It is a time of that year again, where we shrug off our sweaters and take out our summer dresses. While chasing the summer sun on beautiful beaches, all of us want that perfect beach body, especially those tightly tucked in bellies. I mean who does not want to look perfect this summer? I know you must be thinking ‘gah! Not me’. I am here to tell you that you absolutely can. This summer take it on yourself to go after your goal body.

One of my great friends who is a nutritionist at Ramzan Ali Syed hospital told me that we all have belly fats. Surprise! Even people who have flat abs have some sort of belly fat. To help get rid of harmful belly fat, we first need to understand that belly fat is much more than being a health nuisance that makes you look bloated.

BMI is a great way to determine if you are overweight or not, however, it is NOT the only determinant of a healthy body. People who are thin can have more body fat than people who have higher BMIs.

Losing belly fat can be a little difficult but don’t worry there are several things that you can do to burn down the excess belly fat.

There are several things you can do to cut down your abdominal fat today.

Here are 10 effective ways that helped me in reducing my tummy fat.

1.Add plenty of soluble fiber to your diet

A healthy gut system usually means a properly functioning digestive system. The best way for a functional digestive system is to feed it with the most soluble food groups. Fiber is one of the most soluble food groups that help with easy digestion. Fiber absorbs water and turns into a gel form that makes the other food components move smoothly through our gut system. In an observational study, almost 1100 adults were made to increase their fiber intake by 10 grams. For each increased fiber, they lost 3.7% of belly fat over a 5-year period. To increase your soluble intake today you can incorporate the following foods for high soluble food.

• Flax seeds
• Avocados
• Blackberries
• Legumes
• Brussels sprouts

2. Avoid trans fats

One of the main reasons why so many of us have belly fat (yes even those who are skinny) is because of trans fats. Trans fats are caused by the pumping of hydrogen into unsaturated fats. Soybean oil is one of the trans fats found in nature. You can also find trans fats in margarine and spreads. Most packaged foods also have a trans fats ratio. Trans fats are also linked to different inflammation, insulin resistance, and other associated heart diseases. An interesting study found that monkeys who were fed high trans-fat-rich diets gained 33% of more abdominal fat as compared to the diet that was rich in monounsaturated fat.

The best way to avoid building your trans fats is to read labels on your processed foods. Try to avoid as many trans fats as possible.

4. Completely get rid of sweetened foods and beverages

Everything with processed sugars has liquid fructose that makes your belly fat increase. According to a survey conducted at Model Town hospital.  Sugary drinks are much worse than sugary foods. This is because the sugary liquid is not processed by your brain the same way sugary foods are. This often results in consuming too many calories’ Studies suggest that sugary drinks can actually lead to increased fat liver.

5. Drink plenty of green tea

Drinking herbal tea actually helps a lot in flushing the toxins. Apart from flushing out the toxins, EGCG is a powerful antioxidant that actually helps in losing belly fat. Multiple studies show that green tea consumption along with exercise can drastically help in losing inches from your waist.

Remember!

Doing one thing on your own will not have a big effect on its own. For good results, you have to combine different methods for effective belly fat loss. In fact, many of the above-mentioned methods are lifestyle changes that need to be made.  Therefore, it is important to change your lifestyle for losing belly fat and maintain it in the long term.