Belly fat or tummy fat is a common concern for many people, not only for aesthetic reasons but also for health reasons. Excess belly fat is linked to various health issues such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Fortunately, there are various exercises and dietary changes that can help reduce belly fat and improve overall health.
In this article, we will discuss tips, exercises, and diet recommendations to reduce tummy fat and improve body composition. We will also cover healthy habits, such as proper nutrition and hydration, and lifestyle changes that can help you achieve your weight loss goals.
Belly fat refers to fat around the abdomen. It is also known as central fat or abdominal obesity. Excess abdominal fat is very unhealthy.
A large waistline is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, heart attacks, stroke, asthma, diabetes (type 2 diabetes), cancer (breast cancer, colon cancer), Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.
Even overweight normal weight people have an increased risk of health problems. Losing weight, especially abdominal fat, improves blood vessel functioning and also improves sleep quality.
It is impossible to target belly fat, especially when you have food. But overall, weight loss will help your waist shrink; More importantly, it will help reduce the dangerous layer of visceral fat.
There are many reasons why people increase abdominal fat, including poor diet, lack of exercise, and stress. Improving nutrition, increasing activity, reducing stress and other lifestyle changes can all help people reduce unwanted abdominal fat.
There are different types of fats
- Subcutaneous fat
- Intramuscular fat
- Visceral fat
1. Subcutaneous fat
Subcutaneous fat is the loose fat that gives you a “pinch of an inch” and can just accumulate under the skin. 1
The amount of subcutaneous fat that develop by you, depends on genetics as well as lifestyle factors such as physical activity and diet.
Everyone is born with subcutaneous fat. In addition to genetics, people usually have high amounts of fat.
The upper layer of your skin is the epidermis. The middle layer is dermis. Subcutaneous fat is the deepest layer.
There are five main functions of subcutaneous fat:
- It is a way in which your body stores energy.
- Acts as a padding to protect your muscles and bones from the effects of a hit or fall.
- It acts as a passage for veins and blood vessels between your skin and your muscles.
- Subcutaneous fat insulates your body, helping to control temperature.
- It connects the dermis to the muscles and bones with its specialized connective tissue.
2. Intramuscular fat
Intramuscular fat is found within skeletal muscle.
It is stored in lipid droplets that are present in close proximity to mitochondria, where it acts as an energy store that can be used during exercise.
In humans, excess accumulation of intramuscular fat is associated with conditions such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) -lipodistrophy syndrome is associated with over-accumulation of intramuscular fat, which may contribute to AIDS wasting syndrome. 2 3
3. Visceral fat
Visceral fat is packed between your abdominal organs (stomach, liver, kidneys, etc.), which we call intra-abdominal or abdominal fat.
Research suggests that abdominal fat also poses serious health risks. 4 You can tone abdominal muscles with crunches or other targeted abdominal exercises, but just doing these exercises will not get rid of belly fat.
However, visceral fat responds to the same diet and exercise strategies that help you shed extra pounds and reduce your body’s total fat.
What are the causes of belly fat?
One of the most common causes of belly fat is overeating and walking too little. Over time, we often become more sedentary. We spend less time walking, climbing stairs and exercising. When we eat more calories each day, the energy imbalance causes weight gain. But there are other reasons for abdominal fat.
As we age, our metabolism naturally slows down, and the total body fat increases gradually. Women gain a higher fat percentage than men as they get older. Menopause changes the distribution of body fat, causing more fat to be produced in your stomach. 5 6
Heredity can also be a factor. You may be genetically predisposed to gain weight in your middle compared to other parts of your body. Hormones and hormonal changes, as well as stress, can also affect abdominal fat deposition.
Consuming too much alcohol can cause a variety of health problems, including liver disease and inflammation.
A 2015 report on alcohol consumption and obesity in the journal Current Obesity Reports suggests that drinking more alcohol causes men to gain weight around their body, although the results of studies in women are inconsistent. 7
To fight belly fat
Eat a healthy diet. Focus on plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and choose lean sources of protein and low-fat dairy products.
The range added sugar and saturated fat, which is found in meat and high-fat dairy products, such as cheese and butter. Instead choose moderately monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats – those found in fish, nuts, and some vegetable oils. Replace sugary beverages. Take water or beverages with artificial sweetener instead.
Include physical activities in your routine. For most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends vigorous aerobic activity for at least 150 minutes a week or at least 75 minutes a week, such as moderate aerobic activity such as brisk walking.
If you use a step counter, remember that it takes an average of 10,000 steps a day to prevent weight gain. Some studies indicate that it may take 15,000 steps per day to regain weight after significant weight loss.
Strength training exercises are also advised at least twice a week. To lose excess fat and prevent it from coming back, aim for slow and steady weight loss.
Exercise and diet to reduce belly fat
There are many different ways to get rid of abdominal fat. First and foremost, consider changes in your exercise routine and diet. Exercise is most effective if you combine both weight and resistance training, as well as cardiovascular and high intensity training.
Train every muscle group in your body. Only training the abdominal muscles will not give you results. If you want to lose belly fat, full-body training is important – especially if you are trying to maintain it for a longer period of time.
The best possible training plan probably combines different types of exercises.
1. Belly Fat Exercise Routine for men and women
| Days | Workouts |
|---|---|
| Monday | Full Body Workout |
| Tuesday | Abs Workout |
| Wednesday | Cardio (HIIT) Training |
| Thursday | Full Body Workout |
| Friday | Abs Workout |
| Saturday | Cardio (HIIT) Training |
| Sunday | Off-Day |
Monday and Thursday – Full Body Workout
| Exercises | Reps |
|---|---|
| Jump squats | 15 reps |
| Multiple lunges | 15 reps |
| Plank (elbow up) | 15 reps |
| T-push up | 15 reps |
| Push through | 12-15 reps |
| V-crunch | 15 reps |
| Side twist | 15 reps (each side) |
- Do these 7 exercises back to back, there is no rest between 1 to 7 exercises
- Rest 1 minute after completing 7 exercises
- Minimum of 3 rounds must, but you can do 4 rounds.
Tuesday and Friday – Abs Workout
| Exercises | Reps |
|---|---|
| Flutter kick | 15 reps (each side) |
| Oblique side crunch | 15 reps (each side) |
| Mountain climber | 30 seconds |
| Toe touch | 15 reps (each side) |
| Bridge plank | 15 reps (each side) |
| Spiderman plank | 15 reps (each side) |
| Hindu stretch | Hold 5 seconds |
- Total of 4 rounds.
- 1 round = 7 exercises back to back without any rest.
- Round 1 complete rest for 1 minute.
Wednesday and Saturday – Cardio (HIIT) training
| Exercises | Reps |
|---|---|
| Split lunge | 15 reps (each side) |
| Burpee | 15 reps |
| Standing long jump | 15 reps |
| Diamond push up | 15 reps |
| Half-Burpee | 15 reps |
- Round 1 all 5 exercises back to back without any rest.
- 4 rounds of total, 1-minute rest between each round.
2. Belly Fat Diet plan for men and women
Great results will come when combined with exercise and a healthy diet. Many things can help you lose weight and abdominal fat, but to lose weight, it is important to consume fewer calories than your body needs.
A healthy, balanced diet can help a person lose weight, and is also likely to have a positive impact on their overall health. Here we have designed a healthy diet for men and women.
Diet plan for men
1. Workout day meal plan
| Ingredients | Quantities |
|---|---|
| Breakfast: (SUPER OAT MEAL) | |
| Whe protein | 1/2 spoon |
| Egg white | 4 (boiled eggs) |
| Oats | 1/2 cup |
| Banana | 1/2 |
| Flaxseed or chia seed | 1 spoon |
| Cinnamon | 2g |
| Multivitamin (optional) | 1 |
| Mid-morning: (OMELET) | |
| Egg white | 6 (boiled) |
| Apple or Orange or Pear | 1 |
| Lunch: (CHICKEN SALAD) | |
| Boiled or Grilled chicken | 100g |
| Whole egg | 1 |
| Cabbage or Green leaves or Lettuce | 1 cup |
| Cucumber | 1 cup |
| Carrot | 1 large |
| Tomato | 3 spoon |
| Walnuts | 20g |
| Vinegar | 1 spoon |
| CLA (supplements) | 1g |
| Mid-afternoon: (BANANA PROTEIN SHAKE) | |
| Banana | 1 large |
| Peanut | 1 spoon |
| Peanut butter | 1 spoon |
| Whey protein | 1 scoop |
| Dinner: (CHICKEN VEGGIES BOIL) | |
| Chicken breast | 80g |
| Brown rice | 1/2 cup |
| Cauliflower | 1/2 cup |
| Chick peas | 1/2 |
| Green bell paper | 1/2 |
| Onion | 3 spoons |
| Tomato | 3 spoons |
| Coconut oil | 1/2 spoon |
| Slat/papper/garlic powder | – |
| Ketchup | 1 spoon |
| Lemon | 1/2 |
| CLA (supplement) | 1g |
| 1 hr Before Bed: (CASEIN MILK PROTEIN) | |
| Non-fat milk or coconut milk or Almond milk | 240ml |
| Casein or whey protein | 2/3 scoop |
| Flaxseed (ground) | 2 spoons |
| Cinnamon | 1 pinch |
| CLA (supplement) | 1g |
| Ingredients | Quantities |
|---|---|
| PRE-WORKOUT: | |
| Coffee | 1/2 tablespoon |
| Milk | 1 spoon |
| Hot water | 240ml |
| DURING-WORKOUT: (optional) | |
| Xtend (supplement) | 1 scoop |
| Water | 750ml |
| POST-WORKOUT: (Supplements) | |
| Whey protein | 1 scoop |
| Water or Gatorade | 240ml |
| OR (Without supplement) | |
| Eggs white | 6 (boiled) |
| Non-fat milk | 240ml |
Micro-breakdown: Calories = 1930; Protein = 203g; Carbs = 122g; Fat = 70g.
2. No-workout day meal plan
| Ingredients | Quantities |
|---|---|
| Breakfast: (OATS MEAL) | |
| Oats | 1 cup |
| Whey protein | 1 scoop |
| Banana | 1/2 |
| Cinnamon | 2g |
| Multivitamin (supplement) | 1 |
| Mid-morning: (BREAD OMELET) | |
| Whole wheat bread | 3 slices |
| Eggs white | 5 |
| Lunch: (PANEER BHURJI) | |
| Chapati or Roti | 2 |
| Paneer | 80g |
| Cucumber | 1/2 |
| Mid-afternoon: (CHANNE & OATS COOKIES) | |
| Channe (dry roasted) | 1 cup |
| Oats cookies (Britania) | 4 |
| Eggs white (or whey protein = 1/2 spoon with water) | 3 |
| Dinner: (RICE & EGGS SCRAMBLED) | |
| Brown rice | 1 cup |
| Eggs white | 5 |
| Salt | – |
| Pepper | – |
| (Make scramble eggs and add rice, salt, and pepper) | |
| Fish oil (supplement) | 1g |
| 1 hr Before Bed: (CASEIN MILK PROTEIN) | |
| Whey or Casein protein | 2/3 scoop |
| Milk (Almond or Coconut milk or Non-at milk) | 240ml |
| Whole wheat bread | 1 slice |
| Peanut butter | 1 spoon |
No-workout day micro-breakdown: Calories = 2082; Protein = 144g; Carbs = 300g; Fat = 34g
Diet plan for women
1. Workout day meal plan
| Ingredients | Quantities |
|---|---|
| Breakfast: (OATS MEAL) | |
| Eggs white | 2 |
| Oats | 1/2 cup |
| ProteinX | 1 spoon |
| Banana | 1/2 |
| Flaxseed or Chia seed | 1 spoon |
| Cinnamon | 2g |
| Revital (For Women) | 1 |
| Mid-morning: (OMELET & FRUIT) | |
| Eggs white | 3 |
| Orange or Apple or Pear | 1 |
| Lunch: (CHICKEN SALAD) | |
| Chicken (Boiled or Grilled) | 50g |
| Cabbage or Green leaves or Lettuce | 1 cup |
| Cucumber | 1/2 |
| Carrot | 1 large |
| Tomato | 2 spoon |
| Vinegar | 1 spoon |
| Walnuts | 15g |
| Mid-afternoon: (BANANA PROTEIN) | |
| ProteinX | 1 scoop |
| Banana | 1 |
| Peanut | 1 spoon |
| Peanut butter | 1 spoon |
| Dinner: (CHICKEN VEGGIES BOIL) | |
| Chicken Breast | 50g |
| Brown rice | 1/3 cup |
| Cauliflower | 1/2 cup |
| Chick peas | 1/2 |
| Green bell pepper | 1/2 |
| Tomato | 1/2 |
| Onion | 2 spoon |
| Coconut oil | 1/2 tbs |
| Salt/pepper/garlic powder | – |
| Ketchup | 1 spoon |
| Fish oil (supplement) | 1g |
| 1 hr Before Bed: (ALMOND MILK) | |
| Crushed Almond | 12 |
| Non-fat milk | 240ml |
| Green Cardamom | 1 |
| Cinnamon | 1 pinch |
| Add everything in boiled milk |
| Ingredients | Quantities |
|---|---|
| Pre-workout: (30 minutes Before workout) | |
| Coffee | 1/2 tablespoon |
| Milk | 1 spoon |
| Hot water | 240ml |
| Post-workout: | |
| Eggs white | 3 boiled |
| Milk (non-fat) | 240ml |
Micro-breakdown: Calories = 1530; Protein = 150g; Carbs = 120g; Fat = 34g
2. No-workout day meal plan
| Ingredients | Quantities |
|---|---|
| Breakfast: (OATS MEAL) | |
| Oats | 1/2 cup |
| Banana | 1/2 |
| ProteinX | 1 spoon |
| Cinnamon | 2g |
| Revital (For Women) | 1 |
| Mid-morning: (BREAD OMELET) | |
| Whole wheat bread | 1 slice |
| Egg white | 2 |
| Lunch: (PANEER BHURJI) | |
| Chapati oor Roti | 1 |
| Paneer | 50g |
| Cucumber | 1/2 |
| Mid-afternoon: | |
| Black Channe (dry roasted) | 1 cup |
| Dinner: (RICE & SCRAMBLED EGG) | |
| Rice | 1/2 cup |
| Salt | Little bit |
| Pepper | Little bit |
| Egg white | 2 |
| Fish oil (supplement) | 1g |
| (Make scramble egg add cooked brown rice, salt, pepper) | |
| 1 hr Before Bed: | |
| Non-fat milk | 240ml |
| Crushed almond | 12 |
| Green cardamom | 1 |
| Cinnamon | 1 pinch |
No-workout day micro-breakdown: Calories = 1506; Protein = 100g; Carbs = 200g; Fat = 34g.
- Mittal B. “Subcutaneous adipose tissue & visceral adipose tissue.” Indian J Med Res. 2019 May;149(5):571-573. doi: 10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_1910_18. PMID: 31417024; PMCID: PMC6702693.[↩]
- Park SS, Seo YK. “Excess Accumulation of Lipid Impairs Insulin Sensitivity in Skeletal Muscle.” Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Mar 12;21(6):1949. doi: 10.3390/ijms21061949. PMID: 32178449; PMCID: PMC7139950.[↩]
- Consitt LA, Bell JA, Houmard JA. “Intramuscular lipid metabolism, insulin action, and obesity.” IUBMB Life. 2009 Jan;61(1):47-55. doi: 10.1002/iub.142. PMID: 18839419; PMCID: PMC2612735.[↩]
- Dhawan D, Sharma S. “Abdominal Obesity, Adipokines and Non-communicable Diseases.” J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2020 Oct;203:105737. doi: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2020.105737. Epub 2020 Aug 18. PMID: 32818561; PMCID: PMC7431389.[↩]
- Fenton A. “Weight, Shape, and Body Composition Changes at Menopause.” J Midlife Health. 2021 Jul-Sep;12(3):187-192. doi: 10.4103/jmh.jmh_123_21. Epub 2021 Oct 16. PMID: 34759699; PMCID: PMC8569454.[↩]
- Kodoth V, Scaccia S, Aggarwal B. “Adverse Changes in Body Composition During the Menopausal Transition and Relation to Cardiovascular Risk: A Contemporary Review.” Womens Health Rep (New Rochelle). 2022 Jun 13;3(1):573-581. doi: 10.1089/whr.2021.0119. PMID: 35814604; PMCID: PMC9258798.[↩]
- Traversy G, Chaput JP. “Alcohol Consumption and Obesity: An Update.” Curr Obes Rep. 2015 Mar;4(1):122-30. doi: 10.1007/s13679-014-0129-4. PMID: 25741455; PMCID: PMC4338356.[↩]
