Why Is Belly Fat Hard to Lose?

For many of us, what makes belly fat hard to lose is simple -- we don't try very hard. Be honest now, how much exercise have you been doing lately? Have you been watching what you eat or do you just eat whatever you feel like eating? I'm going to plead the fifth on that one!

If you think you need to do hundreds of sit-ups and crunches to get rid of your belly fat, you're in for a pleasant surprise. While those types of exercises do firm and tone the abdominal muscles, they don't burn fat - in your belly or anywhere else - any better or worse than any other type of exercise.

So how do you get rid of belly fat? The same way you get rid of any other fat. To get rid of fat, you need to burn more calories than you consume. There are several calorie calculators online that will give you an idea of how many calories you should be consuming in order to lose weight and burn fat.

If you really want to burn your hard to lose belly fat, exercise is a must. First of all, it allows you to eat more. Can you tell I am not really into that 1350-calorie starvation diet? Since you burn calories when you exercise, you can increase the amount of calories in your diet by the number of extra calories you are burning through your exercise program. For example, if I can find a way to burn 300 calories per day by exercising, I can eat up to 1650 calories per day and still reach my target weight in eleven months. Yay!

In addition to burning calories, exercise also builds muscle. Since muscle tissue burns more calories when it's not working than other tissues, once you have built up some muscle you will be burning more calories while you're resting than you did before you started your exercise program. For this reason, incorporating some weight training into your exercise program is a really good idea.

So now you know what makes belly fat hard to lose. It's willpower! If you have a lot of belly fat, you either need to eat a lot less than you probably realize, or exercise a lot more. Perhaps a combination is a better, more balanced approach. I wish I could tell you that there's an easier answer, but believe me, I've looked. The only way to lose the fat is to make sure you consume fewer calories than your body needs. That way, your body will have no choice but to dip into its fat reserves for energy. How hard will it be? Ask me again in about eleven months.