How To Lose Belly Fat Before The Holidays
By Kevin Yates
The most popular New Year’s Resolution is to lose belly fat.
Unfortunately, 97% of resolution makers will fail within a few short months.
So, I ask you this. Why wait to make resolutions to burn stomach fat and risk gaining the typical 5 pounds over the holidays?
What point does it serve you to have another 5 or more pounds of stomach fat to lose in addition to what you have right now?
Wouldn’t it feel incredible to go to your Christmas party 5 or more pounds leaner? What do you think everybody would say about you then?
Well, you can. It’s not too late to burn belly fat before the holidays using these 5 simple strategies?
5 Strategies For Burning Belly Fat Before The Holidays
STOP: doing isolated abdominal exercises
Performing traditional isolated abdominal exercises are the least effective way to burn belly fat. It amazes me everytime I see herds of people desperately trying to tighten and tone their abs by doing crunches, leg raises, machine torso twists, side crunches and the many other ineffective ab exercises.
And, month after month they still have the same soft, flabby stomach fat. That’s because traditional abs exercises do NOT:
- significantly boost your metabolism
- burn many calories
- burn fat from your stomach or waistline
START: eating 5-6 smaller meals rich in protein
If you have been led to believe in the “eat less and exercise more” matra that is so popular with weight loss entusiasts trying to burn stomach fat, I have some sobering news for you.
You will never effectively burn abdominal fat if you are not eating enough. It doesn’t matter how hard or how much you exercise either. In fact, more exercise will only burn precious lean muscle not fat.
So, in the end you may end up looking a bit smaller overall, but you will still have the same soft spots and trouble areas as before.
Just because you may not have much of an appetite does not mean your body is burning belly fat.
It’s the exact opposite. You don’t have an appetite because your metabolism is slow and your body is holding onto calories by storing them as fat.
And guess where most of that fat is stored? That’s right…all around your stomach covering your abs in a big layer of fat.
Try this instead: If you are eating 3 or fewer meals per day on average your metabolism is stuck and you will not lose stomach fat. Divide your typical daily food intake into 5-6 meals instead. Think of it this way. Imagine putting all of the food you typically consume each day on a table. Now, divide all the food up into 5-6 meals. These meals are much smaller which will:
- allow you to eat more frequently
- boost your metabolism
- allow your more efficient metabolism to burn calories rather than store them as fat
- elevate your energy level
- not make you feel full and lethargic after eating
This is a huge key to getting your body to shift toward using more fatty acids for energy which helps result in abdominal fat loss.
STOP: doing too much cardio
If you perform cardio 5 or more days per week in your “fat burning zone” because you have been led to believe that this is the most effective
way to lose belly fat, then you are what I call a “cardioholic”.
Doing this much cardio while neglecting other more important components never results in losing stomach fat.
It does help you burn muscle, water and glycogen (carbohydrates that have been broken down and stored for energy use) while holding onto stomach fat.
Your diet and exercise program must be spot on to burn belly fat. It doesn’t matter how much cardio you do. If your diet is poor or lacking in calories or the precise nutrient ratios you just won’t burn abdominal fat, period.
Lose stomach fat by doing this: Instead of doing cardio day in and day out, try performing 2-3 days of strength training. This does not mean to do crunches, thigh
machines and other exercises without breaking a sweat.
Crank up the intensity a bit, just don’t overdo it. Forget doing sets of 15, 20 or 30+ reps. Take it up a notch and try a heavier set for 10 repetitions and feel the difference.
Don’t be afraid of lifting a bit heavier. You will not get “bulky” muscles no matter what you may have heard. That is a myth.
START: strength training
When it comes to losing abdominal fat cardio is not the most effective way to do it.
The key that almost everyone misses or does completely wrong is strength training.
Strength training is what triggers fat loss not cardio. Cardio should only be used as an adjunct to your strength training program and not the other way around. Look at all the cardioholics at your gym. Have any of them siginifcantly gotten a leaner, tightly toned body with well-defined muscular definition doing all that cardio? No way.
Try this to burn belly fat:
- perform strength training 2-3 times per week on non-consecutive days
- crank up the intensity without going overboard
- make sure you are eating enough nutritous foods to promote recovery from training
- use cardio 3 times per week on off days to help burn additional calories and fat
Key Point: You may not want to look like a bodybuilder or fitness model, but I want you to think about this.
Bodybuilders and fitness models are some of the leanest people you will ever see. They consistently achieve single-digit bodyfat levels when preparing for competition.
Do you really think any of them resort to crash diets and neglect strength training to get into contest shape?
They know that crash diets and neglecting strength training will only prevent them from getting their leanest. They know the secret to getting
really lean is by consuming a diet rich in nutrients and performing strength training to maintain muscle since muscle burns fat.
STOP: training body parts
Abdominal fat loss is much more difficult when you train body parts. Training body parts does not significantly boost your metabolism to burn belly fat. It makes it much more difficult.
You are not a bodybuilder so why train like one? If you want to really lose belly fat before the holidays learn more.
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Kevin Yates is a certified Personal Trainer and Sports Performance Coach with a 2 ½ year background in Physical Therapy as an aide. He has been working in the fitness industry for the last 7 years helping various populations of individuals and athletes burn fat, gain muscle, improve sports performance, maximize their fitness potential and improve their quality of life. |
