Top 10 ways to get rid of belly fat.

OK, let me make something super clear before we start, getting rid of belly fat does NOT include doing a gazillion

sit ups a day. In fact doing a gazillion sit ups a day, will not only make you look silly but maybe also conducive to your flat belly goal. This is mainly due to the fact that most people have have difficulty performing sit ups with correct technique, as well as the fact that this exercise works on thickening your waistline and can put undue pressure onto your spine.

Apart from the aesthetics, the amount of visceral fat, (the fat around your organs) is directly correlated to overall health so this is definitely worth addressing, even if you're not so bothered about looking great in your swimmers.

Although it's a popular old school weight loss formula that most coaches even to this day, fall back on, relying on calorific intake Vs expenditure alone to initiate long term fat loss can be rather short sighted. Amongst many other reasons discussed in this article, if you cut calories too drastically, you can send your stress hormones into a spin and as a result, hold on to belly fat as much as you want to lose it.

Let's fast forward to 2018; Most of us know that realistically, great long lasting results don't come with shortcuts but there certainly are better and smarter ways to achieving your ultimate best body and flat stomach to boot. So what are the 10 best best ways that smart people out there can apply, to accelerate fat loss for a strong sculpted body and sleek waist?:

Very importantly, once you are nailing any of these 10 tips in your life, keep applying them consistently for the best possible results over the lifespan

1. Nourish your gut

Are you feeling frustrated because you are following a seemingly healthy diet, yet are not able to shift stubborn fat, as well as possibly suffering from adverse health issues?

Your guts maybe at the forefront of the issue. There are particular types of foods that are gut nourishing foods whilst there are also foods that disrupt the gut leading you to store unwanted fat and feel bloated. It may surprise you to learn that beans, peas and legumes as well as the more well-known refined fats, proteins and carbohydrates can be gut disruptive.

Gut disruptive foods create microscopic tears in the gut wall which leak toxins into your system. These toxins are then stored within your fat cells. Once this occurs, your immune system is on red alert responding to the toxins as foreign invaders, attacking them as a result, which causes an inflammatory response. This inflammatory response, weakens the immune system which not only compromises health, but also stunts fat loss. These toxins also create fungus build up which is where the brain gut relationship can come into play, making you crave even more sugars, grains and other nasties.

In order to nourish your gut, you need to follow a short term intervention, such as my 14-day kickstart plan, which helps you to get your guts into health without starvation whatsoever. This type of intervention is crucial, so you respond better to all your hard work from your training and nutrition program achieving long lasting results. If you'd like to know more then send me an email and let's get your guts into line together!

In simple terms, you need to cut down on grains and replace with pseudo grains such as Quinoa and Buckwheat. As mentioned, beans, peas and legumes have also been shown to be gut disruptive for some people. Reducing sugar intake from drinks such as wine, beer, and other sweet and alcoholic beverages from your eating regime is sure to help keep your gut in tip top health.

2. Timing & Combining Carbohydrate Consumption

Historically, they have got a bad rap, however it's handy to know that not all carbohydrates are the enemy. In fact, the right carbohydrates consumed at the right times enable faster fat loss.

The problem is, most people achieve results when starting a new diet by accident. Once the accident has occurred, we tend to plateau quite quickly from applying this new eating strategy (usually from cutting carbohydrates)

But why does this plateau occur? For the better part, most of us approach diets haphazardly, by either

1. Consuming way too many especially of the wrong type of carbohydrates or

2. Far too little at the wrong times

3. By Chronically elliminating carbohydrates

With all of of these above strategies, unfortunately the adverse effect of what we are trying to achieve from a fat loss type eating regime applies. Essentially, this is derived from an insulin spike. Once cortisol is also spiked, it coincidently blocks your ability for fat loss whilst encourages unwanted belly flab.

Don't worry if the above rings true for you, because almost everybody who has tried a low carb rapid fat loss type plan messes up their hormones, damages their metabolism and forces their body to gain the unwanted weight back. The important thing is, you can turn this around with clever techniques that you can learn in this article and also asking me further questions and of course applying the answers .

Many of us have chronically and drastically eliminated carbohydrates for way longer than what is necessary. Over lengthy periods of time, this can reduce serotonin levels leading us to feel sad and depressed. With long term carb cutting, the thyroid stops responding so well, which in turn creates a sluggish metabolism leading to weight gain.

But what exactly spikes these hormones to create these adverse reactions? The answer is food intake. The good news is that the correct timing and combining of our macronutrients, allows us to control insulin better.

Rather than cutting carbohydrates out of your nutrition plan completely, you may want to consider correctly timing your carbohydrate consumption around your training because this method is is hugely beneficial for fat loss by counteracting excess stressing of our systems, as well as benefiting over all health. this is more formerly known as a window of opportunity or post workout nutrition.

Dark vegetables and fruits seem to work particularly well when consumed AFTER your training sessions especially when combined with a lean protein source (keep in mind, your fat intake MUST be LOW after training), because at this point our body is super responsive rather than defensive of these specific nutrients via an insulin spike from the training. This means that once they are consumed they get shuttled to the muscle, replenishing muscle glycogen. This helps to boost lean muscle and cuts excess fat.

Keep in mind that healthy fats in your eating plan are essential. When analysing the role and function of this essential macronutrient in your eating regime, fats should not be eliminated, instead should also be cleverly timed to initiate better results for your waistline, within a faster time frame.

Once we understand that fats are great at slowing digestion and keeping insulin stable (think of fats as keeping you fuller for longer) allows better insight into the importance of correctly timing it within our nutrition AND training routine combined, so we achieve our goal of narrowing the waist much more effectively. In short, due to its' slow breakdown, fat consumption should be timed for your non-training times of the day when insulin is steady.

Post workouts are the time when we want to take advantage of the insulin spike from high intensity training. Therefore to maximise fat loss and muscle build, we must avoid any slowing down of digestion from fats during this phase so that the nutrients from carbohydrates can be shuttled directly into the muscle without being stored.

3. Rather than cutting calories eat more of the foods that favour optimal body composition

The problem with cutting calories drastically, is that often your body will often respond to this harsh reduction adversely, detecting it as a distress (bad stress), rather than (good) eu-stress . Cue in survival mode because it is dis-stress, that releases excessive cortisol and it is this excessive cortisol production which helps you to keep producing and storing unwanted fat in order to survive the big bad world, rather than getting rid of it.

In respect of this stress factor, mindless or abrupt fasting techniques and/or starving yourself maybe counterproductive to your midriff goal because your body may detect this as a distress rather than a eustress. It is important to highlight here that not every person will react in the same manner as the next to different dietary methods, therefore it is crucial that you understand YOU and how you react to different methods of training and eating.

So, If all you want to do is get rid of muffin top so you look awesome in your skinny jeans, then keep reading below:

4. Understand your own body and how it reacts to your meal frequency

As mentioned above, although there are some nutrition methods that on the whole, work much more effectively than others, consider that not every single person will respond in exactly the same manner to a particular diet because genetically we are all made differently.

For example, eating 5 or 6 meals a day might work perfectly for some people, however may be disastrous for others. Intermittent fasting is currently is a popular dietary trend. Applying fasting techniques 5 or 6 times per week might work great for men, however for women, fasting for too long or too frequently can often be conducive to fat loss goals. Fasting by the way can be excellent when it's properly applied. If you don't know what properly is for you feel free to ask me for guidance on that.

Whenever you have intense cravings or hunger-ness this can be a sign that your body is stressing out too much and therefore will hold on to unwanted fat for survival purposes.

It's certainly advisable to slow down and understand your own internal patterns by logging a food diary, finding what kind of meal frequency might work best for you so that your cortisol does not go into over- drive, allowing you to reach your six pack goal.

Taking body composition measurements can be a great way to track your progress with a particular eating plan. As mentioned above, a food journal is a great way to monitor what goes into your mouth and how you feel after each meal. Check what eating patterns work for you well and which ones don't work for you as effectively.

5. Control (di)stress in your life

Dis-tress can be a weirdly wonderful thing that can be planted in your body without you even wanting it to. When your brain detects that you are not coping well with the stuff that life throws your way, it will signal this danger to you in a myriad of ways such as ill health, injury, unwanted weight gain, in order to make you step back and deal with the issues at bay.

You might be doing all the right things training and nutritionally but if your not controlling the stress that life throws at you very well, then your body will detect what ever you're not dealing with emotionally and inevitably will back fire on you keeping you stuck with the unwanted Kgs.

If this is you, can you find ways of controlling distress. Activities such as goal setting, yoga, meditation, and a gratitude diary are all fantastic tools to help you pull back out of the stress and take back control of your waistline (...and life) like a boss! Find the methods that work for you and go for it!

6. Get enough sleep

Getting enough sleep and good quality sleep is absolutely vital for fat loss plus general physical and mental health & wellbeing.

Did you know that multiple studies have shown a link between chronic sleep deprivation and obesity and even alzheimers disease? Lack of sleep (even just one night) can seriously disrupt your body composition goals because it messes with your internal systems that regulate appetite and carbohydrate metabolism.

You probably aware that you have a 'body clock'. Within a 24hr period, your 'body clock' controls when you are awake and asleep, which repeats in a typical rhythm. This rhythm, is known as your circadian rhythm. Interestingly, your circadiun rhythmn controls every single cell, tissue and organ in your body.

Not surprising to discover then that your sleep, energy and nutrition all run on the same cycle. This means that if and when your sleep is disrupted, it sends your hormones into over drive, which can have a detrimental effect on your energy and influence of food choices. Sleep deprivation not only influences your portion size control, by swaying you to pack far more on to your plate, also chemically lack of sleep can steer you off healthy choices by making you crave carb heavy gut disruptive foods.

This is because sleep deprivation triggers a cortisol spike which not only signals to your body to conserve energy but also increases appetite.

In today's highly stressful, highly technological world, it's a real challenge to try get enough quality sleep, however it's definitely worth investing your effort and time for overall health and body composition goals.

Sometimes these techniques will be quick fixes whilst others may take months to master, so you have to find methods that work for you. According to the sleep experts, here's some tips on how to pull your sleep patterns into line so you can maximise fat loss:

1. Regulate your sleep patterns. Try to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Go to bed when you feel tired and you should then wake up without an alarm. If you keep hitting snooze, you may need to set your sleep time to earlier.

2. Avoid sleeping in, even on weekends. The more you do this the more jet lag type symptoms set in and you will feel worse. Instead opt for a nanna nap of just 15-20 minutes during the early afternoon to maintain your sleep wake cycle whilst paying off your sleep debt.

3. Control your light exposure. Expose yourself to bright light in the mornings, spend more time outside and make-sure your work space is next to the window in a light filled area. Be very wary of light exposure from your devices 1-2 hours before bed as these can disrupt your natural sleep rhythm. Embrace the old fashioned way and read a book before bed, instead of staring at a light filled smart phone screen or watching television.

4. Choose to train vigorously in the morning or early afternoon. Vigorous exercise enhances deep sleep. Hard training stimulates metabolism, elevates body temperature and invigorates your nervous system, which is fantastic at the right time of day, although warning too close to bed time (-3 hrs before) can create sleep disturbances.

5. Nutrition choices. Be smart with your food choices and portions before bed. Limit coffee and alcohol as these will create sleep disturbances. All the refined types of carbohydrates that you need to avoid for a healthy lifestyle, must also be factored out of your eating plan to maximise your best quality of sleep. According to the sleep experts white bread, rice pasta, and sugary treats are to be limited at all times of the day.

6. Sleep environment: Your body is able to rest at an optimum temperature of 21 degrees. Keep your room quiet , dark and make-sure your bed is comfortable enough for a good nights rest.

7. Portions of macronutrients (Fat, Protein, Carbohydrates)

Protein, fat and carbohydrates are known as macronutrients. Hardly surprising with the amount of diets on the market today that there's lots of confusion as to portion sizes of each macronutrient type, in order tor you to achieve your ultimate body.

For portion control, It very useful and simple to use your hand to easily measure optimum portion sizes of your macronutrients for improving your body composition. I like to refer to the info graphic as per below:

FAT:

Whilst good fats are amazing at elevating satiety levels you also need to consider that your body is also a fat storing machine for survival purposes, in that it likes to store fat easily from your diet as well as yielding high kcal per gram. Be careful therefore of overloading on fat for health purposes and also to be able to squeeze into

your skinny jeans.

The general rule of thumb (excuse the pun) is a thumb size of non-trans fat is acceptable for body composition and general health and wellbeing goals. Keep in mind trans-fats (think pre-packed cakes, biscuits, sweets etc) you need to be avoiding all together for over all health and wellbeing plus of course to push you towards your fat loss goal quicker.

PROTEIN:

To slim down your waistline it is recommended that you include protein into every meal. There are numerous benefits to implementing this especially when it comes to your fat loss and lean mass goal. For example, eating protein in every meal will keep your body in a consistent anabolic (muscle preserving) state whilst also providing amino acids to help assisting muscle growth. (Remember that when your muscles a stronger and bigger they ask for more fuel from your fat stores.) Your body burns more calories digesting and breaking down protein than it does carbs and fats. In simplistic terms, the portion size of protein is roughly the size of your palm. An acceptable range is 15 to 25 grams per serving for women and 20 to 40 grams for men. If you’re not consistently exercising, these amounts should be lower

CARBOHYDRATES:

Whilst refined types of carbohydrates are to be avoided where possible, there are plenty of carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, pseudo grains to name a few) that you need to be including as part of your fat loss nutrition plan. As mentioned previously correctly timing, combining and preparing your carbohydrates are critical factors that determine your level of success.

For those on a strict fat loss type regime, carbohydrate consumption should be spared for high intensity post workout periods plus early in the mornings when your muscles are super responsive to the nutrients. The optimum portion size for carbohydrates is the size of your fist.

8. Work with macronutrient partitioning

Just like any training program. If you were to perform exactly the same training program after 6 weeks, your body would no longer respond to that program. This is what is known as the adaptation process. Your body has adapted to the training demand. Believe it or not, this also rings true for your eating regime. Following the same plan over and over, your body will adapt to this and serves it purpose as a fat storing survival machine, understanding your patterns, macronutrients holding on to as much unwanted weight as possible.

Macronutrient partitioning is a flexible eating plan, where you are pushed out of any nutrition plateau, and metabolic damage you are currently experiencing through previous harsh diets. This solid eating plan drives you forwards towards your ultimate body, health and fitness by cleverly scheduling and portioning your macronutrients in a very realistic way so it works into your lifestyle. The reason I prefer this method is because it is realistic and you can use these techniques over long periods of time which allows you to achieve your goals over your lifespan.

In my whole 17 year career, I have never found any other eating plan as effective in the short term and long term than a method known as macronutrient partitioning. If you want to know more details then get in touch with me today and I will send you the first part of the plan for FREE bodywizeaustralia@gmail.com

9. Lift Weights

Lifting weights will boost your lean mass which creates a bigger engine for you to be able to burn fuel (AKA unwanted fat). Partaking in a sound resistance training program helps you to banish belly fat because it, enables you to become more sensitised to insulin release whilst allowing you to control cortisol more effectively in your body.

When you are stronger from lifting weights you not only burn more fuel (fat) during training but also you burn far more fuel at rest. This leads you to looking good and feeling better.

Where as some programmed cardiovascular training is beneficial, hours and hours of cardio (especially after the tender age of 40) can cause precious muscle that makes you look tighter, stronger and leaner, to break down and you're left with a 'skinny fat' look. One of the main adaptations to cardiovascular training is to conserve fuel rather than to burn it, whereas the opposite rings true for resistance based training. During strength and condiitoning training, the stronger you become the more fat you burn. Win win!

Want the tight toned look? Make sure you include 4-5 weight training sessions which involve big movement patterns and varying energy system demand in to your program per week. When you become your strongest, your lean mass increases and fat mass reduces.

It is super important to program your resistance training sessions properly so that you do not overload your different energy systems and become injured or hit a training plateau. Don't just rely on the free HIIT workouts that you get online from a random personal trainer. You will reap far more benefits by investing in yourself heavily and hiring a decent coach over time. If you don't, I can guarantee that no one will. Although I must stress that building a strong body takes a lot of time, effort and patience, investing in a coach save you ALOT of time money and frustration, ultimately leading you to a better body, health and fitness in record time whilst maintaining results.

To maximise fat loss, you may want to consider forms of training that enable you to jack up your metabolism after your training session ceases in order to get more bang for your buck from your time. This is not about steady state training, but more so about creating the maximum 'after burn effect' from the type of training your doing.

As mentioned, your 'FAT LOSS' programming should involve putting your different energy systems to the test to create your desired body composition, making sure you involve all your muscle groups too. To get the best possible response rather than replying on one training type, try mixing up Metabolic Resistance Training, High Intensity Interval Training, Strength, Power and Body Conditioning into your program.

Did you know I am currently setting up a brand new online training program especially for women who want to achieve insane levels of strength, shape and power ? Stay in the loop for our very exciting launch happening this Month by following us on instagram

10. Drink More Water

Despite the fact that our body is composed of over 60% H2o, many of us grossly underestimate the need for water. Without it, we are unable to move or function efficiently both internally and externally. It forms the basis of overall health. Our digestive system can only survive with water, as it converts foods to nutrients which are then shuttled around the body. In short, water consumption ought be at the top of your agenda, if fat loss is indeed your goal.

Feeling bloated after a hot summers day? When you forget to drink enough water, especially during higher temps and training, your body catches on very quickly and likes to hold on to it for survival purposes. This can make you feel and look bloated. On a positive note, this indicates your body is working hard at keeping you alive. This can often be used as a clear signal that you need to go and drink more water as soon as possible.

At an organ level, a key function of the body is to maintain equilibrium. Although once dehydrated your body will be fighting hard to keep you alive. For instance, one of the key regulators of macronutrient (fat, protein and carbs) metabolism is the liver. When the kidney's are starved of their vital H2o composition, it will put undue pressure on the liver to conduct the kidneys' role of toxin removal. If this organ is busy removing toxins, metabolising fat, will no longer be a priority for the liver and therefore fat will be inadvertently stored.

The liver and kidneys are composed of over 90% water, we learned that once the liver is starved of its composition, it will put extra pressure on the kidneys.

Once you are dehydrated, not only will the regulation of fat metabolism become inhibited but also toxins will be disposed of within fat cells which expand to cater for the survival demand in your body. This means that the toxic waste that is usually disposed of out of the body, will get shuttled into the fat cells as this this the only way they can be disposed of, so that our vital organs do not get damaged. Also, our fat cells will expand to cater for the increased storage demand of toxic waste when we are dehydrated.

One of the biggest membranes in our body our connective tissue (also known as your fascia) is mainly composed of H2o. Connective tissue in the body is like a sponge. When wet and hydrated you can manipulate a sponge in any direction and it will bounce back , remain in form and stay strong. When dry, like our connective tissue the sponge is brittle and can break with even slight manipulation.

What can be taken from this Hydrated muscles are far stronger and less susceptible to injury during training sessions. Especially whilst you might be dieting when you're muscles and connective tissue is hydrated you will maintain the metabolism, health and strength of your movement structures in your body. This means you can shrink your waistline, because you can train harder and faster, getting more from each training session just from drinking more water.

If you want to stay healthy, energetic and flush your fat you will need to calculate your baseline water and then any training or heat on top of this will be needed to be added on to this baseline for optimum performance, fat loss and a reduction of belly bloat.

I find its handy to multiply your body weight (Kgs) by 0.03 = Survival Litres of water that you need to consume per day (remember you must factor in far more should you exercise or be exposed to heat stress)

Final Words

As you have read, many elements here that help push you forwards towards your ultimate most strongest, fittest and leanest self. The best way to get something done is to begin. It's your job now to take action. Don't just think about making these improvements, pick a few areas where you know will make the biggest impact, set goals and run with them as fast as you can! Any questions? Im right here for you to ask me. Email me now for all you questions.