How to Lose Belly Fat

Unfortunately, you cannot target one specific area of fat. Doing abdominal workouts all day every day may result in some great core strength, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it isn’t going to help you lose belly fat any faster than doing non-abdominal focused exercises.

However, you can use specific types of exercises to burn a higher amount of calories which will result in overall fat burn! 

How to Lose Weight

Weight loss is a result of being in a caloric deficit (burning more calories than you are taking in through diet). Therefore, increasing the amount that you burn through exercise and decreasing the amount you take in through your diet are the key components to getting results! 

Fat loss depends on many factors including genetics, diet, exercise, metabolism, hormones, etc… The only two that you can control are diet and exercise, which is what we can help with!

Abs are made in the kitchen – believe it or not diet accounts for about 80% of the process of getting those washboard abs you’ve always wanted! The other 20% that we can control is exercise, so let’s get started!  

Tips for Starting a Healthy Diet

If tracking your calories just sounds like too much work at this point in your journey, that is okay. You can start with portion control instead.

• Remove unnecessary calories by reducing snacks throughout the day. Snack foods are loaded with calories and we don’t realize just how many we eat (another reason why tracking calories is the ultimate goal for getting those results).
• DRINK WATER. If you’re feeling hungry, drink a large cup of water and see if you still feel that way. Often times this can satiate our appetite for another hour or so and prevent us from snacking so often. Also, drink a glass of water before you eat each meal to help feel full/satisfied with a smaller portion of food. 
• Adjust your meals accordingly. If you normally eat 1 cup of rice with dinner, try ¾ cup instead and see if you’re still satisfied or how that affects you.  
• Once you’ve done the above tips and you’re ready to start tracking, download MyFitnessPal. It’s free and syncs with Sworkit. Read more about tracking calories with MyFitnessPal here.

Tracking is the best way to find where to modify your diet best for the results you want. One number of calories doesn’t work for everyone and one type of diet won’t either, tracking allows us to see what works for YOU. 

Tips for Exercising to Lose Belly Fat

When you think about losing belly fat you think of doing core workouts. However, in general HIIT and cardio type exercises will burn the highest amount of calories which results in overall weight loss!

You can’t target one specific area of fat to lose so the goal should be to lose total body fat.

Any type of exercise that increases your heart rate is beneficial in burning calories, which is why HIIT and cardio tend to be at the top.

Resistance training can still be beneficial even if the goal is to lose weight, you want to make sure that you have a balanced routine that works for you.

Top Workout Plans for Losing Fat

Couch to Fit: 6 Week Plan

Everyone has to start somewhere, and it’s time to get up and move!
Best for: Absolute Beginners
Frequency: 3x per week 

Fit Future 8-week Challenge

Try this 8-week progression of workouts that will start you out with light sweats to full intensity.
Best for: All fitness levels
Frequency: 5x per week 

Monthly Challenge

Try our daily challenge workouts to try new exercises each day
Best for: All fitness levels
Frequency: 2-7x per week (depending on your level of fitness) 

A healthy goal is to lose 1-2lb/week so try not to set unhealthy goals. Try not to focus on the scale too much. When you’re exercising you may build muscle but continue to lose fat which won’t show on the scale.

Make non-scale goals too! Whatever that looks like for you and what you want to achieve, below are some great examples:

• “I will fit into my favorite jeans that I haven’t been able to wear by next month”
• “I will lose 1cm around my waist in the next two weeks”
• “I will be able to run 1 mile in 10 mins by next week”
• “I will track my meals consistently for the next two weeks using MyFitnessPal”