You sit all day? Then these foods should be your first choice!

 

If you want to get rid of belly fat, you should pay attention to a few things. How the annoying belly fat develops and what helps against it, we tell you here.

Get rid of belly fat - is that even possible?

Many people perceive their belly as a problem zone - and if you explicitly want to get rid of belly fat, it's not that easy. It is much more likely that you will also lose fat in parts of your body where you might not want to, such as your buttocks or thighs. Nevertheless, you don't have to bury the dream of a shapely flat stomach right away: With a targeted diet, certain exercises, and discipline, it is basically already possible to get rid of belly fat.

Why is belly fat actually so unhealthy?

There are two types of fat tissue:

1. Subcutaneous fat: Subcutaneous fat refers to the subcutaneous fatty tissue and has, among other things, the task of storing energy and thus keeping us warm. It is found, for example, on the thighs and buttocks and is less harmful than abdominal fat.
2. Visceral fat: Visceral fat, or belly fat, has a rather bad reputation. This is because it accumulates around the organs and causes certain messenger substances to be released that have negative effects on us. For example, they cause increased blood pressure and increased insulin secretion, which can trigger inflammation. Therefore, visceral fat increases the risk of various diseases such as heart attack, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, thrombosis, atherosclerosis, cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

Because of these disease risks, abdominal fat is not only a visual problem, but also a health problem.

Get rid of belly fat: Who is actually affected by it?

It sounds strange, but men actually have to deal with belly fat more often than women. This is due to the hormone testosterone - it ensures that fat is increasingly stored on the abdomen. In women, the hormone estrogen tends to cause fat to be stored on the buttocks and thighs. But: during menopause, the production of estrogen slowly decreases - then women also tend to develop more fat on the abdomen.

But there are also other causes of increased abdominal fat:

• Too little exercise
• Certain medications
• Genetic predisposition
• Unhealthy diet
• Various diseases that affect metabolism, for example (e.g. hypothyroidism)

How much belly fat is too much?

Through various studies, researchers have found what abdominal circumference can be harmful in each of men and women:

• Women: From 80 centimeters, one speaks of an unhealthy abdominal circumference; from 88 centimeters, abdominal fat is considered dangerous and significantly increases the risk of disease.
• Men: From 94 centimeters the abdominal girth is unhealthy, from 102 centimeters the abdominal fat is considered dangerous.

Get rid of belly fat: The right building blocks for your diet

Unfortunately, nothing helps: if your belly is your problem zone, you can't avoid adjusting your diet if you want to get rid of belly fat. The main thing here is to focus on a good mix of healthy foods. These include:

• Complex carbohydrates (e.g. in whole grains, legumes, vegetables, potatoes, quinoa),
• healthy fats (especially unsaturated fatty acids, e.g. in vegetable oils such as olive oil, avocados, nuts, as well as fish),
• plenty of proteins (from protein sources such as meat, milk and dairy products and eggs)
• and vitamins and trace elements from fruits and vegetables.
• Exercise helps against belly fat
• Even though losing weight is possible without exercise, workouts are unfortunately almost unavoidable to get rid of belly fat. Basically, any kind of exercise is good at first. The important thing is to have fun - this keeps the motivation up and without regular exercise, unfortunately, nothing works. A mixture of strength and endurance training is well suited so that different muscle groups are always used. 
• Tip: Try HIIT. The High Intense Interval Training really revs up the fat burning and you can celebrate real successes in a short time. 

What role stress plays in obesity and belly fat

We're probably all familiar with it: as soon as things get a bit more stressful at the office or at home, we reach for chocolate, thereby increasing our risk of obesity. And constant snacking is not the only problem: When we are under stress, the hormone cortisol is increasingly released, which also supports the storage of belly fat.

A completely relaxed body thanks to yoga and co.

In order to prevent this effect for more belly fat, you should definitely make sure to include recovery phases in your daily routine. What exactly these look like varies from person to person: some people just want to curl up with a book in a quiet corner and read, while others prefer to sit with their best friend for a cozy chat. If you want to know what else helps, check out our article Reducing Stress. Numerous studies also show that yoga, meditation and autogenic training are particularly effective against stress. 

Get rid of belly fat: These tips will help you

Want to get rid of your belly fat? The following tips will help you achieve a flat belly:

• When eating, focus on a few and especially complex carbohydrates and consume more proteins.
• Avoid sugar and salt as much as possible: sweets, potato chips, ready meals and fast food should only be allowed in exceptional cases.
• Drink two to three liters of water a day and, at best, avoid soft drinks altogether - a fruit spritzer is allowed once in a while.
• Cook fresh and preferably with regional ingredients.
• Alcohol should also be largely avoided - almost all types contain many calories.
• Use spices to lose weight - they boost the metabolism and thus the fat-burning process!
• Avoid stress and create recovery phases.
• Find a sport that you enjoy.
• Exercise regularly - at least three times a week - and make sure that all muscle groups are gradually loaded.
• Don't forget rest periods: muscles don't grow during training but during recovery. If you do sit-ups for the abdomen on Monday, you shouldn't load the abs on Tuesday.
• Don't expect miracles - change takes time. Be patient and set small goals.
• Reward yourself when you reach one of these goals - for example, with a great tummy top.

Get rid of belly fat: Beware of these mistakes

Even if we take to heart various tips that should help us lose belly fat and get our body in shape, sometimes it still doesn't really work out. In order for you to really lose fat, you should avoid the following mistakes:

1. You take care to eat healthily, but generally still eat too much: losing fat and losing weight only works if you take in less energy than you consume. It is best to record everything you eat with the corresponding number of calories in a food diary.
2. You eat after exercise: Often you have the feeling that you can treat yourself to something when you have finished your workout. Beware of this mistake! In the worst case, you can ruin your training success. If you want to have something to eat after exercise, it should be a small protein snack, e.g. a shake - this will help your muscles grow.
3. You do only strength training or only endurance training: Your whole body should work if you want a flat stomach. So combine both types of exercise and do them alternately.
4. You allow yourself too many exceptions: Today the cake that the colleague brought, tomorrow two cocktails on girls' night out - with so many temptations, we quickly weaken. But when the exception becomes the rule, the fat stubbornly stays where we don't want it - on the belly. So plan your week ahead if possible: If you know you have a delicious dinner with friends coming up on Wednesday night, you might want to hold off on Tuesday's cake.

Extra tip for when the going gets tough: Here's how to manage your cravings.