Busting Myths About Belly Fat, Diet, and Exercise

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Anyone and everyone desires to get lean and thin because of the image society has cooked up. However, the truth is when you’re fit your health is at its peak and your body tends to have higher immunity so you get sick less often. When you are fit you have energy to get up and get moving, and you’re a more productive person.

Having belly fat means you can’t fit into the clothes you want and your body image isn’t high. Every day you look at yourself in the mirror and think “how awesome would it be if I had a body like xyz celebrity?” You CAN achieve that. You can be fit for you and for your health.

Below are 3 myths surrounding belly fat which have been busted:

Myth 1: You can totally ‘crunch’ your belly fat away.

For some people, this may actually work, but if you want your belly to stay flat you need to mix it up with efficient workouts and work on reducing your entire body weight. You need to implement strength training with an hour of high-intensity cardio workouts to effectively get and stay lean.

Myth 2: If you work out a lot, you can eat whatever you want!

This is inaccurate, misguided, and arrogantly false. If you consume 2000 calories a day, munching down pizzas, burgers, and other fried junk but only burn off less than half of that in the gym you will not lose weight. You must consume fewer calories than you burn, so your metabolism will take over and perform well. Most of the transformation stories you often see in weight loss ads are not only due to the gym, but also to changes in their metabolism. Some individuals have such fast metabolisms they can dissolve and digest rocks, metaphorically speaking.

The truth is “abs are made in the kitchen.” And this applies to everyone. Working your abs off in the gym and eating unhealthy foods will only counteract your war against fat bellies.

Myth 3: If you eat less you will lose that belly.

It is never a ludicrous or naïve idea to watch what you eat, but why look for shortcuts or waste your endeavors on starving yourself? Cutting food out of your life is an incredibly ill-advised
thing to do. Watching what you eat and reducing the amount of food that goes in are two very different things. Eating less will undeniably wreck your metabolism in the long run, and if your
metabolism slows down, no amount of cardio can save you. Instead, make sure whatever goes in is green and healthy?

What is obesity? Any abdominal measurements above 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women is considered abdominal obesity. Belly fat is reduced by a perfect balance between exercise and a well-rounded, healthy diet.

I hope these myths give you some insight as to what goes on in your body when you make changes to your schedule. Change is good, but it entirely depends on what kind of changes you are
implementing. Here are some more diet pointers to enforce in your daily life:

1. Sugary drinks are like kryptonite for your diet and metabolism. Cut them out in favor of other, sugar-free and hydrating options like WATER.
2. Encourage a protein-rich intake to serve as a replacement for carbohydrates and fats.
3. Speaking of fats, don’t even get me started on the fact that we humans include cheese with every single thing we eat. But it’s very bad for health. Instead, try and get more Plant Proteins in. The vegan diet and the fit-life have a lot more in common than you might think.
4. Finally, here’s a list of workouts proven to drive your belly fat away when combined with diet:
   • Start your day with a brisk jog around your neighborhood or on a treadmill for 30 minutes.
   • Do some yoga planks, side planks, crunches, side crunches, bicycle crunch, and vertical leg crunch.
   • The more core-related exercises, the better! Each one should be done in 3 sets of 15-20. The entire workout should take you an hour or so.
   • Go swimming, bicycling, and do some cross-fit training.