8 Tips to Banish Belly Fat and Love Handles

Men tend to be much more unlucky than women when it comes to fat. All of the fat that they store tends to go straight to their abs, while women find that their extra fat goes right to their waist and hips. However, no one gets off scot free with belly fat, as there’s always that extra middle tire around the waist that makes it look like you’ve got a muffin top.

There is good news, though: just by doing a few simple things every day, you’ll be able to banish that belly and waist fat for good!

1. Make Exercise a Priority

   How important is your workout? Most of us tend to place exercise somewhere between eating and getting a good night’s sleep, but really exercise should be the most important thing – followed by sleeping well, eating a balanced diet, and reducing stress. If your exercise is a priority, you’ll do it and burn those calories every day. The key to banishing belly fat is to burn it off a little bit at a time.

2. Be Active at Work

   A surprising number of people these days have jobs that require them to spend 6 to 8 hours sitting in comfortable chairs. This can lead to a lower metabolism, which can cause your body to burn fewer calories. You don’t have to be sedentary at the office, but you should try to be more active by taking the stairs up and down, parking at the far end of the parking lot, and using the bathroom way on the other side of your office. You’ll just burn a few more calories this way, but you’ll keep your metabolism from slowing down!

3. Eat the Right Way

   If you’ve got a sedentary job, you can’t eat for an active lifestyle. You may do exercise, but your sitting down for 6 to 8 hours a day means that your body is slower than those that have jobs that keep them on their feet all day. Cut 500 calories out of your diet, and eat foods that are easily digested. Make sure you’re getting lots of complex carbs (rather than simple, empty carbs), and eat those foods that will speed up your metabolism.

4. Play Around

   If you have kids, spend as much time horsing around with them as possible. Sure, men are usually the ones that wrestle and play with the kids, but you can do it to. If you don’t have kids, play with your nieces and nephews. Kids keep you moving around, and you never really have a moment to sit and do nothing. You’ll find that a day of playing with kids will wipe you out, and burn a surprising number of calories!

5. Enjoy Weekend Action

   What do you do on the weekends? Are you a partygoer in the evenings, so you sleep all day? Are the weekends set aside for personal activities, visiting friends, etc.? The best thing you can do with your weekends is to spend them doing something active – hiking, trekking, practicing Yoga, paddleboarding, skating, and so much more! You don’t have to “work out” on the weekends, but adding a bit of exercise and action to your weekend can help you to torch that belly fat.

6. Get that Gym Membership

   Most of us have gym memberships, but they’re often accompanied by millions of excuses why we can never make it there. Don’t use excuses to stop you, but actually go to the gym now that you have the membership. Work with a trainer, and push yourself hard. Within a few months of training with a certified fitness trainer, you can be in pretty amazing shape!

7. Take a Class

   Do you hate going to the gym and lifting heavy weights? Many women do, and it’s not a problem! Just look around for exercise that you do enjoy, and that will help you to torch that belly/waist fat. You need to do a lot of cardio – the low intensity, steady state kind – as well as some muscle building – endurance training (high rep, low weight). As long as your martial arts, Yoga, dance, or Zumba classes include some of both elements, you’ll be in great shape!

8. Get Exercise Everywhere

   No matter where you are, you can get a good workout! Standing in line at the bank? Do 100 calf raises to sculpt those legs. Sitting in the office waiting for a meeting? Do a few squats or lunges until the meeting starts. Get yourself a stability ball as an office chair, and take an hourly exercise break. Sure, people may look at you funny, but that’s part of a fit life. It will pay off in the long run!

You’d be amazed at how quickly that belly fat and muffin top will disappear as you do these things on a daily basis. Burning calories at low intensity for long periods of time activates fat rather than burning glucose, so it will slowly chip away at those fat reserves. Eventually, you’ll see amazing results, and all with these simple changes to your lifestyle!

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Andy Peloquin

Andy Peloquin is a fitness consultant, a martial artist, a runner, a cyclist, and a fitness trainer. He loves to find new and unique ways to get exercise out of the gym, but he knows the value of good old-fashioned hard work when it comes to losing weight, building muscle, and torching belly fat!