How to Make Belly Fat Disappear!

One of the top questions I get as a trainer is “How can I get rid of my belly fat?”. In other words, they’re asking how to spot reduce. Spot reducing is losing weight in one area, like the stomach, butt, thighs, or back. Infomercials that hawk products like the Belly Burner, Slimmer Belt, and Core Sculptor tempt us to believe that you can lose 25 pounds of belly fat just by using their product. People want a magical way to lose weight in their sleep.

Many studies have shown that spot reducing is not possible without surgery. You must lose weight all over through diet and exercise before the stubborn area will get smaller. The TV products might help tone the muscle under the fat. But people who think they can use one contraption to lose weight miss two main points:

1. Most people get tired of their Ab Roller (or Thigh Toner, or Shake Weights) after a few days, and then it sits in the basement with clothes piled on top. If you can’t find an exercise program you like to do long-term, it’s not going to help you.
2. People generally do not change their eating habits, which is the biggest obstacle to losing weight. Alcohol, sugar, salt, and processed foods are your biggest enemies when it comes to belly fat.

When people ask how to lose belly fat, I sometimes feel like being smart and making something up, like the Dog Food Diet, or the Twigs and Berries Diet. But when I say “It’s all exercise and good clean eating”, I get a very disappointed look. Or, the person will say “But I walk a lot—I walked around the mall for 2 hours yesterday!”. Physical activity for preventing heart disease or diabetes is much different from exercising to burn calories, fat and lose weight. But that is another blog post for tomorrow!

As for my own experience with spot reducing…In 2008 I was preparing for a figure competition (like bodybuilding, but less intense). After a month of eating egg whites, oatmeal, chicken breast and brown rice (and exercising my brains out), I was down about 5-6 pounds, which was great. But the biggest disappointment was that I still had visible cellulite on my thighs, and I still had some jigglies on the arms. So you see, you can be in the best shape of your life, but there are certain stubborn areas that won’t completely go away. That’s genetics, and nature.

You might have some weight to lose overall, and you won’t get away with anything less than vigorous exercise and a clean eating plan. But if you lose the weight and there is still a small stomach pouch, that’s just the way it is. I’ve seen many skinny clients with a little bit of belly protruding over their pants. The only way to remove it is to live through a famine, or have surgery. But sadly, there is no Belly Fat Fairy.