How to Lose Belly Fat For Women

How to Lose Belly Fat For Women

Belly fat isn’t just a problem for the overweight, but it can also be an issue with thin people and even children.

Because of their body composition, women in particular, may find fight this to be a battle for much of their lives, especially after menopause. Finding the solution to this battle seems to be a never ending quest.

Belly fat is more than an issue for women about looking and feeling good in your clothes. We now know that the level of fat around the middle is a good indication of the status of our health and future illnesses that can possibly occur.

Whether overweight or underweight, research shows that an expanding waist line increases the risk of diseases and health risks such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. If not reduced or eliminated, belly fat can even cause premature death. However, this does not have to be the case.

The main source of belly fat can be found in the poor quality, amounts, and unhealthy types of foods that are eaten. Also, too many calories and too little exercise are likely to result in excess pounds.

Some of these excess calories tend to be stored as fat around the abdomen, especially if this tends to run in your family. Another factor for women is the decrease of muscles as they age and the increase of fat deposits. Also, for women, decreasing levels of estrogen may have an effect on the distribution of fat in the body.

The first step in determining how to lose belly fat for women is to determine how much belly fat is too much. The best way to do this is to simply measure your waist. Place a tape measure snugly around your bare midsection, just above your hip bone.

For accurate measurement, be sure not to pull in your stomach. For women, this measurement should fall below 35 inches. A reading above this indicates excess body fat that could contribute to greater health issues.

As a second check, you can also do a hip-to-waist ratio measurement to determine fat distribution. Measure both the hips and the waist. To determine your ratio value, divide your hip measurement by your waist measurement. For women, the desired ratio is 0.8 or below.

The best way to lose belly fat is primarily through diet. By choosing a low calorie, well-balanced diet, women can eliminate the storage of addition excess fat and burn current stores of overall fat. Concentrate on developing a diet consisting of plant-based foods. For example, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

For protein, choose lean meats and low-fat dairy products. Keep your diet limited in saturated fats. Reduce or eliminate the amount of cheese, butter, candy, and other junk foods consumed. Also, remember to keep portion sizes small to moderate the number of calories consumed daily.

Physical activity is important to burn fat. Good exercises to lose belly fat can be in the form of a brisk, 30-minute walk, or vigorous activity such as aerobics or jogging. Adding strength training to the weekly workout routine will help to tone muscles, which in turn, increase the rate of fat burn.

Abdominal exercises can be used to tone the muscles. However, it is important not to rely on crunches or other targeted exercises to spot reduce fat in the abs or any other area. The key is lowering overall body fat through a healthy diet.