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What Is Belly Fat and How Can You Shift It?

  • January 10, 2017

Visceral fat, aka belly fat, is not good for our internal organs and in fact is associated with heart disease, insulin resistance, diabetes and cancer. Fortunately, it’s never too late to diminish and shift that fat away from your middle, as reported by The Guardian.

But before you start, be aware that you won’t accomplish a thing by resorting to the age-old exercise called sit-ups as your go-to solution. Although abdominal exercises will build a strong core, to stabilize your spine and reduce the potential for back pain, you need additional strategies to burn belly fat.

It takes proper exercise, the right nutrition, quality sleep, plenty of water and stress reduction combined to reduce your overall fat distribution and uncover your abdominal muscles. Your diet is really the key to your success in reducing belly fat. All your exercise habits may be fruitless if you eat loads of processed foods, too many net carbohydrates (total carbs minus fiber) and the wrong kinds of fats.

Begin by reducing or eliminating sugar in all forms from your diet. Increase healthy fats in your diet, making sure you get 50-85 percent of your daily calories in the form of healthy fats such as avocados, olives and olive oil, coconut oil and organic, grass-fed meats, eggs and dairy.

Also incorporate an intermittent fasting program, which can help your body learn to burn fat for fuel rather than depending on life-killing sugar. A combination of intermittent fasting with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) virtually forces your body to burn off excess body fat — including that muffin on your middle.