How to Remove Belly Fat: A Science-Based Approach to Weight loss!
Removing belly fat can be difficult and daunting, but with the proper knowledge and strategies, you can start progressing toward your goals. In this guide, I will look in-depth at how to remove belly fat by understanding the science of weight loss.
First, let's delve into the basic concepts regarding weight loss. The key to losing fat is creating a calorie deficit, meaning you must consume fewer calories than you burn to lose weight. That means that reducing how much food you eat (calorie restriction diets) or increasing how much energy you expend through exercise can help create the caloric deficit needed for fat loss.
Steps to follow that will help you lose weight the right way!
The first step on your journey should be to evaluate your basal metabolic rate. Your BMR is the number of calories you burn at rest. You can calculate it here!
Once you have established your BMR, you must add the calories burned to your daily activities, such as walking, training, etc. To calculate how many calories you burn by walking, click here. To find out how much you burn in various activities, click here. You can also use different trackers like the apple watch or any other watch that can track your workouts.
PRO TIP: it is always better to underestimate your calories burned in an activity, as the only prerequisite for losing fat is a calorie deficit. You will never eliminate your abdominal fat no matter how much you exercise if you are in a caloric surplus.
Now once you have established your basal metabolic rate and added a rough estimate of the calories you burn through activity, you need to decide at what pace you want to lose weight and whether you want your weight loss to come predominantly from body fat or perhaps you don't mind losing some muscle in the process.
Yes, you heard that right. When you are in a caloric deficit for a prolonged period, you will likely lose body fat, and your muscle mass might also decrease. That might not be the case only with complete beginners.
PRO TIP: to promote weight loss that will only get rid of your subcutaneous and visceral fat and minimize the amount of muscle you lose, you need to be in a very modest caloric deficit of 300-500 calories per day with a high protein intake at about 2gm per kg of your BW and participate in regular resistance training at least three times per week.
What is the appropriate caloric deficit for your weight loss objectives?
The math is simple; you need a 500-calorie deficit daily for the entire week to 350-400gm of scale weight. If your objective is 800gm per week, then you need a 1000-calorie deficit which is challenging.
Unless obese, a weekly drop of 200-400gm is the most sustainable for most females, and I will explain why that's the case. Most women's BMR is between 1200-1400 calories; if you add another 300-400 calories burned through activities, they would need to consume around 1100-1300 calories daily to achieve a 350-400gm drop in scale weight. Anything below 1000 calories daily is unsustainable and can lead to health complications.
The importance of good nutrition and exercise for fat loss
Good nutrition is king for fat loss and achieving a healthy weight. However, exercise plays a significant role in the overall process and how you will look once you reach your weight loss objectives. Before we get into details about why exercise is so important, let me give you a few tips when it comes to a healthy diet geared towards sustainable weight loss:
Avoid processed foods
Processed foods are highly palatable and usually offer very low nutritional value. You will get in many empty calories, leaving you hungry, angry, and depressed. LOL.
Eat whole foods
A high protein and fiber diet will keep you feeling fuller, which is essential when on a low-calorie diet. It will also provide you with more nutrients for your body to function, which is crucial when dealing with hunger cravings, and lack of energy due to low-calorie intake. Make a sample of your diet of fish and chicken and consume lots of fruits and vegetables.
Add vitamins and minerals in the form of supplements
When on low calories, it is likely that you might be vitamin and mineral deficient, so you can add some magnesium, zinc, vitamin D, C, B12, and a good electrolyte supplement. Those will help you keep your immune system strong, and the electrolytes will help you with hydration and balancing of water in your body.
Hydrate well
Drink a good amount of water (1.5-2.5 liters daily) and utilize the electrolytes for the above mentioned reasons.
Cook at home or consider meal prep
To ensure that you eat the food required for your specific weight loss goal, you should either prep your food or go for a good meal prep company.
Track your food via a calorie-tracking app.
Apps like MyFitnessPal, Fat Secret, or Cronomoter are perfect for tracking your caloric intake and ensuring you hit your target calories and macronutrients like protein, carbs, and fats.
Aim for 1.6-2.2 grams of protein per kg of your body weight.
By having a high-protein diet, you will feel more satiated. Also, you will burn more calories through the thermic effect of food (TEF).
Aim for somewhere between 0.7-1.2gm of fat per kg of your BW.
Fat is an essential macronutrient for many bodily functions, including hormone production. Aim for healthy fats such as nuts and seeds, olives, fish, avocado, coconut, etc.
Fill the remainder of your calories with carbs.
Carbs will provide the fuel you need for daily activities, and going too low can cause fatigue. However, some people love being on the ketogenic diet, which requires you to consume less than 30gm of carbs daily.
Now, how does exercise come into play?
Exercise is crucial when it comes to fat loss. The main reason is that you can build lean muscle mass through weight training, increase your metabolic rate, and prevent muscle loss due to low-calorie intake. Exercise increases the number of calories you burn in a day, so having a high activity level is another benefit that can aid an effective weight loss method.
What kind of training is optimal for losing weight and reducing body fat?
If you have excess belly fat and want to eliminate it, you will benefit vastly from incorporating cardiovascular and resistance-based training methods.
Cardio workouts will have various health benefits and improve your heart health, increase your energy levels, and help you recover faster during weight sessions. There is also a notion that if you improve your cardiovascular health, you will also improve your digestion which is also beneficial for fat loss. When it comes to cardio, my recommendation is first to strengthen your steady-state cardio, which is aerobic endurance, and only then go into more anaerobic conditioning, which is high intensity.
The difference between aerobic and anaerobic cardio is that aerobic is lower intensity. You can sustain it longer as your body manages the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide while doing the activity. In contrast, anaerobic is higher intensity. You can only sustain it for a shorter period before accumulating and stopping due to a lack of oxygen in the working muscles.
Weight training is a great way to build muscle and improve your body composition, which will help you burn more energy throughout the day by increasing your metabolic rate. The best way to do this is to utilize compound exercises such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses, etc., as those will create the most growth hormone, increase your muscle tone and improve your look. It would help if you combined them with isolation exercises that help you target specific muscles optimally.
Common questions and answers
What is visceral fat?
Visceral fat is located in your belly and around your internal organs. It tends to be harder to reduce than subcutaneous fat and can increase your risk of developing health issues like diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
How many times a week should I exercise?
It depends on how often you want to get into the gym, but generally, it's recommended that you exercise at least three times per week. Some beginners might get fantastic results with a balanced diet, a slight caloric deficit, two weekly weight sessions, and an increased step count.
Is intermittent fasting a good way to reduce excess weight and lose belly fat?
Intermittent fasting is just a tool in a toolbox that you can utilize to achieve weight loss. However, it all boils down to the number of calories you consume vs. what you burn in a day and over a prolonged period. Intermittent fasting can help you drop body weight by reducing your eating window, which decreases your chances of overeating slightly. Still, it can also increase your chances of losing muscle, especially if your total daily protein intake is low.
Why are trans fats bad for us?
Unfortunately, trans fat is extremely bad for our health. It raises the levels of bad cholesterol (LDL), which increases your risk of heart disease by clogging the arteries over time. Trans fats have also been linked to several other diseases such as diabetes and stroke. Furthermore, studies have shown that these unhealthy fats can interfere with our weight loss efforts since they are difficult for the body to break down and digest effectively. Eating trans fats causes an increase in insulin production, leading to spikes in blood sugar levels and increased hunger cravings due to the body's inability to regulate hunger hormones properly. In addition, they contain twice as many calories per gram as other fatty acids which makes them slow down metabolism and reduce fat burning effectiveness.
The importance of nutrition and exercise for losing belly fat cannot be overstated. Exercise helps increase lean muscle mass and metabolic rate and improve cardiovascular health. Weight training can help build muscle and change how your body looks. Intermittent fasting is also a great tool to reduce excess weight or fat, but how you approach it should depend on how much muscle you want to preserve.
Finally, the most crucial aspect of fat loss is establishing a caloric deficit by eating fewer calories than your body needs and burning more with exercise and activity. A good diet plan and regular exercise will help you lose belly fat safely and effectively.
Now that you understand how to remove belly fat, it's time to take action. With our personal training services, nutrition plans, and online tools, we will ensure you get the desired results! If you need help getting started or want a personalized plan, contact us, and we'll help you accomplish your goals. So what are you waiting for? Start today!
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