Keeping your waistline in check doesn’t just help you look better — it can also help you live longer. Higher risks of diabetes, heart disease, and even some types of cancer are frequently associated with a larger waist.
Although you cannot particularly target belly fat when eating, losing weight overall can help you lose weight around your waist. Most importantly, it helps get rid of visceral fat — a dangerous type of fat located deep in your abdomen, which you can’t see but that increases your health risks.
Here’s how to reduce fat where it matters the most
- Cut Fat, Not Carbs
Researchers at Johns Hopkins found that people who followed a low-carb diet lost roughly 10 pounds more than those who followed a low-fat diet over a six-month period, even though both diets had the same caloric intake (28.9 vs. 18.7 lbs).
A key benefit of the low-carb diet is the quality of weight loss — you lose more fat and preserve more lean muscle, which is important. Both diets caused about 2–3 lbs of lean tissue loss, but the fat loss was much greater on the low-carb plan.
- Think Long-Term Eating, Not Temporary Dieting
What really matters is finding a healthy eating plan you can stick to. The benefit of a low-carb approach is that you simply learn better food choices — there’s no need to count every calorie.
High-carb, high-sugar, low-fiber items like bread, bagels, and soda are naturally avoided while following a low-carb diet. You should instead eat meals like vegetables, lentils, and lean meats that are high in fiber or protein.
- Keep Moving
Physical activity is key to burning belly fat.Exercise lowers blood insulin levels, which would otherwise tell your body to store fat. This process enhances the liver’s ability to burn fat, particularly the hard-to-reach visceral fat surrounding vital organs
Your goals will determine how much exercise you need, but most people benefit from moderate to intense activity for 30 to 60 minutes most days of the week.
- Lift Weights
Adding strength training — even at a moderate level — to your aerobic workouts helps you build muscle mass. Gaining muscle increases your calorie expenditure throughout exercise and even during rest.
- Be a Label Reader
Always compare food brands. For example, some yogurts claim to be low-fat but are high in sugar and carbs. Gravy, mayonnaise, sauces, and salad dressings are generally high in fat and hidden calories.
- Avoid Processed Foods
Packaged foods and snacks often contain trans fats, added sugars, and sodium — a trio that makes it harder to lose weight.
- Focus on How Your Clothes Fit, Not Just the Scale
As you gain muscle and lose fat, the number on the scale may not change much — but your pants will fit more loosely. It’s motivating.
Generally speaking:
- Women should aim for a waist size under 35 inches
- Men should aim for under 40 inches This can reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes.
- Surround Yourself with Health-Minded Friends
Research shows you’re more likely to eat healthier and exercise regularly if your friends and family are doing the same.
Definitions:
Insulin: Produced by the pancreas, insulin is a hormone that plays a key role in managing how your body uses sugar for energy.. It helps your body store sugar (glucose) from food. If you have diabetes and your body doesn’t make enough insulin, medications may be prescribed to make your liver produce more or to help your muscles use insulin better. If meds aren’t enough, insulin injections may be needed.
Blood Vessels: A flexible network of arteries, veins, and capillaries that carry blood throughout your body. Arteries carry fresh oxygen and nutrients through tiny capillaries to nourish your cells, while those same capillaries pick up waste like carbon dioxide and pass it into veins, which send the used blood to your heart and lungs for cleaning and re-oxygenation
Arteries: Arteries work like highways, delivering oxygen-filled blood from the heart to every part of your body that needs it, Arteries are tube-shaped with strong outer layers, With a firm muscular center and a polished inner lining, it’s designed to let blood glide through without resistance.The muscle layer contracts and relaxes to help move the blood.