How to lose belly fat naturally, and keep off the weight

Do you carry most of your fat in your gut?

Do you often sit down feeling uncomfortable as your pants have gotten tighter and are burrowing into your growing gut?

Join the club.

Don’t worry I have worked with thousands of clients that have the same presentation and complaints and I am happy to share with you some tips and strategies that have assisted them in losing their belly fat, gain muscle and improve their physique.

Burning belly fat requires a calorie deficit and balanced hormones.

The problem with the "eat less, exercise more" model is that it accomplishes the calorie deficit but makes the hormone balance worse. Interestingly, if hormones are balanced it's easier to achieve a calorie deficit. Insulin resistance makes people hungrier. Excess cortisol secretion increases hunger and cravings. Even oestrogen has been shown to impact sensitivity to hunger hormones. Therefore, hormonal considerations must be addressed alongside calories.

So let’s delve in

1.Ensure you get you minimum 8 hours every night of good quality sleep.

As it stands sleep is a no compromise area and NO you can’t catch up on the weekend. When you sleep you lose fat while your hormones get regulated and your body detoxified. It is serious business and as such you would do well to reprioritise this aspect of your lifestyle and create stable and consistent sleeping routines.

2. Keep your blood sugar levels stable and avoid skipping meals.

When you skip meals and allow for more than 3-5 hours between your meals, your blood sugar levels can become unstable. Your brain uses 30% of available blood sugar supply, as such when this is running low your body will produce more cortisol to get sugar levels back up. Cortisol is bad news as it promotes belly fat storage. So, ensure you have regular meals and whatever you do, don’t skip breakfast.

3. Select a lower carbohydrate diet and LOW GI carbs

Many people think that skipping carbs is the way to go when it comes to losing fat. Unfortunately, this is not true. Unprocessed good quality carbs such as black rice, quinoa, potato and legumes can assist with losing belly fat. They feed many beneficial strains of bacteria that are directly involved in supporting a healthy metabolism. Further when these carbs are combined with a moderate amount of protein at every meal it will help keep your insulin levels lower which is key for dropping belly fat.

4. Avoid combining carbs with fat… anyone for margarita pizza?

Have you heard of the saying carbs and fat make you fat? You have now and it is true as these macronutrients are processed directly into fat when combined together. Ensure you have small amounts of fat, good quality unprocessed carbs combined with protein and lots of vegetables or salad to keep your hormones, inner and outer gut happy.

5. Avoid stress, better yet learn how to manage stress

Have you accepted stress as being a normal part of life? You shouldn’t have. When you stress, you increase your cortisol levels which will make you and keep you fat. Further long-term stress will age you, ruin you gut health, imbalance your hormones, suppress your immunity and make you sick. If this is an area you struggle with now is the time to take action and learn how to deal with it. Mindfulness, meditation, breathing, exercise, proper eating and speaking to a counsellor are all strategies that will help balance your body, brain, hormones, lose fat and get control of your life.

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