How to Lose Belly Fat in 3 Steps

By: Wanda Lam

Everyone knows that being overweight and carrying excess fat around the waist isn't good for your health. When most people think about fat, they think about subcutaneous fat - the fat right underneath the skin.

However, another kind of fat can become a serious health problem for both the overweight and people who look slim by comparison... The name for this fat is belly fat or visceral fat. This fat surrounds the internal organs found within the abdominal cavity.

Some theories have linked visceral fat to an increased risk for developing high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and cancer.

Here are three basic steps you can follow that will help you lose weight and burn off dangerous belly fat.

1. Set goals

If you are serious about losing weight and eliminating high-risk fat, then you must set goals. Find a quiet moment alone with a notepad and a pen and write down all the possible reasons why you would want to lose weight. Then think about all the problems not losing weight will cause you and write those down. Visualize yourself having lost weight and how that would make you feel. Now right down how much weight you want to lose and the waist size you are shooting for. Write down the date in the future you would like to achieve your goal. Review your notes and get your mind into seeing yourself reaching your ideal weight and size everyday.

2. Change diet

If a person eats too much of certain foods and isn't physically active enough to use the excess calories, then he or she will gain weight. Take a good look at what you eat and how much of it you consume. Find out how much calories are in the foods you eat. If you buy packaged foods in the supermarket, then you should read the nutrition label for calorie and fat information. Take note of how much calories you consume everyday and if it is excessive, cut it down to a level that meets your energy and nutritional needs.

3. Exercise

If you want to lose weight and burn fat, then you also need to exercise daily. Exercises such as sit-ups or crunches will strengthen your abdominal muscles, but it won't burn off the high-risk visceral or deep belly fat. The best exercises for losing weight and burning off fat are exercises that workout the cardiovascular system. You should walk briskly or jog for 30 to 45 minutes, five days a week.

Summary

You have read that losing weight and burning off visceral or deep belly fat will help you reduce the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer. You also have the three basic steps you can follow - setting goals, changing diet and exercising daily that will help you lose weight and burn off deep belly fat.

Copyright (c) 2008 by Wanda Lam

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