The most common fitness question I am asked is: “How do I lose my belly fat?” If I had $1 for every time I’ve been asked that since 2001, I would have a nice retirement fund set up with the money!
I have good news and bad news in regards to that question. The bad news is that you cannot “spot reduce” when losing weight. In other words, you can’t tell your body that you want it to lose weight in JUST the belly area. Nor can you do enough crunches and sit-ups to make that belly disappear.
When we eat more calories than what we need or use, those calories are going to get stored somewhere; and they usually get stored as fat. In order to burn that fat away, we have to burn it with cardio workouts – this means getting our heart rate up where we are huffing and puffing just a bit. It means getting out of our leisurely walking pace and speeding it up. You have to find the cardio workouts that work for you; I enjoy Zumba classes, Spinning classes, and running to get my heart rate up. Your choice might be kayaking, bike riding outside, inline skating, playing soccer, etc. So, the good new is these cardio workouts will help to burn that belly fat. More bad and good news – depends on how you look at it! 85% of what your body looks like happens in the kitchen and at the table. Whatever you put into your mouth determines what your body looks like. You can exercise and do all the right things at the gym; but if you do not make the right food and drink choices, you won’t see the progress that you are wanting to see. We trainers like to say that your abs are made in the kitchen!
So, there’s really no big secret or pill or supplement to take! The good news is it really is this simple… working out and making good food and drink choices!
Angela Prather
Fitness Specialist, Health and Wellness Coach
