How do I lose belly fat?

7rainbow

Okay, I knew I gained weight, but I checked and none of my favourite skirts fit and I'm so upset. I really need to lose my tummy fat (where I gained most of those 20 pounds I think). Any suggestions for food and exercise? I was doing some ab stuff before but I'm scared that will just make my mid region more thick, even if it is muscle. I'm not sure what to do.

lizzyloo_9

what did you do to lose weight

7rainbow

lizzyloo_9 wrote: »

what did you do to lose weight

Nothing yet, that's the problem! I need to figure out how to lose that weight so I can fit in my clothes.

B_Plus_Effort

calories in and calories out, remember the easiest calories to burn are the ones you don't put in your mouth, also you can not loose focused fat ie just from your bye bye arms or just from your belly it all comes off a little at a time from everywhere

so you can attack it in one of three ways

1. Eat less (cool kids call this calorie deficit) so if you don't know nothing take your current weight multiply it by 15 and there's how many calories you should eat to stay at the weight you currently are at, so if you weight 150 take 150 times 15 equals 2,250 calories per day to keep you where you are at today, then subtract 500 calories to loose 1 pound of fat per week so you can only eat 1,750 calories per day (this is all speculative but it's a start so lets not thumb wrestle over it just yet) and sit on the couch don't do any cardio exercise or lift any weights if you are super disciplined the weight will slowly come off

2. or you can eat the same so 2,250 calories but do cardio to burn 500 calories a day (walk 5 miles) or jump rope for 1 hour, etc. cardio burns calories weight training supposedly does not

3. you can combine the two so eat less, so we are back to a calorie deficit of 1,750 and do cardio to burn 500 calories a day, this will supposedly put you on track to loose 2 pounds per week

but again you can't control where your weight comes off from, since you wear skirts I am assuming you are a lady so usually it's butt and thighs last so belly should start coming off fairly quickly if you are consistent

yes there are a lot of assumptions here and yes there is much much more to it, but this should get you started and save you some time from chasing a silver bullet which does not exist, this is based on the world's greatest body builder and not just my own opinion, this dude spent his life shredding, cutting, preparing for competitions and he is living proof you can't control where you want to loose the weight from, everyone who tells you otherwise is either pushing some product or just doesn't know the facts, I know it's not what you wanted to hear, but just keep grinding, and the fat will come off

7rainbow

Thanks for the advice! Yes, I'm a lady, and I'm happy to hear that is usually where the weight will come off first. I'll do my best to eat less calories and maybe I can try some cardio or something too. Wish me luck!

yirara

B_Plus_Effort wrote: »

1. Eat less (cool kids call this calorie deficit) so if you don't know nothing take your current weight multiply it by 15 and there's how many calories you should eat to stay at the weight you currently are at, so if you weight 150 take 150 times 15 equals 2,250 calories per day to keep you where you are at today, then subtract 500 calories to loose 1 pound of fat per week so you can only eat 1,750 calories per day (this is all speculative but it's a start so lets not thumb wrestle over it just yet) and sit on the couch don't do any cardio exercise or lift any weights if you are super disciplined the weight will slowly come off

2. or you can eat the same so 2,250 calories but do cardio to burn 500 calories a day (walk 5 miles) or jump rope for 1 hour, etc. cardio burns calories weight training supposedly does not

Just a few comments.

Re1: that's an over-generalization which doesn't work for most people! if I were to do this I'd need to eat over 2000 calories per day. My actual maintenance calories are in fact at around 1750. That means I would gain half a pound per week!

TO, just use the guided setup here and go from there. Chose a calorie deficit of 0.5-1lbs per week, not more as you don't have a lot to lose and a too big deficit will make you lose more muscles. This doesn't add to the look you're after but might make you look flappy. Not good. Thus slow, and use the MFP website, not this odd thing this guy mentions.

Re2; how would anyone burn 500 net calories walking 5 miles per day? Using the pretty much proven weight * distance * 0.3 this person would need to be 350lbs. I doubt TO is that heavy.

Thus in all two things you recommended you made sure that TO will likely not lose, but maybe even gain weight.

TO: sport is good for health and a good figure. Plus it can add some calories to your allowance. However, calorie burns from sport are not that high overall.

sijomial

You do the opposite of what you did to gain fat, instead of over-eating you need to under-eat for a while.
Your fat will come off all over and you don't get to select where it comes from first, just like you didn't choose to gain it mostly around your middle.

Use this site's guided set up to get a sensible and sustainable deficit, log your food completely and consistently.
Beware the faster you try to lose weight the harder you make the process.

Don't use silly and vague multipliers or badly exaggerated calorie burns for walking! There are far better methods available to you.

thisvickyruns

7rainbow wrote: »

Thanks for the advice! Yes, I'm a lady, and I'm happy to hear that is usually where the weight will come off first. I'll do my best to eat less calories and maybe I can try some cardio or something too. Wish me luck!

sorry to break it to you, but not everyone losing belly fat first, just because they are female.

When you lose fat it will come off everywhere, including your stomach.

tinkerbellang83

As others have pointed out, you can't spot reduce fat, it comes off where it comes off if you're in a calorie deficit to lose fat overall.

That said, here's a great guide to doing what you can: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

tinkerbellang83

yirara wrote: »

B_Plus_Effort wrote: »

1. Eat less (cool kids call this calorie deficit) so if you don't know nothing take your current weight multiply it by 15 and there's how many calories you should eat to stay at the weight you currently are at, so if you weight 150 take 150 times 15 equals 2,250 calories per day to keep you where you are at today, then subtract 500 calories to loose 1 pound of fat per week so you can only eat 1,750 calories per day (this is all speculative but it's a start so lets not thumb wrestle over it just yet) and sit on the couch don't do any cardio exercise or lift any weights if you are super disciplined the weight will slowly come off

2. or you can eat the same so 2,250 calories but do cardio to burn 500 calories a day (walk 5 miles) or jump rope for 1 hour, etc. cardio burns calories weight training supposedly does not

Just a few comments.

Re1: that's an over-generalization which doesn't work for most people! if I were to do this I'd need to eat over 2000 calories per day. My actual maintenance calories are in fact at around 1750. That means I would gain half a pound per week!

TO, just use the guided setup here and go from there. Chose a calorie deficit of 0.5-1lbs per week, not more as you don't have a lot to lose and a too big deficit will make you lose more muscles. This doesn't add to the look you're after but might make you look flappy. Not good. Thus slow, and use the MFP website, not this odd thing this guy mentions.

Re2; how would anyone burn 500 net calories walking 5 miles per day? Using the pretty much proven weight * distance * 0.3 this person would need to be 350lbs. I doubt TO is that heavy.

Thus in all two things you recommended you made sure that TO will likely not lose, but maybe even gain weight.

TO: sport is good for health and a good figure. Plus it can add some calories to your allowance. However, calorie burns from sport are not that high overall.

Pay attention to this^ there is absolutely no need to do all the weird and wonderful calculation when you're on a site that calculates a pretty decent estimate based on your actual stats. (Using the @B_Plus_Effort 's calculation that would have me at just under 4000 calories per day if we're using pounds (way above my maintenance)/ 1800 calories if we're using KG (way to low for my maintenance), not sure which he is using as it's not mentioned, presume pounds though as he mentions 1 pound per week loss.

claireychn074

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

As others have pointed out, you can't spot reduce fat, it comes off where it comes off if you're in a calorie deficit to lose fat overall.

That said, here's a great guide to doing what you can: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

My tummy and thighs hang onto my fat, it comes off my boobs first ☹️

Noreenmarie1234

thisvickyruns wrote: »

7rainbow wrote: »

Thanks for the advice! Yes, I'm a lady, and I'm happy to hear that is usually where the weight will come off first. I'll do my best to eat less calories and maybe I can try some cardio or something too. Wish me luck!

sorry to break it to you, but not everyone losing belly fat first, just because they are female.

When you lose fat it will come off everywhere, including your stomach.

Yes to this. Belly fat has always been the first place I gain and last place to go for me and I am female. I lose in my legs, butt, and boobs first.

Luke_rabbit

Core exercises are excellent for protecting your back and improving posture. You absolutely will not get "big" muscles from doing so.

As said above, everyone varies on where weight comes off first. I hope you are fortunate and the belly weight is first for you.

cwolfman13

7rainbow wrote: »

Okay, I knew I gained weight, but I checked and none of my favourite skirts fit and I'm so upset. I really need to lose my tummy fat (where I gained most of those 20 pounds I think). Any suggestions for food and exercise? I was doing some ab stuff before but I'm scared that will just make my mid region more thick, even if it is muscle. I'm not sure what to do.

You just need to lose weight in general...you can't spot reduce fat with any particular exercise or food.

7rainbow

Thanks so much for all of your insights everyone! I'm going to follow MFP and try to shave some calories off and see if that helps. I haven't lost much weight before (this is the first time I've really gained a lot) so I'm not sure how it will go, but hopefully I will be successful!