Six ways to lose belly fat – including one surprising tip

BELLY fat burdens most of us and is often a key reason why people want to become healthier.

It can feel like you’re doing everything you can to eat healthily and exercise and still, the chub won’t budge. 

GettyBelly fat reduces when you lose weight generally[/caption]

But you’ll be surprised to learn there is one key trick you could be missing.

Learning to manage your stress is vital, says Pippa Campbell, a Jersey-based nutritionist.

She told The Sun: “Two big things I look for with new clients that suffer with belly fat are cortisol and insulin.”

Cortisol is known as the main “stress hormone”, although it has a number of important roles across the body. 

During tense or stressful times, cortisol is released. While small rises are normal, chronically high cortisol levels could become a problem.

It’s been shown in research to promote overeating and increase appetite, especially for sugary and calorie-dense “comfort foods”. 

This can lead to weight gain as well as anxiety, headaches, trouble sleeping and more.

Pippa said: “The cortisol response was designed for killing a tiger or running away.  

“At that point we needed sugar to get into the brain and muscles so we could think smart and run fast.

“The problem now is that tiger is work, divorce, juggling…..it’s constant.  So we crave carbs to get that sugar and much can be stored as fat.”

Elevated cortisol is also linked to insulin resistance. 

Insulin, another vital hormone, rises in response to stress or eating. It tells cells to absorb sugar to use as energy.

“Insulin resistance is when cells no longer respond to insulin, so sugar is not pushed into cells and instead gets stored as fat – mainly as belly fat,” Pippa said. 

Other side effects of insulin resistance are hunger and cravings carbs, further exacerbating the probem.

So what’s the solution?

Pippa said we can target belly fat “by treating root causes such as managing stress and reducing carbs”.

She particularly recommended cutting back on foods that are high in glycaemic load (GI), because these cause high blood sugar.

High GI foods include white bread, white rice, breakfast cereals, cakes, cookies, chips and fruit yoghurts.

Low GI foods are broken down more slowly, and so cause a gradual rise in blood sugar over a period of time. They include oatmeal, lentils, most fruits and veg.

Stress management takes time and effort. But if it’s the one thing you’re missing when trying to banish belly fat, it’s worth giving it a go.

Generally, however, if you want to lose fat on the stomach, you’ll need to look at losing fat from the whole body, first.

Although it is completely normal to have a roll or two, having too much fat is a risk factor for disease.

Try these tips for weight and belly fat loss:

1. Get enough sleep

Getting enough sleep falls into the stress management realm by helping manage cortisol levels.

Rest also helps blitz body fat by curbing cravings, keeping your appetite in check and giving you the energy to move more.

A study by Columbia University found that when people are sleep-deprived they eat almost 300 calories more a day than when they have had adequate rest.

It is thought that this is because lack of sleep stimulates the production of our hunger hormone, ghrelin, while also lowering levels of leptin – the hormone that makes you feel full.

2. Reduce sugar intake

We’re all impartial to a biscuit or bar of chocolate here and there.

But belly fat is largely linked to sugar, said Zana Morris, author of The High Fat Diet: How to lose 10lb in 14 days.

“Sugar causes the release of insulin, which in turn encourages the body to store fat particularly around the middle,” she previously told The Sun.

Insulin is made by the body to get sugar into our cells. But too much is associated with weight gain, due to the type of foods that trigger it to be made. 

So…does that mean that if you cut out sugar, you’ll lose that stubborn spare tire?

Zana says yes.

“Cutting sugar and foods that break down quickly into sugars (e.g. fruit/bread/pasta/wine), will reduce and stabilise levels of insulin as well as help your body to look to fat for fuel.”

3. Exercise

As well as focusing on a balanced diet and eating the right carbs, exercising is key in blitzing body fat.

Top dietitian Helen Bond previously told The Sun: “A calorie controlled diet, keeping in mind the proportions of the Government’s Eatwell guide, and exercise in tandem is the best way to reduce body fat.

“And for the ultimate fat-burning boost, a combo of aerobic and strengthening exercises is far more effective.

“Aerobic activities such as running, cycling, swimming and aerobic classes increase the calories we burn both during and after exercising, while strength training such as lifting weights or using our own body weight helps to build muscle – and the more muscle we have, the faster our metabolism is, so that we burn more calories, even at rest.

“Each week aim for at least 150 minutes of moderately intense aerobic exercise and do strength training at least twice.”

4. Snack carefully

While many dieters try to avoid snacking, Helen says it can be key in getting more nutrients into our diet, which in turn can improve health – as long as you choose wisely. 

She said: “It’s important to choose our snack food wisely – even healthy looking snacks, like reduced fat biscuits, cereal bars, yogurt, cereals etc. might seem like virtuous choices, but not all are created equal.

“Some are high in cholesterol-raising saturated fat and added or ‘free’ sugars – the type that we should be cutting down on for the sake of our teeth and waistlines.

“It’s best to avoid snack foods that are highly processed or refined.

“As well as being high in saturated fat, sugar and/or salt, they’re often low in nutrients and loaded with calories, and very moorish which makes it harder for us to control our weight.

5. Up your fibre

Fibre is a nutrient that British adults don’t get enough of.

The NHS says fibre can help with digestion and prevent constipation – which can help with bloating – while also slashing the risk of diseases like bowel cancer and stroke.

But fibre has been shown in research to promote weight loss, as the NHS says: “Choosing foods with fibre also makes us feel fuller.

A 2012 study at the University of Carolina found that when more than 1,000 adults taking increased their fibre intake by 10g a day, abdominal fat levels fell by 3.7 per cent — with no other changes to diet or exercise.

You can get more fibre by having wholewheat or wholegrain alternatives to cereals, breads or pasta.

Fruit and veg are also high in fibre, as are pulses like beans and lentils. 

6. Be careful with alcohol

Alcohol is only useful for having a good time – it does no favours at all for our health or figures. 

All alcohol has calories, so when drunk in large quantities, these add up. Especially when you add the mixers – lemonade, cola, or fruit juices.

“Alcohol, especially sweet fizzy based drinks and beer make it nearly impossible to lose stomach fat and puts extra stress on your liver to clear out the toxins,” The Healthy Mummy wrote.

“This extra pressure on your liver can make it very hard to build muscle which is key to losing belly fat.”

Alcohol can also lead you to reach for fatty hangover foods or drain you of energy to exercise.