Reduce Belly Fat at Home

Reduce Belly Fat at Home

Why You Suffer From Excess Belly Fat?
It is normal for you to have some belly fat that will help in cushioning the bones and the organs and to protect them. But, excess belly fat is a matter of huge concern and you will be able to get rid of the tensions of excess belly fat through exercises and taking in a low-carb diet. The following are some of the reasons on why you have excess fat around your abdomen area:

1.    Poor Metabolism
As you begin to age, the metabolism rate of your body slows down and this results in increased fat storage on your belly. Women are easily susceptible to belly fat than men. You might be wondering why some of your friends who eat fried and sugar based foods most of the time have a flat stomach and you always put on fat around your belly area. The main reason behind this is that your friends have a higher metabolism rate than what you are having.

2.    Genetics
It has been proved that the fat cells that you develop in your body depend on your genes. If your grandparents or your parents have excess belly fat, then you too will have the same. There are two types of body structure: pear shaped and apple shaped. If you are pear shaped, then the fat in your body gathers at in the lower part of your body like the buttocks. If you are apple shaped, then the fat in your body gets accumulated around the belly area.



3.    Sedentary Lifestyle
If you are leading a sedentary lifestyle with no physical exercise and spend most of your time sitting in front of the TV or computer, then you are sure to accumulate a lot of fat around your belly in a few years time.

4.    Overeating
If you are indulging in eating more than you ought to eat, then you are sure going to put on weight easily. If overeating is coupled with a sedentary lifestyle, then you are going to gain belly fat in no time and you will easily put on weight.

5.    Poor Sitting Posture
If you do not practice proper sitting techniques and always slouch when you sit on the chair, then you are sure to catch fat accumulation around your stomach area. You should always sit straight on a chair.

6.    Stress And Diseases
Stress is one of the main reasons why people tend to accumulate food around their waistline. It will increase the level of cortisol in your body that leads to belly fat. Diseases such as breast cancer, sleep apnea, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in women will result in fat accumulation around their belly area.

7.    Sagging Muscles
If you have saggy muscles around your abdominal area, then you can easily get excess belly fat.

8.    Hormonal Changes
As a woman tends to attain middle age, the ratio of the body fat will increase in proportion to her body weight. There is an increase in the risk of accumulating fat around the waist area during menopause. Hormones play a vital role in regulating the fat concentration in a woman’s body.

How To Measure Belly Fat?
It was perceived earlier that belly fat is healthy as it could be utilized by a person whenever he or she needs some extra energy. But, the times have changed now. It has been researched that excess belly fat will result in people to easily catch cardiovascular diseases. So, it is vital for every man and woman to keep track of their belly fat and to keep it under check always. The following are the ways you can measure your waistline:

a)    Waist To Hip Ratio

Measure the narrowest part of your waist and then measure the broadest part of your hip. To calculate the waist to hip ratio, all you need is to divide the values to get the ratio. If the ratio is about 0.8 or more, then you can fall prey to cardiovascular diseases easily.

b)    Body Mass Index

Body Mass Index or BMI is the ratio of your weight in kilograms divided by their square of your height in meters. If your BMI is in the range of 25 to 29.9, then you are in the overweight category and if your BMI ratio is over 30, then you are an obese person. You will need to cut down on your belly fat considerably if you are to stay free from health risks.

c)    Waist Circumference

Use a tape to measure your waistline at the level of your navel. You should breathe normally when you are taking the measurement. If your waist size is more than 34 inches, then you are at a risk of catching chronic heart disease.

Foods To Help You Reduce Belly Fat

If you find that you have excess belly fat, then you should immediately cut down on consumption of carbohydrate rich food and start to take foods that are rich in fibers. The following are the super foods that will help you to reduce your waistline.

Apples: They are super foods that you can take three to four times a day as a substitute to carb-rich foods.

Almonds: Rich in Vitamin E and has high fiber content that will make you feel full and reduce your hunger.

Green Leafy Vegetables: They are rich in fiber and very low in calories. They will help in preventing water retention.

Avocado: They are rich in high fiber and have high monounsaturated fatty acids that help in reducing belly fat.

Cucumber: Cucumber is a vegetable that has high water content and is very low in calories.

Watermelon: It is a fruit that has 80% water content in it and very few calories. They help in easily attaining desired waistline.

Beans: This vegetable helps in improving digestion, as well as strengthening muscles. It will help in toning the belly by reducing hunger and prevent you from overeating.

Along with these foods, it is also important for you to do some exercises to reduce excess belly fat. You need to combine exercise and diet in order to get rid of belly fat efficiently. It is important for you to incorporate simple exercise routines in your daily schedule so that you stay in the best shape always.

Exercises To Reduce Stomach Fat

1)    Crunches:
There is no better exercise that you can think of to reduce belly fat than crunches. It will help you to easily burn stomach fat and if this exercise is coupled with a proper diet intake, then you can see effective results in quick time.

Lie flat on your back on a mat. Bent your knees with your feet touching the ground.
Now place your hands just behind your head.
Take a deep breath and lift your upper body off the floor. You need to exhale when you are lifting your body.
When you bring your body back to its original position you need to inhale. Once you come up you need to exhale.
Do this for 10 times and then repeat for two or three more sets.

2)    Reverse Crunches
This is another exercise that will help you to easily get rid of stomach fat.

Lie with your back on a mat. Raise your knees with the feet planted on the ground.
Keep both the hands on either side of your body.
Push your feet in such a way that your thighs are perpendicular to the ground and your feet are off the ground.
Now lift your back such that your knees bend towards your chest.
Inhale when you plant your feet on the ground and exhale when you lift your back and move your knees towards the chest.
Repeat this for 10 times and for two more sets.

3)    Twist Crunches
This exercise routine is very similar to crunch exercise and here you will have to rotate your shoulder in the direction of the other shoulder.

Lie down on the mat with your hands behind your head.
Bend your knees and make sure that the feet do not touch the ground.
Now move your upper body towards your knees like the crunch exercise. But, here you will have to make sure that you twist your right shoulder towards your left and the left torso must be on the ground.
Repeat the same way on the other side. Here, you lift your left shoulder towards the right with the right torso resting on the ground.
Repeat the same procedure for 10 to 12 times.

4)    Vertical Leg Crunch
Lie with your back on the mat or the floor. Extend both your legs towards the ceiling and make sure that you cross one knee over the other.
Now repeat the same what you have done in the crunch exercise.
Breathe in when you lift and cross the knees and breathe out when you move your upper body towards your knees.
Repeat this vertical crunch exercise for 10 to 15 times for three consecutive sets.

5)    Side Crunches
The side crunches will also help you to shed excess belly fat and will also help in providing a proper workout for your love handles. It is very much similar to the twist crunch exercise. The only difference here is that you will have to lift your right leg up when you are tilting your left shoulder towards the right shoulder and vice versa. Repeat for 10 to 12 times each side for 2 consecutive sets.

6)    Bicycle Exercise
This is yet another exercise that will help you to shed excess fat round your belly area easily.

Lie flat on the floor or the mat and keep both the hands on either side of your head.
Now lift both your legs from the ground and bend them at your knees.
Now pull your right knee close to your chest with your left leg out. When you are bringing the right knee up you can try to meet your left elbow with your right knee to have a perfect stomach crunch.
Now take your right leg out and bring your left knee close to your chest. Now, lift your upper body and make sure that your right elbow touches your left knee for a perfect crunch.
Repeat this for 10 to 12 times for both the sides and for two consecutive sets.

7)    Rolling Plank Exercise
The rolling plank exercise is another popular exercise that will work great on your lower back, hip and abdomen areas.

Take your position on the floor or a mat in such a way that your knees and elbows are resting on the ground.
You need to look forward so that your neck is aligned with your spine.
Now lift the knees up so that you support your legs now on your toes.
Now contract your knees and keep it in this plank pose for about 30 seconds. Make sure that you breathe normally during this routine.
Now move to and fro for the next half a minute to constitute a rolling plank exercise.
Rolling Plank Sideways
Lie on the floor in a sideways position.
Support your weight on the right elbow and your right leg. Make sure that the right elbow is perpendicular to your right shoulder.
Place the left leg above your right leg. Keep your knees straight and lift yourself in such a way that your hips are off the ground.
Hold this position for about 30 seconds. Once you practice this position, you can hold to this position for 1 to 2 minutes.
Do the same on the other side as well.

8)    Lunge Twist
If you are a beginner trying to work your belly to remove its excess fat, then you should first try out the lunge twist exercise.

Move your left foot forward and bend your left knee. You will feel the hamstring stretch on your right leg.
Now lift your hands parallel to the ground and make sure that they are in front of you.
Take a big step forward with your left leg and sit down as if you are sitting on a chair. Your right leg should be positioned backwards and you must use your toes to support your right leg.
Make sure that your upper body and the spine are in the upright position to perform perfect lunges.
Now perform the same lunge exercise on the other leg.
Repeat this for 15 times.

9)    Side To Side Bending
Bending side to side not just helps in reducing excess fat deposits in your stomach area, but it also helps in giving your love handles a perfect shape.

Stand in an erect position with your feet together. Lift both your hands and stretch it above your head and make sure that they are clasped together.
Now bend your body to your left side as much as possible until you feel a strain on your right side. Hold in this position for 15 seconds.
Now come back to the same standing position.
Now repeat the same on the right side. Now hold this position for about 15 seconds.
Once you get comfortable holding on for 15 seconds, you can increase it to 30 seconds or more on both sides.

10)    Stomach Vacuum
If you are a beginner looking to do some exercises to reduce belly fat, then you should start with low impact exercises like stomach vacuum exercises. This is an exercise that concentrates mainly on breathing.

Hit the ground on all fours by supporting your body on your knees and hands.
Now take a deep breath and make sure that your abdomen is loose.
Now exhale your breath and make sure that you hold your abdomen muscles tight during exhalation.
You need to hold the abdomen contraction for about 15 to 30 seconds.
Repeat this process for 15 times for two to three sets daily.

11)    Captain’s Chair
You will need a chair to do this exercise. It is a simple exercise that will help in reducing excess belly fat.

Sit on the chair with an upright spine and straight shoulders.
Place both your hands on either side with the palms of the hands facing downwards. Take a deep breath.
Now as you exhale, make sure that you bring both your legs upwards such that your knees are very close to the chest.
Hold in this position for 5 to 10 seconds. Do not arch your back or bend forwards when your knees are close to your chest.
Now bring your legs back to the ground and repeat the same process for 15 times.

12)    Walking
Walking is another beginner’s exercise that you need to do if you are looking to reduce excess belly fat. It is a fat burner for your entire body. Brisk walking for 30 minutes a day for a minimum of 5 times a week will help you see a gradual change in your weight. It is a low impact exercise that will give a good workout to your heart as well as will help in boosting your metabolism.

13)    Jogging
After you have mastered the art of speed walking, you can switch to jogging that will help in easily breaking down of excess body fat accumulated in your body including your belly fat. It will help you to stay fit, healthy and fight obesity.

14)    Running
If you want to break free from the monotony of doing the same exercise every time, then you can try to add one or two days of running exercise in your exercise regime. It will help in making your heart beat faster; lose excess belly fat and also burn a lot of calories than walking or jogging.

15)    Cardio Exercises
One of the best ways to burn a lot of calories from your body as well as to shed off the excess baggage that you are carrying around your waistline is to do cardio exercises. These exercises will help you to easily remove excess belly fat. Doing cardio exercises for 30 minutes a day for at least 4 to 5 times a week will also help in reducing stress, increase lung capacity, keeps your heart healthy and also improves sleep.

16)    Swimming
Swimming is a very good exercise that will not just help you to shed belly fat, but it will also help you to tone your body. Swimming will also help you to get a cardio workout for your body. You need to choose the best strokes that will be strenuous and up tempo exercises so that you are able to burn a lot of calories. It would be a great idea to swim at least once or twice a week initially.

All you need is to follow these effective and simple exercises to see visible difference in the size of your waistline after a few weeks. You can do all these exercises at home without the help or guidance of a professional trainer. If you have the will power and the determination to strive harder to achieve your goal of losing excess belly fat, then you can easily reduce it by doing these simple yet effective exercises. Remember, there is no gain without pain and reducing your tummy size is not a hard to pin down stuff anymore.