Yes, you can lose belly fat in 30 days. Can’t believe your ears?
The days of body shaming, people cracking a joke about your belly, difficulty fitting in your favorite dress, and people mistaking you as pregnant can now be a matter of your past.
You can confidently go shopping and feel good about yourself, take out your favorite jeans, and whatnot. With regular exercise, healthy eating, zero sugar, a low-carb diet, intermittent fasting, and a low-stress level, it is possible to get rid of stubborn belly fat.
This is very important from a health point of view as well. The belly fat surrounds the internal organs and puts you at risk of several health problems.
Find out what you need to do to lose weight and keep the belly fat off for good. There are three main factors at play here:
- Exercise
- Diet
- Sleep (with reduced stress levels)
Let’s now understand how these three factors play out when you have to lose belly fat in just 30 days.
1. The best exercise tip to lose belly fat in just 30 days
Even if you do nothing else, go for walks daily. Add in short and simple exercise routines like 7-minute belly workouts. For losing belly fat in just 30 days, you need to push yourself some more.
Doing a variety of exercises that are core-focussed and use multiple muscle groups simultaneously adding a HIIT component, can do the magic. They are known as “HIIT compounds”.
Compound exercises work multiple muscle groups at the same time.
With HIIT compound exercise, you burn more calories and elevate the heart rate leading to increased blood circulation. It results in significant fat loss and improves glucose tolerance.
Examples of HIIT compound exercises include squats, lunges, and burpees jump. Do them at your own pace and build up the intensity gradually. Do not overstrain and injure yourself.
2. The 9 best diet tips to lose belly fat in just 30 days
Healthy eating holds the key to losing belly fat. Yes, you heard it right! Haven’t you heard – abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym!
1. Start by practicing intermittent fasting (IF)
You have a fixed fasting period and eating period. While you are fasting, you may have black coffee, black tea, green tea, warm water with lemon, etc. No cream, no milk, no sugar, or any sugar substitute that can break your fast.
During the eating window, have small portions of nutrient-dense food, very low carbs, moderate protein, and healthy fats. The idea of IF is to bring insulin levels down to allow fat metabolism. High levels of insulin prevent fat breakdown (1).
2. Eat your salad first
Consume your salad first before starting the meal. When it comes to leafy greens, it is very low in calories but a powerhouse of essential nutrients. They have a high amount of fiber and very low net carb.
Around 7 cups of vegetables per day can meet your daily potassium, magnesium, and vitamin requirements. It will also prevent keto cramps, keto fatigue, and keto flu. Salads also reduce insulin resistance which stops fat loss.
3. Eat more protein
The food you eat can increase your metabolism for a few hours. This is known as the thermic effect of food or TEF. Amongst all the food groups, protein has the highest TEF (2).
It can elevate your metabolism by 15-30 percent. Protein also provides satiety and keeps your food cravings at bay. The trick is to consume an amount of protein that is about the size of your hand.
4. Take the right nutrients
Include the important nutrients while you are in keto to prevent nutritional deficiencies. You will need sea salt, electrolytes, and nutritional yeast to keep the right balance.
5. Overcome your cravings
After the initial few days of transition, your body will start using fuels effectively. Your cognitive function, energy, and mood will improve.
You will lose weight as well as inches. If missing desserts, go for low-carb dark chocolate or keto desserts. Make sure you don’t give in to food cravings.
6. Drink sufficient water
It helps ease digestion and keeps your body suitably hydrated. Drinking water can temporarily boost your metabolism and yet naturally suppresses your appetite (3).
7. Cut down on junk foods
Avoid sugar, processed and refined food of every form.
8. Have high metabolic foods
Coffee and green tea can increase your metabolism and help you burn fat. Similarly, spicy foods are also good for weight loss.
Spices can increase your metabolism and help lose belly fat. For example, peppers contain capsaicin which can burn 10 additional calories per meal.
9. Use coconut oil
Swap your regular cooking oil with coconut oil. It is rich in MUFA and has a positive effect on your metabolism (4).
3. The best tips to reduce stress, sleep more, and get rid of belly fat
Did you know that 98 percent of fat burning occurs while you are sleeping?
Your fat is being burned by a hormone called the growth hormone. It gets activated at night and helps support your body in losing belly fat. But stress can stop the growth hormone.
Why does stress cause belly fat?
Stress stimulates the release of cortisol which significantly raises your blood sugars. Cortisol can drive the storage of fat to your midsection. This is the reason for weight gain around the midsection when stressed.
What are the best ways to deal with stress?
Here are the 10 best tips to reduce stress and improve sleep:
- Breathing exercises: Breathe deeply and focus on the breath entering and leaving your body. There are different types of breathing exercises you can do. Take up yoga.
- Physical activity: Increase your daily activity levels. Take up a sport such as badminton. Work out daily, even if they are just 7-minute workouts.
- Laugh more: Watch comedy movies and laugh.
- Social connections: Find friends, hang out with them, and be happy.
- Take Minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium,
- Adaptogens such as ashwagandha and ginseng
- Acupressure
- Write a journal: Writing a journal can be therapeutic.
- Get enough sleep: Your goal should be a high-quality 7-8 hours of sleep.
- Learn to say ‘No’: Stop pleasing people, taking on more than you can, and then getting stressed even more. Be assertive and say ‘no’.
How to sleep better at night naturally?
Here are the best 7 tips for good sleep:
- Have a fixed sleep routine
- Sleep in a cool, pleasant, and restful room.
- Don’t expose your eyes to blue light before bedtime. Stop looking at your phone or watching TV at least one hour prior to bed.
- Eat dinner early. You shouldn’t feel hungry or stuffed at bedtime.
- Take a deep breath to slow down your inhalation and exhalation. It calms down the nervous system.
- Switch off the lights because darkness stimulates the sleep hormone, melatonin.
- Avoid sleeping during the day.
Yes, you can lose belly fat in 30 days
Losing belly fat can’t happen in one day. It requires a lot of effort, commitment, strategy, and perseverance.
Nothing can be achieved without the dedication and hard work. Don’t keep changing your routine. Have a plan and work accordingly. Consistency is the key to successful weight loss.
When you work on all the strategies mentioned above, you can really lose those extra pounds around your waist in 30 days.
