And remember that vegetables should always comprise at least half of your plate and be a mix of starchy like potatoes and nonstarchy ones your leafy greens, broccoli, etc.

Eating the vegetables first will leave less room for other foods that aren't as healthy, because vegetable fiber is filling. The single most important thing people can do to prevent the buildup of belly fat and get rid of existing belly fat is commit to physical activity, and better yet, a physical lifestyle.

In a way, moderate-intensity physical activity is that "magic pill" a lot of people are looking for, because the health benefits go beyond keeping your waistline trim: Not only can it reduce your risk of cancer , stroke , diabetes and heart attacks , but studies have shown that physical activity can significantly improve the moods of patients with major depressive disorders.

Overtraining, though, can be problematic when it comes to fighting belly fat because it can lead to coristol overproduction.

Excess amounts of this stress hormone has been found to be associated with belly fat. Simply walking briskly an hour each day can have an impact by boosting your metabolism, as can adding an incline to your treadmill routine. Here's something else most people probably don't know: Fidgeting is good for you.

It's considered a nonexercise physical activity, and it's an important way to burn energy. You get more health benefits if, in addition to exercising, you are a more fidgety, more active person the rest of the day. This means gesturing while you're talking, tapping your foot, just moving around.

Studies have shown that people who sit eight to nine hours a day, even if they exercise the recommended minutes per week, do not get the same benefits of exercising as people who are more active throughout the day.

Having an active hobby — and if you don't already have one, developing one — is important. Get engaged in some kind of sport, whether it's a group activity or something you can do alone. Essentially, if an activity is pleasant to you, you'll continue to do it.

If your leisure time involves sitting around on the sofa or in a chair, you might actually be offsetting the positive health effects of exercising even if you're working out regularly. Unfortunately, the general understanding of rest is relaxing in front of TV or dining out — what we call "passive rest.

Statistics suggest that out of months in his life, the average man in the U. spends approximately months watching TV, five months complaining about his boss, and five months waiting on hold.

Think of the other things you could do with those months of your life. You could find activities that are better for your health and will help keep the belly fat away. Unfortunately, sit-ups and crunches can't eliminate visceral fat directly.

You can't reduce fat from specific parts of your body by exercising that body part; our bodies simply don't work that way. With sit-ups or other abdominal exercises, you're toning the abdominal muscles but not burning intra-abdominal fat.

The key is to lower your overall body fat with moderate-intensity physical activity and a healthy diet; when you reduce your total body fat, you'll also be reducing your belly fat. So if you want to do abdominal exercises, make them part of your fitness routine.

Just don't treat them as a substitute for the recommended minutes of weekly moderate-intensity physical activity.

While sit-ups can't "target" belly fat, what they can do is help you burn calories, strengthen your core and develop more muscle. Because muscle is more metabolically active than fat, the more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn when you're at rest.

You can also try lifting heavier weights and resting less between repetitions, which can promote calorie burning after you leave the gym. Burning those extra calories can help you achieve and maintain a healthier weight in conjunction with regular cardiovascular exercise and a healthy diet.

A recent study of 70, individuals showed that those getting less than five hours of sleep were more likely to gain 30 or more pounds. So far, there is not one single drug that is approved by the Federal Drug Administration for the reduction of belly fat.

Supplements claiming a "one trick solution" to belly fat are not strictly regulated, and a lot of the claims made in the ads are not backed up by research.

The bottom line is that when it comes to belly fat, the answer is not in drugs or supplements. Enjoying a healthy lifestyle should be the focus. And while that's not as simple as swallowing a pill, the benefits will last a lifetime.

Losing Belly Fat. Home RUSH Stories Losing Belly Fat. Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to LinkedIn Share via Email. By Judy Germany. In short, no. Yeah, we were bummed to hear that too. First of all, what is belly fat? There are different types of fat: Subcutaneous fat Subcutaneous fat is the looser fat that lets you "pinch an inch" and can accumulate just under the skin Intramuscular fat Intramuscular fat is found within the skeletal muscles Visceral fat Visceral fat is the packed between your abdominal organs stomach, liver, kidneys, etc.

So, no, there's not. But here's what you can do. I knew she meant well, but I felt a flush of shame and sadness then. And if someone who knows me can make that assumption, how many dozens of strangers must be passing a similar judgment on me every day? I have been some degree of fat my entire life, and I most likely always will be.

As a child and as a young adult, I was bullied, rejected and shamed for this in ways that have undeniably shaped who I am. I enjoyed eating my vegetables — as a toddler accompanying my mom to the grocery store, I used to hassle her to snap off a piece of raw broccoli for me to gnaw on.

I drank skim milk with dinner. I went on long walks. All this is to say I realized some time ago that I would never, ever be thin: I am simply not built that way. This realization, plus everything we already know about the pitfalls of diet culture, had made any attempt to lose weight seem both futile and like a good way to make me hate myself.

So until last year, I had never even tried. My weight crept up, and up, and up. Finally, after a physical in late , my blood sugar came up right on the border of the prediabetic range.

It was clear: I had been playing with house money up to this point, but now, at 34, youth was no longer on my side. With my future health in jeopardy, I became determined to make some changes — but I knew I owed it to myself to do it in a way that would not make me miserable, trigger self-hatred, or set me up for long-term failure.

I had to walk a difficult tightrope: trying to change my body, while simultaneously resisting the ever-present impulse to hate the body I presently had.

At times, this felt virtually impossible. To my infinite surprise, it actually worked. A year later, I had lost 55lb and my blood sugar was back firmly within normal range. My cholesterol and blood pressure, which had both been running a little high, had also plummeted. It should come as no surprise, then, that I find the explosive entrance of Ozempic into the cultural mainstream galling.

F or a while, it seemed the cultural conversation about size and fatness was limping along some sort of vaguely progressive track. The tone of the discourse around dieting and weight loss had shifted, and there was a growing attitude on social media of self-acceptance.

People of all demographics were pushing back against fatphobia, nutritionists and food-world influencers were emphasizing balance over restriction, and there seemed to be a general rejection of the poisonous narratives around food and appearance that most of us were raised with.

I liked it because I am soft-hearted and always rooting for people to be kinder to themselves. But I also liked it because as a fat person, it was nice to feel less openly despised. In retrospect, it was painfully naive of me to buy into any of it. The present-day body positivity movement is a watered-down version of an older and more radical fat activist movement , its ideas repackaged for mass consumption by advertisers and marketers.

It does not ask us to work on how we regard and treat others, it only asks us to feel better about ourselves.

Women all over the internet expressed displeasure , as the changing whims of advertising agencies seemed poised to disrupt the newfound positive relationships they had with their bodies.

Not enough of us read those headlines and bothered to ask ourselves the real question: why are bodies, something we are all born with and have limited control over, being subjected to the same trend-focused language as a haircut or a pair of shoes? The Ozempic moment neatly lays bare exactly how much our society still hates fatness and fat people, and the extreme measures people who are already physically healthy are willing to put themselves through to be just that much leaner.

The powers that be have decided they are bored of paying their desultory lip service to the fatties, and apparently, most of us have no problem following suit. Now, with the rise of Ozempic after a brief period of so-called body positivity, there is an all-too-neat convergence taking place, where promises that were made to Black communities in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement are experiencing a large-scale corporate and cultural rollback.

Brands were quick to capitalize on a fractured cultural moment by vowing to increase their efforts at diversity and equity and by supporting Black-owned businesses. As soon as we look away for just a second, they stuff their promises right back up their sleeves.

We badly wanted to believe their sudden interest in us was anything other than profit-driven cynicism. How naive we were, and how deftly and insidiously capitalism can kneecap activist movements. The conversation moved on, but I have been thinking a lot about that moment since then. I have been focusing just on maintaining my weight loss and healthy habits for the time being, giving my body time to adjust to its new set point and prioritizing other aspects of my life.

But the simple fact is that I would rather just stay fat than take a drug that completely rewires my most basic impulses. Side-effects include vomiting, nausea and diarrhea that can get so intense you land in the ER.

Eating yogurt regularly has also been found to be helpful in reducing belly fat. Another diet trend that promises results when it comes to belly fat: the apple cider vinegar diet.

While animal studies have been promising, current research in humans has yet to show impressive results. The data supporting the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, however, are real and cause for making some dietary changes. Start your meal, especially your largest meal, with seasoned vegetables, be it vegetable soup or the vegetables on your entrée plate.

And remember that vegetables should always comprise at least half of your plate and be a mix of starchy like potatoes and nonstarchy ones your leafy greens, broccoli, etc.

Eating the vegetables first will leave less room for other foods that aren't as healthy, because vegetable fiber is filling. The single most important thing people can do to prevent the buildup of belly fat and get rid of existing belly fat is commit to physical activity, and better yet, a physical lifestyle.

In a way, moderate-intensity physical activity is that "magic pill" a lot of people are looking for, because the health benefits go beyond keeping your waistline trim: Not only can it reduce your risk of cancer , stroke , diabetes and heart attacks , but studies have shown that physical activity can significantly improve the moods of patients with major depressive disorders.

Overtraining, though, can be problematic when it comes to fighting belly fat because it can lead to coristol overproduction. Excess amounts of this stress hormone has been found to be associated with belly fat. Simply walking briskly an hour each day can have an impact by boosting your metabolism, as can adding an incline to your treadmill routine.

Here's something else most people probably don't know: Fidgeting is good for you. It's considered a nonexercise physical activity, and it's an important way to burn energy. You get more health benefits if, in addition to exercising, you are a more fidgety, more active person the rest of the day.

This means gesturing while you're talking, tapping your foot, just moving around. Studies have shown that people who sit eight to nine hours a day, even if they exercise the recommended minutes per week, do not get the same benefits of exercising as people who are more active throughout the day.

Having an active hobby — and if you don't already have one, developing one — is important. Get engaged in some kind of sport, whether it's a group activity or something you can do alone. Essentially, if an activity is pleasant to you, you'll continue to do it.

If your leisure time involves sitting around on the sofa or in a chair, you might actually be offsetting the positive health effects of exercising even if you're working out regularly. Unfortunately, the general understanding of rest is relaxing in front of TV or dining out — what we call "passive rest.

Statistics suggest that out of months in his life, the average man in the U. spends approximately months watching TV, five months complaining about his boss, and five months waiting on hold. Think of the other things you could do with those months of your life.

You could find activities that are better for your health and will help keep the belly fat away. Unfortunately, sit-ups and crunches can't eliminate visceral fat directly.

You can't reduce fat from specific parts of your body by exercising that body part; our bodies simply don't work that way.

With sit-ups or other abdominal exercises, you're toning the abdominal muscles but not burning intra-abdominal fat. The key is to lower your overall body fat with moderate-intensity physical activity and a healthy diet; when you reduce your total body fat, you'll also be reducing your belly fat.

So if you want to do abdominal exercises, make them part of your fitness routine. Nutritionist Borg, agrees, adding that it's harder to shed pockets of fat that result from chronic intake of excess calories. There is a genetic predisposition to storing fat, of course.

A lot depends on the diet and lifestyle, but genes are also always at play. Everyone has hormones , but if yours are out of balance, they could lead to excess stomach fat. As women age, Claire Davis explains that they find it much harder to lose belly fat than men, mainly due to a decrease in the hormone oestrogen.

She says that a drop in oestrogen has been shown to impact fat distribution, making it more focused around the belly area than the hips and thighs. Borg adds: "Poorly functioning or overworked adrenal glands can produce higher levels of cortisol, which can lead to a 'swallowed a beach ball' look.

Now we get to the last note… Naturally, women do have a lower metabolic rate than men, notes the experts. They explain how this means that - while women's bodies use fewer calories to fuel normal body functions - the leftover calories are stored as fat.

Above all, Dr James encourages you to be patient, as results will not be seen overnight. Instead, he reveals it takes at least 12 weeks until a change to your belly fat will probably be noticed.

Because as we mentioned before, the fat there is so much harder to break down. FYI: a high sugar product is anything above Borg agrees, adding that reducing your sugar intake generally will only help reduce any stubborn stomach fat.

She explains how insulin is well known for reducing blood glucose, but it also has a secondary function to store excess glucose as adipose fat tissue.

An excessive intake of carbohydrates causes the excessive release of insulin. When the cells are saturated in glucose from lunch, there is nothing to be done with excess sugars at supper other than to store them as fat.

This one's super obvious - make sure you're eating at least 15 to 20g of protein at each meal, say Claire and James Davis. Some good examples include:. You may not know this, but as you get older, your metabolic rate naturally decreases. No, but it's complicated.

This includes two recent studies by the University of Sydney that examined data from more than placebo-controlled trials of herbal and dietary supplements. None of the supplements examined provided a clinically meaningful reduction in body weight among overweight or obese people. While you may not lose the weight in a specific spot when exercising, all physical activity helps to burn body fat and preserve muscle mass.

This will lead to a change in your body shape over time and it will also help you with long-term weight management. This is because your metabolic rate — how much energy you burn at rest — is determined by how much muscle and fat you carry.

As muscle is more metabolically active than fat meaning it burns more energy than fat , a person with a higher muscle mass will have a faster metabolic rate than someone of the same body weight with a higher fat mass.

Successfully losing fat long term comes down to losing weight in small, manageable chunks you can sustain — periods of weight loss, followed by periods of weight maintenance, and so on, until you achieve your goal weight. It also requires gradual changes to your lifestyle diet, exercise and sleep to ensure you form habits that last a lifetime.

Read more: Is it true the faster you lose weight the quicker it comes back? Here's what we know about slow and fast weight loss. At the Boden Group, Charles Perkins Centre, we are studying the science of obesity and running clinical trials for weight loss.

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Diet is also important. Pay attention to portion size, and emphasize complex carbohydrates fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and lean protein over simple carbohydrates such as white bread, refined-grain pasta, and sugary drinks. Replacing saturated fats and trans fats with polyunsaturated fats can also help.

Scientists hope to develop drug treatments that target abdominal fat. For now, experts stress that lifestyle, especially exercise, is the very best way to fight visceral fat.

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Beyond the usual suspects for healthy resolutions. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente found that people in their early 40s with the highest levels of abdominal fat, compared with those who had the least abdominal fat at that age, were nearly three times more likely to develop dementia including Alzheimer's disease by their mids to early 80s.

Dementia was not associated with increased thigh size. The risks were highest for women who were both large-waisted and overweight or obese. The investigators believe that belly fat raises the risk of asthma more than other poundage because it has inflammatory effects throughout the body, including in the airways.

Breast cancer. A combined analysis of several studies found that premenopausal women with abdominal obesity the largest waist size in proportion to their height were at greater risk for breast cancer.

Large waists were also linked to breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women, but that effect was not significant once BMI was taken into account. Colorectal cancer. People with the most visceral fat have three times the risk of developing colorectal adenomas precancerous polyps than those with the least visceral fat.

The relationship was found after many other risks were accounted for. The researchers also confirmed that adenomatous polyps in the colon are associated with insulin resistance, which may be the mechanism that increases the cancer risk.

Where you tend to gain fat depends on your genes, your hormones, your age, your birth weight smaller babies more readily add belly fat later in life , and whether you've had children women who have given birth tend to develop more visceral fat than women who haven't.

As young adults, women on average have less visceral fat than men, but that changes with menopause. You can't change your birth weight or your genes, and you can't hold off menopause.

But there are several ways you can minimize the accumulation of visceral fat. The good news is that because it's more readily metabolized into fatty acids, it responds more efficiently to diet and exercise than fat on the hips and thighs.

Here are some approaches that may help:. Keep moving. Exercise can help reduce your waist circumference.

Even if you don't lose weight, you lose visceral belly fat and gain muscle mass. Engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days, such as brisk walking or bicycling at a casual pace.

Also create opportunities to add motion to routine tasks. For example, park farther from your destination and walk the rest of the way, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and stand while you talk on the phone.

Studies have shown that you can help trim visceral fat or prevent its growth with both aerobic activity such as brisk walking and strength training exercising with weights.

Spot exercises, such as sit-ups, can tighten abdominal muscles but won't get at visceral fat. Exercise can also help keep fat from coming back. Eat right. Choose a balanced diet that helps you achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Avoid products that seem to encourage belly fat deposition, especially simple sugars like fructose-sweetened foods and beverages. Don't smoke. The more you smoke, the more likely you are to store fat in your abdomen rather than on your hips and thighs.

Get your sleep. Too little is bad. A five-year study found that adults under age 40 who slept five hours or less a night accumulated significantly more visceral fat.

But too much isn't good, either — young adults who slept more than eight hours also added visceral fat. This relationship wasn't found in people over age Mind your mood. Middle-aged women who show more hostility and had more depressive symptoms tend to have more visceral fat — but not more subcutaneous fat.

Forget the quick fix. Liposuction for cosmetic fat removal doesn't reach inside the abdominal wall. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.

No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

The control group used grapeseed oil. Data was collected before and after the treatment using Siemens Somatom Sensation 4, a tape measure and MBSRQ.

Result: Abdominal subcutaneous fat and waist circumference in the experimental group significantly decreased after aromatherapy massage compared to the control group. Body image in the experimental group was significantly better after aromatherapy massage than in the control group.