LOSING BELLY FAT is no easy feat. Sometimes, it feels like losing weight is impossible—even when you try your hardest to stick to a healthy diet and commit to regular exercise.
What's more, belly fat (technically referred to as visceral fat) might reveal more about your health than you realize. “Visceral fat is abdominal fat that is located inside the abdominal cavity, as opposed to subcutaneous fat, which is the fat just below your skin. It is especially dangerous because it is located close to vital organs. This increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and fatty liver disease,” says Meghan Garcia-Webb, M.D.
So losing that weight is important—and it's also not impossible.
Read on for expert tips on exactly how to take off stubborn belly fat.
How much belly fat is too much?
Guys who have a waist circumference greater than 40 inches (interestingly, that's true no matter how tall you are) are at a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease, according to the National Institute of Health.
To figure out what yours is, you need to measure at the right place. Place a tape measure around the middle of your waist, just above the hip bones, advises the NIH.
13 Ways to Lose Stubborn Belly Fat
Use these lifestyle tweaks to trim down belly fat and help your overall health improve, as well.
Reduce Calories the Smart Way
You can't force fat reduction in one area of your body, says W. Scott Butsch, M.D., Director of Obesity Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. Instead, you'll want to focus on reducing overall calories. "Weight loss in general should lead to a decrease in belly fat," he says.
Instead of following some draconian calorie-slashing program, simply work on increasing the proportion of nutritious, low-calorie foods that fill your plate and decreasing foods that contain lots of calories and less nutrition. You know what that means: Pile on more fresh fruits and veggies (especially green, non-starchy ones—see more below), as well as lean protein and good fats, like chicken, fish, beans and legumes. This can help you feel satisfied while also losing belly fat.
Eat More Protein
Protein increases hormones that make you feel satiated, so you feel fuller for longer periods of time than you might with other foods. That means you'll go back to the fridge less frequently, and your stubborn belly fat will start melting.
Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
They're nutrient dense and provide plenty of fiber, to promote good gastrointestinal health, says Zayd Nashaat, M.D., an internal medicine physician at Austin Regional Clinic in Austin, Texas. You’ll also get full on fewer calories.
Try loading up half your plate with vegetables, or begin every meal with a salad. (No boring lettuce and tomato deal needed—keep it interesting with all kinds of colors and textures, like roasted peppers or artichokes from a can, olives, bell peppers, carrots, sliced grapes, and the like. The options are limitless.)
Vegetables that arae high in water content, such cucumbers, celery, bok choy, and zucchini, can all help fill you up too.
Drink Less Alcohol
Kazlauskaite says guys who want to reduce belly fat should watch how much alcohol they consume. Aside from the obvious—empty calories—alcohol can lower inhibitions and make you reach for more empty calories. Not what you're going for.
Get More Exercise
Even being active in daily life—all that stuff about getting up from your chair more frequently, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking the car far away from the store—can help burn calories. To really shed fat like you want to, recent research suggests that 300 minutes a week of moderate activity (that's activity that gets your heart rate up a little bit, not just getting-up-from-your-chair activity) may help with weight loss. That's twice as much as the standard 150 minutes a week that's recommended by the CDC for a serious number of health benefits, and it might take some planning. But brisk walks count toward it.
Nashaat recommends exercising every day, ideally for at least 30 minutes.
“This can be split into smaller segments, such as a 15-minute walk in the morning and a 15-minute in the evening,” he says. “Studies have shown that 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week is essential to improve overall health, and there is no question that a sedentary lifestyle (lots of sitting behind a desk) leads to higher rates of obesity.”
Also consider incorporating HIIT training, which focuses on bouts of high intensity work, followed by brief rest, to get that heart rate up fast and to blast calories in a shorter amount of time.
Start Strength Training
Clinically, Butsch says many of his patients notice a decrease in belly fat when they incorporate strength training. In fact, obese adolescents who incorporated both aerobic and strength training into their workouts lost the highest amounts of visceral fat, according to a 2014 study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences.
Limit Sugary Drinks
Sugar from juice and sodas are rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream, which spikes insulin, says Kazlauskaite. And studies show that frequently drinking sugar-sweetened beverages—the leading source of sugar in the American diet—is linked to weight gain, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
Instead, focus on staying hydrated and drinking more water to replace any sodas, even diet ones, Nashaat adds.
Get Your Sugar from Whole Foods
Eating an apple is different from drinking a glass of apple juice, explains Kazlauskaite.
That's because you consume more nutrients like fiber when you consume the food in its natural form, she says. Plus, the process of chewing and consuming the food more slowly can help keep you full. "When you eat an apple, you eat slower," she says. "Your body has more time to digest it."
Avoid Processed Foods
Crackers, chips, and frozen dinners tend to have higher rates of saturated fats and higher sodium content, Nashaat says. Foods with saturated fats and high sodium content also increase your chances of having higher blood pressure, and foods that are too high in sodium can increase bloating and fluid retention, which also won’t help with minimizing the appearance of stubborn belly fat.
Add in Healthy Fats
“Healthier fats such as those found in nuts and avocados are found to produce a response that reduces inflammation (typically caused by saturated fats) and promotes a healthier cardiovascular and immune systems,” adds Nashaat.
Eat More Probiotic-Rich Foods
Vandana Sheth, R.D.N., says that enhancing your gut health can be a solid strategy to help reduce belly fat.
“Probiotics, the good bacteria found in fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut, can help balance your gut microbiome,” she says. A healthy gut microbiome has been linked to decreased inflammation and improved metabolism which can help with weight management. “Studies suggest that probiotics may help reduce belly fat by regulating your appetite and fat storage."
Limit Stress
Cortisol, known as the stress hormone, is linked to a higher percent of belly fat and weight gain. In fact, people who have high levels of cortisol for long periods of time are more likely to develop abdominal obesity, according to a 2018 review of studies published in Current Obesity Reports.
Butsch says simple activities like yoga or meditation can help keep your waistline (and your mental health) in check.
Focus on Sleep
If you’re not getting enough sleep, it’s time to put the focus back on your ZZZs.
Making sure you are getting appropriate sleep is critical for healthy body composition, says Garcia-Webb. A good goal is seven-to-eight hours of sleep per night. “Too far in either direction may have health consequences—one small study found that for subjects under 40, sleeping less than five hours or more than eight hours was linked to a higher BMI, as well as increased visceral fat."
How to Measure Belly Fat
Yes, you can use the tape measure method at home to determine your waist circumference, and determine if it's below the 40-inch cutoff. But, experts agree there are more precise ways to measure your belly fat.
“Visceral fat deposition can be significantly impacted by your age, hormones, and genetics. You can measure your amount of visceral body fat by a bioelectrical impedance analysis scale (many gyms have these) or by getting a commercially available DEXA scan,” says Garcia-Webb. “Both of these methods will give you information about your body composition, including the proportion of visceral fat in your body.”
