How do I lose the abdominal area only?
Surprise..everyone has some belly fat, even people with flat stomach muscles. that's normal. But too much belly fat can affect your health in a way that other fats don't.
Some fat is concentrated directly under the skin. Other fats are located deeper inside, around the heart, lungs, liver, and other organs.
That deep fat--called "visceral" fat--may be the biggest problem, even for skinny people.
deep belly fat
You need some visceral fat. But if you have too many of them, you may be more likely to have high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia, and some types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer.
Fat not only ruins your appearance, it also causes a lot of damage. Even if you are skinny, you may have a lot of visceral fat.
How much you have has to do in part with your genes, it also has to do with your lifestyle, especially how active you are. Visceral fat loves inactivity. In one study, thin people who didn't exercise were more likely to have visceral fat. The key is to be active, no matter what your weight.
4 steps to get rid of belly fat
There are four keys to controlling belly fat: exercise, diet, sleep, and stress management.
1. Exercise:
Vigorous exercise eliminates all fat, including visceral fat.
Do at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise 5 days a week. Walking is important, as long as it's fast enough that you sweat and breathe harder, and your heart rate is faster than usual.
To get the same results in half the time, increase your pace and do vigorous exercise - like jogging for 20 minutes a day, 4 days a week.
2. Diet:
There is no magic diet for belly fat. But when you lose weight on any diet, belly fat is usually first.
Eating enough fiber helps get rid of belly fat. Research shows that people who eat 10 grams of soluble fiber per day - without any other changes in diet - gain less visceral fat over time than others. This is as simple as eating two small apples, a cup of green peas, or half a cup of kidney beans.
For your health, your waist size should be less than 35 inches if you are a woman and less than 40 inches if you are a man.
Having a "pear shape"—hips and thighs are larger—is considered safer than an "apple shape," which describes a wider waistline.
What doctors refer to as apples versus pears is that if you have more belly fat, this is likely an indication that you have more visceral fat.
3. Sleep:
Getting enough sleep helps in losing belly fat. In one study, people who got 6 to 7 hours of sleep each night gained less visceral fat over 5 years compared to those who slept 5 hours or less per night.
4. Stress:
Everyone has pressure. How you deal with it is important. The best things to do are relax with friends and family, meditate, exercise to de-stress, and get counseling. This makes you healthier and better prepared to make good choices for yourself.
