fat, can increase the risk of Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease and other conditions [A]. In this article, we will share effective tips to burn belly fat in 7 days. For lasting effects, we recommend our readers to continue using our tips for a longer duration.

There are three cornerstones of any health and fitness consultation. They are:

Diet
Exercise
Lifestyle Habits

Accordingly our tips are also divided into the these broad categories. We will start with Diet. Healthy diet is crucial for a healthy and fit body. A wise man once said we can’t expect different results by performing the same actions. Thus for a healthy body, and especially to lose belly fat, it is necessary to make dietary changes. For this, we recommend the following tips.

Reduce salt intake.

Salty food increases water retention during metabolism [B], thus contributing to increased body weight in the form of fluids. To reduce water retention, lower your salt intake. You can flavor your food with other herbs and spices instead.

Drink lots of water.

Fresh water is not retained in the body as it is not heavily processed during metabolism. Instead it helps the body flush away toxins. It also gives a feeling of fullness and satiates hunger temporarily. Thus drink lots of water for a flat tummy. You can also add healthy drinks like green teas with anti-oxidants and fresh vegetable and fruit juice.

Stay away from alcohol

Alcohol has been closely associated with bigger bellies, hence the term beer belly. In general, when you drink alcohol, the liver burns the alcohol instead of fat from your food [C]. Hence, too much alcohol causes a bigger stomach. Stay away from alcohol as much as possible and you will have made big steps towards reducing belly fat.

Eat a lot of soluble fiber

Studies show that soluble fiber promotes weight loss by helping you feel full, so you naturally eat less. It also decreases the number of calories your body absorbs from food [D]. Soluble fiber is found in foods like:

Legumes and lentils
Beans and peas.
Broccoli
Blackberries
Brussels sprouts
Avocados
Flax seeds

Lastly, it also plays an important role in timely bowel movements, thus helping the body detox.

Avoid Eating Processed Meat

Processed meat such as beef patties, bacon, sausage, deli meats are known to have a lot of saturated fat. A large study in 2011 found that they are intimately connected to greater BMI and increased waist circumference [E]. Consuming it often and in large quantities has been known to cause excess belly fat. Reduce the consumption of processed meat, especially red meat.

Exercise is very important to stay fit and reduce belly fat. Regular exercise goes a long way in healthy life. But short-term exercise to is also not a bad idea. This way you can burn belly fat in 7 days and get ready for the upcoming function you are so looking forward to! Here we give tips regarding what exercises to do and how to go about them:

Circuit training

If you want to build muscle and burn fat at the same time, you have to perform circuit training three days per week. Circuit training is an exercise routine that involves endurance training, resistance training and aerobics. These exercises are done in a loop, hence the term circuit. There are many circuit training routines available, depending on your body type and how intense you wish it to be. We recommend consulting a fitness instructor to design a training that is most suitable for your body type and needs.

For information of our readers, we will also describe an example routine that includes almost all aspects of circuit training. Depending on the end goal, you can do part or all of this routine.

Horizontal cable woodshop
- Sets: 2
- Reps: 10 on each side
- Rest: 60-90 sec
Deadlift
- Sets: 3-5
- Reps: 6
- Rest: 30 sec
Bent over row
- Sets: 3-5
- Reps: 6
- Rest: 120 sec
Hang clean
- Sets: 3-5
- Reps: 6
- Rest: 30 sec
Push press
- Sets: 3-5
- Reps: 6
- Rest: 60 sec
Squats
- Sets: 4
- Reps: 5
- Rest: 90 sec
Overhead press
- Sets: 4
- Reps: 5
- Rest: 30 sec
Single-leg Romanian deadlift
- Sets: 4
- Reps: 5 on each side
- Rest: 120 sec
Chin-up
- Sets: 4
- Reps: 5
- Rest: 90 sec

Jumping Rope
- Sets: 2
- Reps: 3
- Rest: 180 sec
Lunges
- Sets: 3
- Reps: 3
- Rest: 90 sec

If you can do such an intense exercise routine, then it will definitely help in reducing your belly fat. Even if you can’t do all of them, doing fewer sets will also help. In that case, indulge in full body exercises like lunges, push-ups, and pull-ups, for one set of 15 repetitions. Don’t forget to follow every exercise with one minute of jumping rope. You should be able to burn around 500 to 600 calories per workout.

Abdominal muscles workout

One effective and tested method to lose belly fat quickly is to include abdominal muscles workout in your daily exercise. Experts recommend doing this three times per week. Crunches and leg raises for three sets of 20 repetitions should be of great help. Also, do planks by holding your body in a push-up position on your elbows for 30 to 60 seconds for 4 sets. They are very effective to strengthen your core.

Unfortunately, sit-ups and crunches can’t eliminate visceral fat directly. You can’t reduce fat from specific parts of your body by exercising that body part; our bodies simply don’t work that way.

With sit-ups or other abdominal exercises, you’re toning the abdominal muscles but not burning intra-abdominal fat. The key is to lower your overall body fat with high or moderate-intensity physical activity and a healthy diet; when you reduce your total body fat, you’ll also be reducing your belly fat.

So if you want to do abdominal exercises, make them part of your fitness routine. Just don’t treat them as a substitute for the recommended 150 minutes of weekly moderate-intensity physical activity.

And now we come to lifestyle habits. What we do in our day-to-day life has a lot of impact on our health and fitness. For lasting effects and to have a flat belly for a long time, we recommend our readers to inculcate the following lifestyle changes. Practise these tips and make them into habits.

And try not to sit too much

Studies have shown that people who sit eight to nine hours a day, even if they exercise the recommended 150 minutes per week, do not get the same benefits of exercising as people who are more active throughout the day.

If you have to sit most of the day for your job, try to find some ways to move:

Take small breaks throughout the day to walk around
Use your lunch hour to take a longer walk
Take the stairs instead of the elevator, if possible
Do stretching exercises at your desk
Just do your best to move around as much as you can

Become an early riser

According to researchers, late sleepers—those who wake up around 10:45 a.m.— consume 248 more calories a day compared to an early riser, half as many fruits and vegetables and twice the amount fast food. This shows that early risers and late risers have starkly contrasting lifestyle habits. Unfortunately, only one of them have been shown to be healthy. If these findings sound troubling but you’re so not a morning person, set your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier each day until you’re getting out of bed at a more reasonable hour. This change, coupled with diet changes, will help you in the long-term to get rid of your belly fat.

Do not eat fast

Eating too fast causes indigestion, heartburn and can cause acid reflux [F]. In contrast, eating food slowly has been shown to help in digestion of food as well prevents overeating. You can taste food better and enjoy the delicacy if you eat slowly. It is recommended that you should chew food slowly and not spend less than 20 minutes to eat 600 calories of food.

Try intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting has recently become very popular as a weight loss method. It’s an eating pattern that cycles between periods of eating and periods of fasting [G].

One popular method [H] involves 24-hour fasts once or twice a week. Another consists of fasting every day for 16 hours and eating all your food within an 8-hour period.

In a review of studies on intermittent fasting and alternate-day fasting, people experienced a 4–7% decrease in abdominal fat within 6–24 weeks [I]. Thus we definitely recommend our readers to make an intermittent fasting plan that suits them.

Say bye to stress

Stress and anxiety can cause the over-production of a certain hormone called cortisol. Cortisol affects fat distribution by causing fat to be stored centrally around the organs. This leads to increase in visceral fat, that is belly fat [J]. So we advise our readers to say bye to stress and try to keep your cool. There are many techniques to achieve this, for example by practicing a hobby or going to a park etc. A stress-free week will definitely help you reduce your belly fat in 7 days!