Over time, having too much fat around your abdomen can become harmful to your health. That’s because this type of fat, also known as visceral fat, grows around the internal organs in our stomach area.

Too much belly fat like this can increase our risk of heart disease, diabetes, and even complications like cancer or strokes. While this fat can sometimes be difficult to lose, there are ways to do so in a healthy, sustainable manner.

We talked with a few dietitians to get their advice on how you can begin setting goals for your health and losing belly fat today. And for more healthy weight loss tips, check out High-Protein Lunch Recipes for Weight Loss.

One of the best things you can do for yourself and your goal of losing belly fat is making sure you get enough protein throughout your day. One mistake that people sometimes make is that they cut too many calories to try and lose weight, but they end up not getting enough protein in their meals because of this.

“There are a few key benefits that protein provides in terms of losing weight. First, protein helps build muscle mass and reduce fat, especially in the abdominal area. Second, protein helps you feel full longer, helping you curb your appetite throughout the day and maybe not reach in the pantry for some extra unhealthy snacks. Lastly, eating enough protein daily also provides energy, which you’ll need to perform cardio or strength training workouts to help reach your goals,” says Courtney D’Angelo, MS, RD, author at Go Wellness.

Having a glass of red wine every now and then can potentially provide you with some benefits, but too much alcohol over time can increase your chances of having abdominal fat. In fact, according to a study from the International Journal of Obesity, light to moderate consumption of alcohol was associated with increased visceral fat in adult women.

“Consuming too much alcohol can result in accumulation of belly fat, so instead of drinking martinis and glasses of wine, opt for a glass of 100% pomegranate juice served in a fancy glass or a flute of sparkling water,” says Lauren Manaker, MS, RDN, author of The First Time Mom’s Pregnancy Cookbook and Fueling Male Fertility.

It’s almost pointless to follow any of these other guidelines if you’re not getting enough water in your body throughout the day, especially if you can use that water to replace sugary drinks that may be leading to more weight gain.

“Most people are drinking too many sugary sports drinks, soda, and specialty coffees throughout their days. If you drink more water instead of those drinks, you’ll drastically reduce the amount of sugar and calories that you’re currently consuming. Water also helps you stay hydrated, triggering higher energy levels, which can help cause you to take more action on your overall health and wellness,” says D’Angelo.

RELATED: The #1 Best Drinking Habit to Shrink Abdominal Fat, Says Dietitian

Similarly to getting enough water and protein during the day, getting enough sleep is also a foundational tool in helping to lose weight.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

A report from the Canadian Medical Association Journal concluded that inadequate sleep was not only linked to a greater risk of obesity but was also found to commonly interfere with weight loss attempts.

“Not getting enough sleep can result in weight gain and fat accumulation, so allowing yourself to sleep 7-8 hours every single night may help you lose some stubborn belly fat,” says Manaker.

This method may not work for everyone, so it’s important to talk with a doctor or dietitian first. But counting macros has been found to be a successful method in helping some people lose belly fat, and it can allow you more freedom than something like counting calories or other restrictive methods of weight loss.

“Counting macros can help you lose stubborn belly fat, maintain lean muscle mass and keep your body full of energy. This wouldn’t be effortless if you had to jot it all down on paper and do the math yourself. However, today there are plenty of legitimate apps out there that can easily help track your macros. The science behind counting macros is that there’s not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ number. Everyone is going to have different weight goals and will need the proper amount of calories, protein, fats, and carbs. This is now easy to do with apps like MyFitnessPal or 1st Phorm,” says D’Angelo.

Source link

The post Effortless Ways to Start Losing Belly Fat Immediately, Say Dietitians — Eat This Not That appeared first on Heal your health yourself.

Losing belly fat can be a long, hard process. While losing weight in other areas of the body may easily come off, belly fat is harder to budge. So it’s important to understand why.

“There are three types of fat: triglycerides, the fat that circulates in your blood, subcutaneous fat, the layer directly below the skin’s surface, and visceral fat (also known as abdominal fat or belly fat),” explains Colette Heimowitz, MS, Vice President of Nutrition & Education at Simply Good Foods Company. “Visceral fat is located beneath the muscles in your stomach and poses risks to your health when there is too much of it.”

She adds that visceral fat produces excess hormones and chemicals, which negatively impact almost every organ in your body, and increase your risk for health issues such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and colorectal cancer.

Unfortunately, it’s this visceral fat specifically that contributes to the extra weight you may carry in your mid-section.

“The body tends to store visceral fat, or abdominal fat, easily and resist ‘losing’ it since it is in such close proximity to almost all of our vital organs,” says Erin Palinski-Wade, RD, CDCES, a New Jersey-based registered dietitian and consultant for MyFitnessPal. “It is an easy source of quick energy for organs, so it makes sense the body would want to ‘keep’ it around.”

Palinski-Wade notes that everything from stress to lack of sleep to aging to a diet rich in simple sugars can increase these fat stores, and it can be hard to shed it without making consistent lifestyle adjustments.

If you’re struggling to lose abdominal fat, here are 8 things to try. Read on, and for more on how to eat healthy, don’t miss Eating Habits to Lose Abdominal Fat As You Age, Say Dietitians.

“Stress hormones can cause the body to store more fat in the midsection, even if your body weight doesn’t change,” says Palinski-Wade. “One of the best ways to reduce stress quickly is by simply practicing ‘belly breathing’—breathing in through the nose into the abdomen, holding for a few seconds, and then exhaling deeply through pursed lips like you are whistling. This can help to slow heart rate, calm the body, and reduce circulating stress hormones.”

“Protein helps trigger the release of leptin, which helps us feel fuller, longer and can slow calorie consumption leading to more belly fat gain,” says Cory Ruth, MS, RDN, registered dietitian nutritionist, women’s health expert, and CEO of The Women’s Dietitian. “Easy ways to add more protein into your diet include protein-packed smoothies with Greek yogurt or protein powder in the morning, grilled salmon or chicken for lunch, lentils, or black beans for dinner, and hard-boiled eggs and roasted almonds for snacks.”

“Your body is built to handle the equivalent of only one to two teaspoons of circulating blood sugar at a time, and anything more than that has the potential to be converted into body fat,” says Heimowitz.

“Simple sugars in the diet can cause belly fat to accumulate quickly. Too much added sugar can also increase insulin resistance, which leads to excess insulin in the bloodstream, encouraging even more fat storage in the belly.,” says Palinski-Wade.

“The largest source of added sugar in the diet is sugary beverages, like soda. By swapping soda for sparkling water with a splash of juice, you can enjoy all the same refreshing carbonation without any added sugars.”

“A short, brisk daily walk helps encourage lower cortisol levels,” says Ruth. “Studies show even a quick walk can help regulate your insulin levels more effectively, leading to less fat storage in your abdomen.”

“When you cut down on carbs, especially refined carbs like white bread, rice, bagels, pasta, cookies, candy, and chips, and focus on nutrient- and fiber-rich carbs such as vegetables, and low-glycemic fruits, you start to lose belly fat, because your body is burning fat for fuel,” says Heimowitz.

“Reducing belly fat doesn’t have to be overwhelming, but it takes consistency especially when it comes to food choices,” says Palinski-Wade. “So many of us eat without realizing what we’ve actually eaten or how much. When you track your food, you can see how what you eat impacts everything from your energy, mood, stress levels, and even sleep – it doesn’t have to be hard to do.”

“Lemons are known diuretics that can help reduce stomach bloat, and upping your hydration can help keep your appetite at bay, meaning a lower calorie intake and less belly fat,” says Ruth.

Source link

The post Effortless Ways to Start Losing Abdominal Fat Immediately, Say Dietitians — Eat This Not That appeared first on Heal your health yourself.

When it comes to weight loss or maintenance, of course, what you eat is crucial, and some research suggests when you eat is important, too. But a new study in Scientific Reports suggests another big component of your eating habits can help: chewing food more slowly.

To determine the potential effects of slow chewing, researchers asked 11 healthy, normal-weight men to go through three trials: drinking liquid food normally every 30 seconds, drinking liquid food but keeping it in their mouths for 30 seconds before swallowing, and chewing food for 30 seconds before swallowing.

All three approaches resulted in the same level of fullness, but it was the slow chewing that turned out to be unique, because it increased what’s called diet-induced thermogenesis, or DIT. This refers to how much heat is generated in the body after eating and how it affects your metabolic rate. A low level of DIT tends to promote weight gain, while a high level has the opposite effect.

Even though it might seem like a minor action, increased chewing among participants elevated their DIT and the researchers noted that the difference per meal or snack might be small, but the cumulative effect done every time you eat could be substantial.

Related: The #1 Best Juice to Drink Every Day, Says Science

Although the study has limitations based on its small sample size, it’s not the first to make the connection between slow eating and weight loss or maintenance. For example, a clinical trial published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that increasing the number of chews before swallowing reduced meal sizes in part because people ate for longer, and that led to eating less.

Another study in Frontiers in Psychology suggests there may be a mental component as well. In that research, participants who paid more attention to chewing showed a change in their brain’s reward circuits, which led to less impulsive eating behaviors.

Another benefit to slow eating is becoming more mindful about what you’re eating, and simply enjoying the taste more, says New York-based dietitian Vanessa Rissetto, R.D., co-founder of Culina Health. She says it can feel overwhelming to try to eat every single bite with mindful attention, but like a meditation exercise, start with a modest attempt.

For example, try being mindful of your next three bites of food. As you work the strategy into your eating more often, you’re more likely to get to that other big question around food, which can help you improve your eating habits in order to achieve your weight loss goals.

“Are you eating because you’re actually hungry, or it because you’re bored, stressed, or tired?” says Rissetto. “Are you feeding into that habit loop where a sugary item makes you feel good, so you just grab one because you’re on autopilot? Understanding why you’re eating makes a big difference.”

With that much awareness, it can lead to healthier eating habits without feeling deprived along the way, she adds.

For more, check out The Best Dinner Combinations for Faster Weight Loss.

Source link

The post This Secret Trick Can Help You Start Losing Weight Immediately, Says New Study — Eat This Not That appeared first on Heal your health yourself.

Losing weight is no easy task. “Dieting, exercising, and making sure you stay healthy in the process can seem impossible sometimes,” says registered dietitian Ronald Smith, RD, of EatDrinkBinge.com. “However, there are many ways to help you reach your goal more easily.” Best of all, they don’t have to be time-consuming or difficult.

We know that tracking everything you eat or meal prepping marathons can be a slog. That’s why we rounded up the below low- and zero-effort tips to bring down the number on the scale quickly and easily. Read on, and for more on how to eat drop pounds, don’t miss these 15 Underrated Weight Loss Tips That Actually Work.

“[Drinking water is] good for your skin and metabolism, two things that affect whether or not you lose weight,” says Smith. “Also, drink a glass of water before every meal: it will help fill you up faster.” Bonus points if you add lemon to your water—check out all the health benefits of lemon water here.

RELATED: Sign up for our newsletter to get daily recipes and food news in your inbox!

Hara hachi bu…mp up your weight loss. “Hara hachi bu is the practice of eating to only 80% of fullness,” explains Bill Bradley, RD, author of Foods of Crete, Traditional Recipes from the Healthiest People in the World (with Koula Barydakis), who lost 50 pounds with simple weight loss habits.

“My habit was to feel slightly hungry throughout the day, just a very slight hunger. This improved my energy and made me feel confident that I was doing the right thing to lose weight. I thought it was going to be a hard habit, but it turned out to be one of the easiest. The key here is not counting calories, but to have a habit of not overeating,” he continues, citing this research.

If you’re a breakfast skipper, you may want to rethink your habit. “If you wait too long in the morning, your body will go into starvation mode and store any extra calories as fat instead of burning them for energy,” says Smith.

Stumped for what to eat for the most important meal of the day? Check out 30 Nutritionist-Approved Healthy Breakfast Ideas.

An apple a day really does go a long way. In fact, Bradley employed the apple as his “secret weapon” in his weight loss push. “Before losing weight, I had a habit of eating something sweet in the afternoon (often peanut M&M’s or some sort of milk chocolate),” he recalls.

Then, apples came into the picture: “I would buy the crunchiest, sweetest apples I could find. In the afternoon or whenever I felt a hunger pang, I would eat an apple. This has worked for years and is an amazing and simple way to lose weight,” he elaborates, noting a PLoS Medicine study.

Time to employ a little psychology into meal-time, friends. “This trick will trick your brain into thinking that you have eaten more than what you actually did,” says Smith. While you’re at it, you may want to consider eating off of plates that aren’t white—find out why, and more sneaky weight loss tips that actually work here.

We’re talking about a way of eating that you can maintain in the long-haul, dear readers. “As a registered dietitian who specializes in weight loss, there is one thing I hear almost every day. People tell me about their successful diet and how they lost weight, but then they tell me they fell off the wagon and then gained all the weight back,” offers Bradley.

“An easy way to lose weight and keep it off is to eat a healthy diet that will help you lose and maintain weight,” he elaborates, praising the research-backed Mediterranean Diet, the easy and delectable eating plan that helped him lose 50 pounds and keep it off for five years and counting.

Read these next:

Source link

The post Effortless Ways to Start Losing Weight Immediately, Say Dietitians — Eat This Not That appeared first on Heal your health yourself.