Cathal BarryExercise is most effective for reducing body fat and getting a flatter stomach when you pair it with a smart diet that leads you to expend more energy than you take in. A simple way to do this is to eat a high-quality, high-protein intake with a lot of vegetables, some fruit, healthy fats, and other nutrient dense whole foods.
Nutrition
Make sure you eat protein and healthy fat at every meal. This is most easily done by eating meat, oily fish such as salmon or eggs. Remember, animal products are more amino acid dense than plant proteins.
You should also plan your carbohydrate intake based on genetics, activity levels and current body fat percentage. For fat loss, try getting the vast majority of carbs from leafy green veggies.
Eating enough
Fat loss is best achieved with a diet that allows you to avoid hunger and experience as little discomfort as possible. So cutting calories drastically is one of the worst things you can do if you want to lose fat from your midsection. Your body will quickly slow your metabolism in order to preserve the fuel stores it has, and youíll burn less calories daily.
Slashing calories also elevates the hormone cortisol because one effect of cortisol is that it releases energy stores to keep you going when calories are low. When cortisol is chronically elevated, it makes your body think it needs to store fat around your belly so that it will have a great source of easily accessible energy in anticipation of more intense stress.
Top it off with needing to fight off hunger with willpower, and youíll elevate cortisol even more. This is a very bad situation that will probably leave you with more fat around your waist.
Managing stress
If you're like most busy people out there, you may find it difficult to deal with stress. Real stress management should take the form of a 24/7 approach that includes nutrition, sleep, deep breathing, careful prioritisation and an optimistic outlook on life, among other things. This is because stress hormones like cortisol are released each and every time you are under any form of physical or mental stress. Skipping meals, problems at work or at home and binging on junk foods all lead to cortisol spikes.
When cortisol is chronically elevated like this, your body shifts into fat storage mode in the abdominal area. People love to overlook this fact because stress is hard to deal with. It takes a complete lifestyle overhaul for most of us, but it's worth a shot at least!
