5 Fruits You Should Not Eat to Reduce Belly Fat

With more than 2 in 3 adults and one-third of all children in the United States qualifying as being overweight or obese, stubborn belly fat has become a major health concern that affects people of both genders and practically all age groups. Fructose has been blamed for contributing to this epidemic -- more than 10 percent of the average American’s daily calories come from fructose, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Fruit, a natural source of fructose, has been vilified by some in the process. While fruit is generally healthy, there are a few kinds of processed fruit you should limit or avoid when you’re trying to lose weight.

Fruit Packed in Syrup
Although the amount of fructose in a serving of fresh fruit is a fraction of what you’d get from a sugary beverage or a rich dessert, fresh fruit that’s been preserved in sugar is another story. Such fruit is typically kept in the center aisles of the grocery store, where you can typically find canned or bottled fruit cocktails, peaches, apricots, pineapple, mangoes, pears, cherries and mandarin oranges. While some of these fruits are packed in water, many are packed in light or heavy syrup or even sugary gelatin, which can greatly increase their sugar content. For example, you’ll get just under 13 grams of sugar from a cup of fresh peach slices, whereas a cup of peach slices preserved in heavy syrup provides almost 33 grams of sugar.

Fruit Juice
The fiber in whole fruit helps control the rate at which your body absorbs its natural sugars, which is part of what makes whole fruit a healthy choice, despite its fructose content. When fruit is stripped of its fiber, as it is when it’s juiced, not only does your body absorb its sugar faster, but there’s more sugar to absorb. It can take several pieces of fruit to make one glass of fruit juice, which is what makes juice a more concentrated source of sugar. So even though the U.S. Department of Agriculture counts a cup of 100-percent fruit juice as a serving of fruit, it’s not the best option when you’re trying to lose weight.

One cup of unsweetened grape juice has 150 calories and 36 grams of sugar, while a cup of seedless grapes has 100 calories and 23 grams of sugar.

Blended Fruit Drinks
Blended fruit drinks, or smoothies, are sometimes perceived as healthier than juice because they aren’t pressed and filtered; instead, they’re pulverized. While this does mean that many smoothies offer some amount of fiber, it’s less than what you would have gotten from the whole fruits that went into the beverage, and some of it is not of the same quality -- pulverizing insoluble fiber changes its structure and affects the way it behaves in your digestive tract, according to a 2012 review on dietary fiber published in the Journal of Food Science and Technology. Many commercially produced fruit smoothies pack a lot of fruit into a single serving, which means you’ll ingest a lot of calories and sugar when you drink them -- an 8-ounce serving of one commercially produced mango smoothie provides 150 calories, 30 grams of sugar and no dietary fiber.

Sweetened Dried Fruit
Dried fruit has something in common with fruit juice – it takes the calories and sugar of whole fruit and concentrates it. A big problem with dried fruit is that many varieties are processed with added sugars. Blueberries are a prime example – you’ll get about 130 calories and 27 grams of sugar from 1/4 cup of dried, sweetened blueberries, whereas a cup of fresh blueberries has just 80 calories and less than 15 grams of sugar. Although unsweetened dried fruit has a leg up on juice -- it retains most of its nutrients and fiber, which also become highly concentrated -- its compact package makes overindulgence more likely. If you can avoid sweetened dried fruit and keep yourself to a single serving of dried fruit -- which is about 1/4 cup, in most cases -- you’ll actually get about the same level of nutrients as you would from a single serving of the same fresh fruit.

Fruit-Based Snacks
The various processed fruit-based snacks aimed at children aren’t all that healthy and certainly won’t help your waistline. Even products that are all-natural, contain no added sugars and claim to count toward your fruit intake aren’t nearly as good for you as the real thing -- they’re typically made from concentrated fruit puree, which means they often contain little or no fiber. They also tend to contain fewer vitamins and minerals than their source fruits. Fruit-based snacks include fruit chews, fruit strips and fruit leathers. A large fruit leather has about 80 calories, more than 10 grams of sugar and no dietary fiber.

Fruit and Reducing Belly Fat
When it comes to weight loss and weight management, fresh fruit has a lot to offer -- it’s nutrient-dense, relatively low in calories and rich in dietary fiber. Its natural sweetness is a healthy alternative when you want to satisfy your cravings for baked goods and other sugary food products. Eating fruit probably isn’t what caused you to gain belly fat in the first place, and eliminating the high-calorie, low-nutrient foods that more likely did -- in addition to getting more active -- would help you reach your goals more readily than would avoiding most kinds of fruit.

The Truth About Belly Fat

Visible abdominal muscles are seen as the ultimate sign of athleticism, discipline and aesthetics by both the public and fitness professionals alike.

Messages like ‘Abs are made in the kitchen, built in the gym’, ‘Earned not given’ are popular, making it seem like sheer will power alone is the reason some people have them and others don’t.

The belly facts
There are a few things that can influence why we hold fat around our mid-section. Ranging from genetics, diet, hormones and gender, I’ll tackle these one by one. First the facts.

• Visible abs are not simply a result of crunches, planks or v-sits but more the overall percentage of body fat you have.

• Visible abs are not an indicator of core strength, there are many larger athletes with exceptionally high core strength.

• There’s a minimum level of fat needed to support your metabolic processes, if you get too lean to see your six pack, your body may stop functioning at a basic level thus digestion and menstruation become compromised.

• ‘Visceral fat’ around the vital organs is a growing public health concern. So while belly fat is obvious on ‘apple’ shaped people, visible abs can be a red herring as to the metabolic health status of a person.

• People with metabolic syndrome typically have apple-shaped bodies and carry a lot of weight around the middle. It’s thought that having a pear-shaped body, narrower waist and wider hips, lowers the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and other complications of metabolic syndrome.

 There are three layers of abdominal muscles. The superficial rectus abdominis (your visible six pack) is just one. The deeper core muscles, transversus abdominis, obliques, diaphragm and pelvic floor, work to stabilize the spine, improve mobility, breathing, and posture.

• If you’ve lost a lot of weight, you may have loose skin preventing you from seeing definition on your stomach. You can still build your abs, though excess skin cannot generally be tightened through diet and exercise.

Key factors influencing belly fat

Genetic potential
Some people are genetically predisposed to having less belly fat because they’re a naturally lean body type. There are three body types; ectomorphs, mesomorphs and endomorphs.

Typical ectomorphs are long and lean, mesomorphs classically athletic and endomorphs smaller and wider.

Where your body first stores fat tends to be the last place it’s lost.

Your body type, fat percentage, strength and flexibility is somewhat inherited and there’s an element of working with what you’ve got to maximise outcomes, set realistic goals and expectations for yourself.

Understanding your genetic start point and how your body naturally responds to diet and exercise can go a long way to supporting your health and fitness goals.

Diet
Nutrition is the foundation for any health and fitness outcome. You cannot out train a poor diet. As a general rule, 70% of your result whatever your goal tends to come from the foods you eat, 20% from exercise and 10% from rest and recovery.

Good nutrition supports hormonal balance and a healthy digestive system, both of which are required to reduce belly fat.

Inflammation of the gut and poor digestion can often make you appear bloated around the middle.

To address this, start by reducing or completely removing refined sugar and processed foods. Be mindful of your alcohol consumption; choose whole fresh organic produce where possible.

Many processed foods have no nutritional value, contain additives and are linked to obesity. Increasing the amount of fibre in your diet will support digestion, as will staying hydrated by drinking at least 2 litres of water throughout the day.

Hormones
Hormones are chemical messengers that carry signals around the body. These signals are often determined by the food you eat and emotional balance you maintain. Insulin resistance is a hormonal imbalance and often the cause of belly fat.

When we eat, our blood sugar levels spike and a hormone called insulin is released to help manage this.

If this happens too often and drastically, our body stops responding to the insulin and becomes ‘insulin resistant’ a consequence of which are cravings and excess body fat, particularly around the belly. Insulin resistance is a precursor to metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes.

Prolonged stress can elevate levels of the ‘stress’ hormone cortisol, leading to fatigue and belly fat.

It’s also thought that increased exposure to cortisol is associated with more belly fat in women.

Managing your blood sugar levels with nutritional therapy and mood enhancing foods, alongside stress reduction techniques like deep mindful breathing, can help to rebalance hormones and improve your overall health and wellbeing.

Gender
Men and women metabolise and store fat differently.

Women have a naturally higher percentage of overall body fat specifically in the hips, butt, and legs, whereas men tend to gain weight in the upper body.

Women’s bodies can change after having children, the abdominal wall may become weaker and there could be loose skin around the tummy reducing the likelihood of seeing a six pack.

As a result, it’s important to use both resistance training to build muscle and high intensity interval training (HIIT) to burn fat.

Training methods like CrossFit incorporate HIIT and resistance training, creating an ‘after burn’ effect, boosting your metabolism as your body continues to burn calories post workout.

The truth about belly fat is…
There are many reasons, some beyond your control, as to why you either struggle with developing a six pack or find it easy. Lifestyle and consistency are major factors.

So ensure you get enough sleep, incorporate resistance training into your workouts, limit processed foods, manage stress and be mindful of your alcohol consumption.

You can build your abs like any part of the body. However to see them, you have to lose the fat obscuring them. Fat cannot be lost from specific areas via ‘spot reduction’, it’s all or nothing.

To lose excess body fat, you must move more and eat smarter. And if you work towards strength and health as primary goals, ‘the beach body’ including washboard abs may be the bi-product.

Drinking Fresh Carrot Juice to Reduce Belly Fat

Juice diets are a popular way to lose weight, because the fruits and vegetables required to make the juice are relatively inexpensive and readily available. And many diets focus on losing belly fat, which can increase your risk of diabetes, heart disease, respiratory problems and some cancers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, it is impossible to target one part of your body for taking off the pounds. You also should not focus your weight-loss efforts on consuming only or mainly one type of food, such as carrot juice.

Liquid Form
One of the drawbacks that makes fresh carrot juice less than ideal for reducing belly fat is that it's a liquid. According to research published in the July 2011 issue of "Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care," carbohydrate-rich liquids are less filling than carbohydrate-rich solid foods, and consistent intake of such liquids may lead to an "increase in long-term energy intake." This lack of satiety can encourage belly fat gain rather than reduction.

Low in Fiber
Carrot juice is low in fiber, which is not beneficial for beating belly fat. Fiber is a nutrient that promotes satiety, but fresh carrot juice contains only 1 g per cup, which is unlikely to satisfy your appetite. Research from the May 2001 issue of "Nutrition Reviews" found that adding 14 g of fiber daily to participants' diets led to a 10 percent decrease in calories consumed. Limiting your calorie intake is the only way to eliminate belly fat.

Lack of Fat
Fresh carrot juice does not contain any dietary fat. Despite the name of the nutrient, dietary fat consumption doesn't directly correlate to body fat, and it may actually help prevent fat gain because it promotes feelings of fullness. In addition, December 1996 research from "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" found that increased dietary fat intake promotes higher levels of testosterone. In addition to promoting muscle gain, increased levels of testosterone can promote reduction of body fat, according to a study from the June 2009 issue of "The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism."

High in Carbohydrates, Low in Protein
Carrot juice is rich in carbohydrates, with 14 g in each cup. However, the drink is also low in protein, with just 2 g per cup. This can be detrimental for reducing belly fat; research from the March 2011 edition of "Nutrition & Metabolism" indicates that diets with a high ratio of carbohydrates to protein promote increased energy storage in fat cells and less in muscle cells.

Feasability
Restricting your dietary intake to just fresh carrot juice or any other single food item isn't a good idea long-term. Eating a balanced diet that provides adequate levels of protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and minerals is the best way to lose weight and stay healthy. To reduce belly fat, increase your activity levels and reduce your calorie intake.

Cardio for Belly and Butt Fat Loss

Belly and butt fat is a frustrating problem. Losing this fat, however, is possible when you combine cardio with strength training. Cardio exercise burns calories. When the body burns more calories than it uses daily, it results in fat loss all over, including your midsection and backside. Increasing physical activity will assist in accomplishing your fat loss goals.

Fat Loss
Creating fat loss in the belly and backside requires you to lose fat all over, not just in one area. You cannot spot reduce a specific area of the body. Accomplish fat loss by setting a realistic weight loss goal of 1 to 2 pounds a week. You need to burn 3,500 calories for each pound of body fat you want to lose. For example, shed 1 pound of body fat by burning 500 calories daily. Or, combine a low-calorie diet with cardio. For example, eat 300 calories fewer daily and use cardio to burn 200 calories daily for a 1-pound weekly fat loss.

Interval Training
Interval training is good for building strength and losing belly and butt fat. Start off with a moderate cardio exercise, such as swimming at a slow pace. After a few minutes, increase your intensity to swimming laps quickly. Continue to rotate between the two intensity levels for at least 30 minutes. Another option for interval training is walking and jogging. Start out walking for a few minutes and rotate to a few minutes of jogging. These exercises help burn calories and promote belly and backside fat loss.

Circuit Training
Another approach for fat loss in the belly and butt is circuit training. With this workout, alternate cardio exercise with strength training exercise. For example, start out with leg squats to tone the butt. Rotate to intense cardio activity, such as jumping rope. Continue to rotate between a belly- or butt-toning exercise and jumping rope for at least 30 minutes.

Belly and Butt Toning
If you decide to use circuit training to burn belly and butt fat, select exercises that tone your problem areas. For example, use the squat with twist, which tones the sides of your abdominals. Start out with your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart. Lower into a squat position and extend both arms in front of your body to shoulder height. Rotate the upper body to the right, using your core to power the movement. Return to standing and repeat the exercise eight to 12 times during circuit training.

An exercise that targets your butt is the plie. Start out with your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart. Pointing your toes outward, lower your body into a squat position. Return to standing and repeat the exercise for a minute.

How to Sweat to Lose Stomach Fat

The stomach can be a stubborn area to lose fat. Although you cannot spot-reduce fat, a structured exercise routine and healthy diet will lead to weight-loss all over the body including the belly. Sweating itself does not necessarily equate to weight-loss; you could sweat in a sauna or on a hot day but lose primarily water weight. However, sweat produced during physical activity and moderate to high intensity workouts indicates you are working hard and burning off calories for fat-loss.

Lose Your Stomach with Sweaty Workouts

Step 1

Increase the intensity of your workouts. Three to four moderate-intensity workouts per week will get your sweat on by elevating the heart and breathing rate, but still allow you to carry on a light conversation. High-intensity workouts are done at efforts in which you cannot carry on a conversation, which revs up the body's metabolism and core temperature, leaving most people dripping in sweat. Aim to do two vigorous workouts per week with a day of recovery in between.

Step 2

Increase the duration of your workouts. Longer workouts mean you will burn more calories and more stored fat all over the body including stomach fat. Schedule five 45-minute cardiovascular workouts, such as running, biking or swimming into your weekly workout plan and increase workouts up to 60 minutes as you get fitter.

Step 3

Lift weights to tone up muscle and drop excess pounds. Muscle has a higher metabolic rate than fat which means you can burn more calories even while at rest. A sweaty strength-training session fires up the metabolism, builds lean muscle and decreases fat stores. Aim to do a circuit-training session two to three times per week in which you do eight to 10 exercises, targeting the upper, lower-body and core back to back, with little rest in between to get your heart rate up and subsequently start sweating. Repeat the circuit three times.

Step 4

Add high-intensity interval training, or HIIT, into your weekly workout program to sweat off unwanted pounds. HIIT workouts involve alternating harder, all-out efforts with lighter recovery periods. A sample workout would be to sprint hard for 30 seconds followed by one minute of easy jogging; repeat eight to 10 times and include a five- to 10-minute warm-up and cool-down. Do this type of workout twice a week with a day of rest or moderate-paced cardio in between sessions.

Things You'll Need

Weights

Tea vs. Coffee for Melting Belly Fat

The calories you get from the foods you eat and the beverages you drink all contribute to weight gain if you consume more calories than you need. Neither tea nor coffee will melt belly fat; this is one of many nutrition myths that can derail your weight-loss plan. But both of these beverages can contribute to a reduced-calorie diet, to help you lose weight and belly fat, when you drink them without any added sugar, milk or cream.

Calories
There's a reason for belly fat, and weight gain in general: too many calories consumed and not enough of them expended, or "burned," in energy output. No magic brew can boost your metabolism or burn body fat. The Mayo Clinic explains that your basal metabolic rate, or BMR — how many calories you burn when your body is at rest — is one factor that governs how many total calories you burn. You also burn a small number of calories through a process called thermogenesis, the energy your body uses to process food. The rest of the excess calories you eat you need to burn through physical activity to avoid gaining weight. The "liquid calories" you get from tea, coffee and other drinks can all add up if your beverages contain added sugar or fat.




Tea
One 8-ounce serving of brewed tea without sugar contains only 2 calories. Add 2 tsp. of granulated sugar to your tea, however, and you get an extra 32 calories. Some brands of sweetened, bottled tea have 140 calories, only 10 fewer than a 12-ounce can of regular cola. "Extra sweet" varieties of tea can impart up to 210 calories per bottle.

Coffee
One cup of plain, brewed coffee also contains only 2 calories. Add 1 tbsp. of granulated sugar and your drink now has 51 calories. The same amount of half-and-half adds 20 calories, while skim milk adds only 5. So, it's possible to keep your coffee low-cal if you go easy on the sugar and creamer. On the other hand, a 20-ounce serving of some gourmet coffee drinks, made with whole milk and whipping cream, can give you up to 700 calories, almost all from added sugar and fat.

Belly Fat
Unsweetened tea and coffee are low-calorie, non-sugary beverages. All you really need to drink for weight loss, though, is plain water, the Harvard School of Public Health says. Finding ways to cut calories — even those you get from beverages — is crucial to losing weight, including belly fat. The American Council on Exercise says the best way to burn belly fat is to put in an hour of moderate-to-vigorous exercise every day; couple this with twice-weekly strength training sessions to build lean muscle mass.

Best Exercises to Burn Fat

Most people not only want to lose weight, they want to lose fat. Unfortunately, while dieting alone may result in some fat loss, it will also result in muscle loss. The higher the percentage of lean muscle in your body, the more quickly you will burn fat. When you are starting a fat burning program, it is imperative to do exercises that not only burn calories but also ones that build lean muscle. Keeping this in mind, some exercises will help you reach your goal more quickly than others.

Tips

1. Use cross training when choosing your exercises. You need to combine strength training and aerobic exercise to reduce the fat content in your body.

2. Start lifting weights to build your muscles and increase the rate at which your body burns fat. Visit your local gym and ask about their weight lifting facility. Modern weight lifting clubs are no longer the old sweaty gyms where muscle-bound men grunted and dropped the weights. Ergonomic weight machines isolate individual muscle groups and allow you to work the muscles safely.

3. Alternate working muscle groups every day. Your muscles need time to recuperate after a lifting session, so work a different muscle group each day. If you work arms one day, work your legs the next. Your muscles need 48 hours of rest to repair themselves before your next lifting workout.

4. Add a cardiovascular workout. As a part of your fat-burning routine, be sure to add an aerobic workout at least three times a week. During an aerobic session, your heart rate will increase, flooding your body and muscles with oxygen and raising your metabolism.

5. Choose cardiovascular workouts that are fun to keep you motivated. You can join a step aerobics class or go for a jog. Alternately, combine different aerobic workouts to keep you motivated and to stave off boredom. Spend 15 minutes on the stair-stepper, another 15 on the treadmill and finish up with 15 minutes on an elliptical trainer. Any exercise that gets your heart rate up and keeps it up will burn fat.

Cinnamon Lotion to Reduce Belly Fat

Belly fat makes it hard to fit into attractive pants, skirts or shirts. Belly fat also disrupts the way that your natural waist looks and makes you look heavier than you are. Help rid yourself of belly fat by coupling a good diet with a proper exercise routine and adding in cinnamon lotion to help your skin tighten. Cinnamon lotion is mostly used in cellulite massage, and according to Natural Fat Loss's site on Home Remedies for Cellulite, the massage with cinnamon lotion can help reduce the cellulite that adds to belly fat.

Cinnamon
Make a cinnamon based essential oil massage lotion by taking a lotion base, like a plain, unscented and unflavored massage lotion, and adding one tablespoon of cinnamon for every 12 ounces of lotion. Or, purchase a cinnamon based lotion at your local department store or health products store. Add other essential oils, or purchase a lotion with cinnamon and other oils as you wish. Those that work well with cinnamon to reduce belly fat include clove, chamomile, germanium, sandalwood, rosemary and lavender. You can combine these oils with cinnamon and use liberally and freely to help promote a reduction in belly fat.

Apply Massage
Use the cinnamon lotion with added essential oils to massage your belly and other areas where fat has built up. The cinnamon triggers your skin to tighten and firm by helping to rejuvenate your skin cells, break down dying cells and build new cells. Cinnamon acts as an accelerator, helping new skin cells to grow more quickly to replace cells that are old and damaged. As new skin cells grow, they use up the energy stored in the cellulite, or belly fat. As the energy is burned up, so is the fat itself.

Tightening
Repeat the massage twice a day, being sure to massage all areas of your belly. Along with the rejuvenation of cells, cinnamon helps to tighten and firm your skin by causing it to constrict. Cinnamon naturally causes constriction, and as your skin constricts and become tighter, the belly fat or cellulite disappears.

Continue to use cinnamon lotion on your skin, and to infuse your massage with other essential oils that are also fat fighting. After six to eight weeks of massage, you will find a reduction in the amount of belly fat you have.

How to Get the Elasticity Back in Your Belly

To get the elasticity back in your belly, you are going to have to stretch your abdominal muscles. There are three poses in yoga that are excellent for stretching out the abdominals: bridge, bow and camel. Along with stretching your belly, bridge pose will also stretch your chest, alleviate stress and improve your digestion. Bow pose will strengthen your back muscles as well as improve your posture, and camel will stretch out your hip flexors. Practice these three poses regularly, at least two to three times per week, and get the elasticity back in your belly.

Things You'll Need
Yoga mat

Bridge Pose
Lie on your back on your mat. Bend your knees and bring the soles of your feet onto the mat. Keep your knees hip-width apart.

Inhale and push into your feet, engage your quadriceps and lift your hips toward the ceiling. Open your chest by lifting your sternum to your chin. Lengthen the back of your neck.

For a deeper stretch, clasp your fingers under your back, roll your shoulders out and down, press your arms into the floor and drive your hips up further. Hold the pose for six long and deep breaths. To come down, exhale and slowly lower yourself to the mat one vertebra at a time.

Bow Pose
Lie on your belly with your face on the mat. Bend your knees and reach back for your ankles. Grab the outside of your ankles, flex your ankles and push your feet into your hands.

Bow pose is a deeper belly stretch than bridge pose.
Keep your thighs glued to the floor as you extend your legs. As you straighten your arms, your chest will lift and open, stretching your belly.

Hold the pose for six long and deep breaths. To come out of the pose, release your ankles and with control lower yourself to the mat.

Camel Pose
Stand on your knees. Place your hands on your sacrum, where your low back and butt meet, with your fingers pointing toward the floor and your thumbs pointing out and away from each other.

Gently push the low back down toward the floor as you lift your chest and look up. Push your hips forward as you lift your chest up and back.

If you can, reach your right arm back and grab the inside of your right ankle with your fingers inside and your thumb on the outside. Hold the pose for six long and deep breaths. Inhale and engage your abdominals to come back up.

Does Diet Soda Cause Belly Fat?

Diet soda seems like the perfect drink, all of the flavor of soda, but with zero calories -- a dieter's dream. In reality diet soda is a far from perfect drink. Diet soda is packed with artificial sweeteners and chemicals. Drinking diet soda regularly may ultimately cause you to gain weight, but no one factor can be attributed to weight gain.

Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners have become a popular substitute for sugar due to the lower calorie count. One teaspoon of regular sugar contains about 16 calories. Regular soft drinks have about eight teaspoons of sugar. You can eliminate those calories by substituting sugar with artificial sweetener. Some varieties of artificial sweeteners are actually made from sugar, making the taste very similar.

Sugar Cravings
Although diet sodas have very few or even no calories, it may still be a culprit of weight gain. The artificial sweeteners used in diet sodas may trigger sugar cravings. Teasing your taste buds with diet soda's sweetness triggers the body to expect a shot of glucose, Purdue University researchers claim. When the expected dose of sugar doesn't arrrive, the body begins to crave it, which you'll likely satisfy with sugary food, researchers allege. Drinking diet soda apparently contributes to making unhealthy choices throughout your day, sabotaging your effort in losing weight.

Substitutions
If you are concerned about gaining weight you should consider cutting down on the amount of diet soda you drink. Although studies are inconclusive, there are healthier beverage options with more nutrients. Healthier substitutions include fresh juice, milk or water. Try adding cucumbers or lemon to your water for more flavor. If you drink soda for the caffeine content, consider an alternative caffeine source. Coffee and tea are both sources containing caffeine. Tea is lower in caffeine and closer to the amount found in diet sodas.

Safety and Long-Term Health
When it comes to diet soda and weight gain, your best bet is to drink it in moderation. Diet soda consumption is linked to a number of health complications including obesity. Drinking diet soda will not benefit your overall health, as it is not rich in vitamins or nutrients. Try to avoid soda consumption, diet or regular, from becoming part of your daily routine.

How to Ride a Stationary Bike to Burn Belly Fat

People in search of belly fat reduction often look to situps and crunches. These exercises do serve a purpose, but weight loss is not it. They will build your abdominal muscles and make them tighter, but they won't do much for the fat layer that covers them up. To truly lose this weight, you need to do cardiovascular exercise. A stationary bike burns calories throughout your entire body, including your stomach. You also have to contract your abs to maintain good alignment.

Step 1
Stretch your body dynamically before getting on the bike. Dynamic stretches are performed in motion and they will get your connective tissue loosened up for the exercising movements ahead. Do stretches like leg swings, alternating toe touches, lateral lunges, knee highs, ankle bounces, side bends and trunk rotations.

Step 2
Adjust your seat to the proper height. Sit on the bike, place your feet on the pedals and slowly turn the cranks. Pay attention to your knees. Move the seat to a position where your knee is just short of being straight when you turn the cranks.

Step 3
Begin to pedal for a warm-up. Sit on the seat, place your hands on the handle bars and start pedaling. Go slow at first and gradually increase your speed for five minutes. This will slowly raise your core body temperature and further loosen up your muscles.

Step 4
Increase your speed to your exercising intensity. Pedal hard enough that your breathing becomes labored and you are sweating. Stay at this pace for the duration of your workout. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 60 to 90 minutes of cardio for weight loss. Split your sessions into two or three bouts during the day if you do not have time to do it all at once.

Step 5
Include interval training into your workout to increase your intensity. The more vigorously you exercise, the more calories you'll burn. Pedal for 30 seconds at a very fast pace, then pedal slowly for 60 seconds. Alternate back and forth for an entire workout or implement 10-minute interval sessions into your long workouts. If you do intervals for your whole workout, keep the total time to 30 to 45 minutes because of the intensity.

Step 6
Execute proper form when you are riding. Forcefully push the pedals down with your feet, maintain an erect posture and do not lean on the handle bars. Keep your core tight throughout your workouts and make sure to drink water to stay hydrated.

Step 7
Finish with a light cool-down. Do your cool-down the opposite of how you did your warm-up. Pedal gradually slower through a five-minute time frame.

Step 8
Ride your bike often to get the best results. Work out at least four days a week and continue to work out every week.

Do I Need Cardio or Situps to Get Rid of My Belly Fat?

In your quest to get rid of belly fat, cardio workouts are more effective than situps. However, aerobic exercise does not target only belly fat. You burn excess body fat wherever you store it, including your midsection. Doing situps does provide some benefits, however. Strengthening your core muscles improves your posture and builds muscle tone so you sit up straight and appear slimmer. Speak to your doctor regarding medical concerns before implementing an exercise plan.

Cardio Recommendations
Not every cardiovascular workout burns belly fat at the same rate. The Centers for Disease Control recommends that a healthy adult participate in moderately-intense aerobic exercise at least 150 to 300 minutes weekly; or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity. Among the workouts that achieve this level of fat-burning are jogging, playing competitive sports, kickboxing, rowing, step aerobics, high-impact dance, swimming laps and climbing stairs or hills. Cardio is only part of the equation though. For as many calories as you burn through your activities, you will only lose belly fat if you adjust your eating habits to provide a calorie deficit.

Situps and Strength Training
Situps, along with other targeted ab exercises like the Plank, do not burn belly fat, but they do add muscle tissue. The more density you add to your muscles, the higher you raise your basal metabolism so you burn more calories even while at rest. Make situps part of a strength-training session that incorporates moves such as deep squats, lunges, dynamic yoga stretches, pushups, triceps dips, bench presses, standing flies, biceps curls and pullups.

Interval Training
As you do cardiovascular workouts and lose weight, your workout becomes less effective. You need to add new challenges to maximize how much belly fat you burn. Doing speed or strength intervals varies the pace of your workout so you spike your heart rate and burn more fat. After warming up and doing five minutes of your standard moderate to vigorous cardiovascular workout, increase your intensity. Sprint, do deep squat jumps, skip rope or dash upstairs. Sustain the interval for at least 30 seconds. Slow down to a recovery pace, but keep moving. After 30 seconds to one minute, return to your moderate to vigorous cardiovascular workout. Repeat these steps throughout your workout.

Lifestyle Factors
A stringent cardiovascular exercise program steadily reduces your body fat, including fat stored around your belly. However, eating unhealthy foods or eating too much food reverses the positive effects of exercise. Eating more calories than you burn will prevent weight loss. You experience an increase in appetite after working out, so choose healthy snacks filled with fiber to sate your hunger. Good options include leafy greens, carrots, celery, berries, citrus fruit, apples, pears, unsweetened whole grains and legumes.

Non-Equipment Cardio to Lose Belly Fat

Equipment isn't necessary to burn belly fat effectively. Your main goal should be to elevate your heart rate for a prolonged period by doing vigorous movement involving your upper and lower body. As you lose weight and get fit, add new components to your cardiovascular regimen to maximize how much fat you burn. If you have injuries or health problems, consult your doctor before implementing a cardio regimen.

Jogging
Jogging is a cardio workout that burns belly fat quickly. The faster you move, the more calories you burn. If you jog a 12-minute mile, you burn 470 to 745 calories per hour, depending upon how much you weigh. Run a 10-minute mile and you burn 590 to 935 calories in one hour. Shave one minute off your time and burn 645 to 1,020 calories per hour. Speed is not the only way to burn calories while running. You can also run up hill or upstairs and burn 880 to 1,390 calories per hour. Running and jumping hurdles burns 590 to 930 calories per hour.

Lower-Impact Exercise
If you require a lower-impact cardio workout, choose those that involve upper body as well as lower body movement so you burn more calories. For example, doing power yoga or low-impact dance demands arm movements, squats, bends, lateral movement, stretches and engagement from your core muscles. The wider and faster you move your arms, the higher you raise your heart rate. Swimming laps or jogging through water also elevates your heart rate but the water cushions your joints and tendons from the shock of impact.

Interval Training
Performing strength or speed intervals burns belly fat more quickly than doing a cardio workout at a steady rate. After warming up with light aerobic movement, do any cardiovascular exercise at a vigorous but sustainable pace. Every five minutes, engage in an intense bout of strengthening work or speed for 30 seconds. Options include doing deep squat jumps, sprinting, climbing stairs or doing a rapid set of pushups. Return to your cardio workout, but at a slower pace to recover. After 30 seconds, increase to your vigorous workout and repeat the cycle of strength or speed intervals.

Combination Workouts
Some workouts burn belly fat by spiking your heart rate but also building muscle. When you add muscle tissue, you shift your body's composition to increased lean tissue and decreased fat. Your body works harder to support the denser tissue, burning more calories around the clock, a process known as raising your resting metabolism. Combination workouts alternate between cardio activity and resistance exercises. For example, in boot camp and circuit training, you sprint and climb and quickly switch to doing crunches or pullups. You may do jumping jacks followed by a series of squats and lunges. Vigorous forms of yoga, such as hot yoga, power yoga and Ashtanga yoga also qualify as combination workouts.