If you’ve been looking for ways to burn away that stubborn belly fat, chances are that you’ve learned that cardio is very effective- along with some dietary and overall lifestyle changes. However, you may wonder “can running burn belly fat?” The truth is that while it does help, it’s not a sure-fire way to lose weight, including that stubborn belly fat. Of course, according to the Lean Belly Breakthrough, you’re not going to lose abdominal fat by only doing targeted abdominal exercises either.
In order to lose belly fat, you must take steps to reduce your overall body fat. Running does help you slim down- but you’ll be more successful when you combine it with a healthy diet. Even then, your genetics have a lot to say when it comes to determining the areas where fat will be lost first.
Techniques for Losing Belly Fat
Following are a few tips to help you lose weight- including belly fat- by running and making sure to consume a healthy, low-calorie diet.
Cardio
Try to get in at least 30 minutes/day of cardio in your target heart rate zone on most days of the week. In order to avoid getting burnt out and/or potentially injuring yourself, you’ll want to alternate between activities such as running, dancing, hiking, cycling, swimming, and working on the elliptical trainer.
Some people have reported they find it helpful to track daily steps. You’ll need an average of 10,000 steps every day to avoid gaining weight- so when you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll need to aim for more.
Weight Training
In addition to cardio, you’ll want to also include strength training in your daily routine twice per week. You won’t even need to join a gym or purchase any fancy equipment. There are actually many body weight exercises that you can do at home. Make sure that you include exercises for your upper and lower body as well as exercises to strengthen your core.
Determine Your Caloric Needs
You need to find out how many calories you actually need on a daily basis. Once you know this number, you’ll need to find ways to create a caloric deficit of about 500/day. You can do this through reducing the number of calories you’re consuming or getting more active. This will result in a total deficit of 3,500 for the week, which translates into about one pound.
Keep a Food Diary
You’ll want to keep track of what you’re eating and drinking so that you can avoid taking in too many calories. This will also give you the opportunity to determine what bad habits you practice and what you need to do to correct them. Research has revealed that when you are held accountable for what you are eating, you’re much less likely to eat or drink something you’re not supposed to.
This will also be beneficial for helping you make small, gradual changes to your diet such as adding more fruits and veggies and cutting out the sodas and junk foods.
Avoid Processed Foods
Most of the time, the packaged products and snack foods are full of salt/sodium, added sugars, and trans fats. All of these make it easy to gain and difficult to lose belly fat.
Watch Portions
When you are trying to lose belly fat, you need to be focused on making sure you get the proper portions- especially after you work out, when you’re more likely to overeat because you just burned so many calories. Consider purchasing some of the pre-packaged 100 calorie snacks to keep from overeating. When you go out to eat, split the meal with your friends/family- or ask the server to bring a box and package up half of it to take home. After all, out of sight, out of mind- right?
Always Read Labels
Just because something is labeled as “low fat” does not mean it’s not high in other things such as sugars and carbs. In some cases, additional sugar is put in something to make up for the flavor that’s lost by leaving the fat out. Foods such as mayo, sauces, marinades, and salad dressings are typically full of calories and hidden fats.
Conclusion: Can Running Burn Belly Fat?
While it’s true that running is beneficial when it comes to losing belly fat, it’s not effective alone. You’ll need to include other activities and lifestyle changes to lose the weight you want to. Check out the Lean Belly Breakthrough to learn more about what to do to get rid of that unwanted belly fat.