By: Jim Payton
Submitted: 2010-08-24 18:39:21 | Word Count: 784
It's been a dieter's quandary for ages. How can you reduce tummy fat without starving yourself or working out non-stop? Can you shrink your stomach without getting skinny all over?
In the past, dieters believed that doing endless sit-ups and crunches would target the fat in their abdominal region.Sadly, spot reduction is a myth which has been put to rest. It's not possible to reduce tummy fat without reducing your overall body fat percentage. However it is possible to lose fat which in turn will help reduce your tummy size with the correct combo of exercise and diet.
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Food that helps fight the fat
There are some foods that promote extra belly weight while there is other food that helps fight the tummy fat. It is not just a matter of the amount of food you eat: the different types of food also play a major role in the size of your waistline.
For example, some foods and chemicals put stress on our bodies. Nicotine and Caffeine are two of the more popular substances that can act as stimulants. These two substances increase your blood pressure and heart rate. When these vital signs go up, our bodies take it as a sign of danger. Our bodies hang on to the extra calories by storing them as stomach fat automatically.
That's because our bodies produce a stress hormone called cortisol.Cortisol is responsible for extra fat storage, particularly around the waist.This type of fat is especially dangerous, and has been linked to cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
Our bodies produce insulin in order to utilize glucose.The problem can get worse when the insulin is produced. Sweet flavors can trigger a release of insulin even when our blood glucose levels are low or normal, which is one reason why people report feeling hungrier after eating foods containing artificial sweeteners.The insulin drives down the blood glucose level, making us very hungry. This leads to excessive eating, and accumulation of belly fat.
The best foods to help you reduce tummy fat are those which don't trigger a flood of insulin, and don't throw the body into preservation mode. These include nutritious, slowly-digestible foods like whole grain breads and pastas, lean meat or tofu, whole nuts, fibrous fruits and vegetables, olive oil and avocados.
If you cannot bring yourself to give up caffeine, switch to green tea instead of coffee. Tea conatains whats called phytonutrients which gives you a lots of other healthy benefits such as faster metabolism and it has enough caffeine to give you that perk similar to coffee.
Tummy Fat Reducing Exercises
Of course, diet is just one side of the weight loss equation. The other side would be exercise. Targeting just the tummy fat as discussed earlier is not possible but strength training and cardio would be the closest thing to it since this will reduce your overall body fat percentage. You can also do exercises that isolate your abdominal muscles, giving you a shapely six-pack that will emerge as soon as the extra fat is gone.
It doesn't matter what kind of cardio exercise you do; you can walk briskly, go for a swim, jog around your neighborhood, take up martial arts, or spend time working in the garden. Mainly you want to pick an activity that you like and something you can stay interested in at least 3 to 5 times a week. The pounds will start to fade away while your health and heart start to improve.
The other major factor for fat burning is strength training. The bigger amount of muscle you have the more calories that your body can burn and in turn the less fat it stores. The best thing to do will be to find a strength regimen that you can do for a minimum of 30 minutes 3 times a week. The best routine will target different sets of muscles on different sets of days.For example, you could work your biceps and shoulders on Monday, Cardio on Tuesday, triceps and back on Wed, Cardio on Thursday, and Legs on Friday.
Always stay hydrated during your work out ( you might want to think about a recovery drink) and take time between sets and reps.Your body won't burn fat as efficiently if you don't drink enough fluids. Aim for 64 ounces of pure water daily, or as much as 1 ounce per pound of body weight.
