This time of year, everyone is resolving to lose weight especially those who have amassed a great deal of it around their waist. Belly fat is the bane of many a person’s existence, it is stubborn and unsightly and seems like it will take an act of congress to remove it. The first step to take when wanting to burn belly fat is to understand what it is and why it is there, think of it as a know your enemy strategy.

The belly, for some people, is the first place that the fat will be stored. The fat around the midsection is the accumulation of visceral fat. People with this problem are commonly referred to as having an “apple” shape.

Fat around the midsection is more problematic because it accumulates around the important organs in the belly. Other types are merely interspersed between skeletal muscles or under the skin.

When you have belly fat, you are then at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and insulin resistance. It is important for fat around the midsection to be thought of as a serious issue.

belly fat can be caused by a lot of circumstances. Some of them are listed in the next lines:

Genetics- Look around at the people in your family that are overweight. Where do they tend to store the most fat? If it is around the midsection, you could have a genetic predisposition to belly fat. Habits- Poor eating habits are another common cause of belly fat. Stress- This is a big contributor to belly fat. When you are stressed there is a hormone released called cortisol. Cortisol increases your energy by boosting glucose production, which in turn stimulates appetite increasing your caloric intake and this is converted to stored fat. Generally around the midsection so that it is readily available for the body to burn.

Junk food must, of course, be avoided. The best weight gainer is a rich in calories food with less nutritional quantity. Some other foods you should avoid are:

Candy bars, brownies, and soda. They have a high caloric value and little or no nutritional value.

Instead of eating a lot of sugars and carbs, you should focus on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and proteins. For example instead of a bowl of sugary cereal for breakfast, you could consider this sample breakfast:

2 poached eggs or bowl of oatmeal, small glass of orange juice, fruit of your choice and a whole grain toast.

It’s impossible to really talk about weight loss without talking about one key aspect: the importance of regular exercise. Even 15 minutes a day walking at a brisk pace will show dramatic results.

Using drugs or pills to lose weight is the exact opposite of what you should do. Those that have any affect depend on harsh chemicals that increase heart rate or worse and most do not work. You will discover that a balanced diet and simple exercise is your best choice to lose that belly fat.

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