How to Get Rid of Excess Belly Fat

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Step 1

It's a myth that crunches will get rid of excess belly fat!

LOSE TOTAL BODY FAT.

Most of the excess fat that people want to lose, including excess belly fat, is subcutaneous fat. This type of fat is underneath the skin but over the muscles, jiggles, and can be pinched. And the only way to lose subcutaneous fat is to burn more calories than you eat -- either by reducing your caloric intake through diet (with or without the aid of diet pills or supplements), increasing your metabolism by exercising, or a combination of the two. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no such thing as spot-reducing problem areas of subcutaneous fat. Lifting weights will not help burn the fat on your arms, nor will doing sit-ups help burn the excess fat on your belly. You can do crunches until the cows come home, but unless you lose the total amount of fat on your body, you'll never be able to see those well-toned abs underlying the subcutaneous fat.

Of course, doing crunches or sit-ups will help build the rectus abdominus muscles (your abs) and help give you that sought-after well-defined six-pack... IF your body fat percentage is in fact low enough to show it off!
Step 2

Visceral belly fat may be reduced with exercise.

EXERCISE AEROBICALLY TO REDUCE VISCERAL FAT.

The fat that lies underneath the abdominal muscles and surrounds your organs is called intraperitoneal, or visceral, fat. This is the fat that produces the big tight "beer belly" seen commonly in men -- women are less likely to have excess visceral fat. Rather, women are more likely to gain subcutaneous fat on their hips and thighs before increasing their visceral belly fat.

Visceral belly fat is associated with heart disease and the metabolic syndrome (which includes insulin resistance or diabetes), and can also increase with high levels of stress hormones such as cortisol. Therefore, visceral fat is considered more "dangerous" than subcutaneous fat.

There have been many scientific studies examining ways to decrease this type of belly fat, and most point toward the same solution: exercise. It seems that aerobic exercise, especially vigorous exercise such as running, helps specifically decrease visceral belly fat. For example, a commonly-cited study of post-menopausal women with adult-onset (type 2) diabetes published in 2005 showed that dieting alone was not enough to burn visceral fat, but that diet plus exercise, as well as exercise alone, both helped reduce visceral fat. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 Mar;90(3):1511-8. Epub 2004 Dec 14.)
However, a new study being published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition seems to contradict the current wisdom. Researchers compared overweight and obese postmenopausal women and found that with a similar amount of total weight loss, there is not a preferential loss of abdominal fat when either moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise is added to a low-calorie diet. (Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Apr;89(4):1043-52. Epub 2009 Feb 11.) This suggests that simple fat loss, whether achieved through diet or exercise or a combination of the two, will decrease excess belly fat equally.
Step 3

Plastic surgery should be a last resort.

CONSIDER LIPOSUCTION OR AN ABDOMINOPLASTY (TUMMY TUCK).

If you have been following a low-calorie diet and exercising for months and managed to lose your excess total body fat, but can't seem to get rid of that last little bit of excess belly fat, you might want to consider a visit to your friendly neighborhood plastic surgeon. Surgical removal of the subcutaneous fat that overlies the abdominal muscles might be your only other option if you have already reduced your total body fat to healthy, low levels and are still determined to show off those six-pack abs. Liposuction is less invasive and will remove fat tissue but if you also have loose skin over the belly (such as after having a baby), a tummy tuck will remove both excess skin and the subcutaneous fat associated with it. These procedures are costly and are not without risk, so be sure you have truly exhausted the diet/exercise route first!

Comments

djackman said

on 1/8/2010 grat ideas on getting rid of belly FAT 5*

on 10/29/2009 My uncle is classic in this regard. His tummy is huge and really tight. He has diabetes now and heart problems are VERY hereditary in our family. Really scares me that he chooses to ignore this problem. He also had back surgery a couple times already. The weight sure isn't helping him. His first grandchild on the way, I hope he thinks more clearly now.