5 Ways to Get Rid of Belly Fat

While belly fat is mostly regarded as a cosmetic concern, it is actually more than that. It is important to understand that there are actually two types of fat in the body – visceral and subcutaneous.

Visceral fat are found around the organs while subcutaneous fat are found just underneath the skin. Another way to differentiate it is that visceral fat especially on the belly is usually hard whereas subcutaneous fat are pinchable and soft.

Excessive visceral fat in the abdominal area or around your waistline is a significant risk factor for serious health conditions like heart disease and type 2 diabetes. While having excessive subcutaneous fat deposits around the belly may not be as dangerous but it can definitely affect a person’s overall well-being especially his confidence and quality of life. This makes it important to do anything you can to get rid of your belly fat.

The good news is there are proven ways that can effectively lose belly fat without extensive routines or surgery. From simple lifestyle changes to safe treatment options, we’ve rounded up 5 different ways to help you get rid of stubborn belly fat:

Be More Active

First things first, the only way to get rid of visceral fat is through having the right diet and proper daily exercise. There isn’t any shortcut when in comes to reducing fat that can seriously affect your overall health.

Cardiovascular workouts or those that can get your heart pumping are great forms of workouts that can burn calories and can help in reducing abdominal fat. If you haven’t exercised for a while, you can start slowly with walking or swimming for at least 30 minutes. Then, you can add intense cardio exercises like jogging or biking.

When it comes to working out to reduce pockets of fat in the belly, do take that no matter how dedicated you are in doing ab exercises, it will not make you totally get rid of your abdominal fat. Exercise alone cannot spot-reduce fat, so targeted exercises like sit-ups and crunches can only help strengthen abdominal muscles, not lose belly fat.

Strength training is also helpful in improving body weight and losing belly fat. The key is committing to doing strength training exercises like lifting weights, about two to three times a week. This can help you build muscle mass and boost your metabolism. Just do take note that you have to commit long-term to see improvements.

Look Into Your Diet

High-fiber foods are specifically beneficial in overall fat loss by helping control your appetite and maintain a steady blood sugar level. The best way to get more fiber is to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Legumes, leafy greens, lentils and whole oats are some good fiber sources.

It is also important to eat more protein, which is considered a macronutrient in shedding weight. Apart from reducing your cravings, studies also suggest that protein can boost your metabolism and help you eat fewer calories per day.

Protein also offers the benefit of helping you avoid re-gaining weight if you need to stop with your weight loss efforts. Good sources of protein include fish, seafood, nuts, lean meat and whole eggs.

Avoid Sugar and Sugary Beverages

Eating lots of added sugar overloads the liver with fructose, which can then cause it to turn into fat. You should also know that excess sugar consumption can result in an increased fat accumulation in the liver and belly. This can also lead to insulin resistance and a number of metabolic issues.

Liquid sugar in the form of sweetened beverage is much worse, as it doesn’t have an effect on appetite and can cause you to eat extra calories.

You can cut on your sugar consumption by avoiding soda, fruit juices, and sports and energy drinks. You can also benefit from reading food labels and checking the list of ingredient to see the concentration of sugar in your food and drinks.

Freeze Pinchable Fat with Cryolipolysis (CoolSculpting & Z Lipo)  

For stubborn pinchable fat that is resistant to diet and exercises, non-surgical fat reduction treatments like Cryolipolysis can help. Also known as “fat freezing procedure”, Cryolipolysis is non-invasive body contouring treatment that uses cooling technology to eliminate fat cells for good.

This controlled cooling technology is safe and clinically proven to target only fat cells without harming the skin and other tissues.

At Cutis Laser Clinics, we have two safe devices that use Cryolipolysis: CoolSculpting and Z Lipo. Here is how these devices can help you achieve your goals:

What is CoolSculpting?

CoolSculpting in Singapore (from Zeltiq) is an US FDA-cleared patented procedure that involves the use of applicators in different sizes that deliver controlled cooling temperatures. The device can target and treat fat in the belly, chin, arms, and thighs, as well as smaller fats like bra and knee fat.

This works by suctioning the fat bulge in the area of concern, which then cools it to freezing temperatures. Once the fat cells are frozen, they will undergo natural cell death or “apoptosis” and will then be naturally expelled from the body.

CoolSculpting has a wide range of applicators that can target common problem areas such as belly, back, arms and thighs as well as smaller areas such as double chin, bra fat and knee fat. The device also has a built-in mechanism that detects if the skin is getting too cold. If the skin is found to be cold, it shuts off automatically.

What is Z Lipo?

Z Lipo (by Zimmer) is a German-made device with different sizes of handpieces that can treat and target fat bulges in belly, arms, and thighs. It uses a pulse vacuum suctioning to draw a significant amount of fat inside the body and treat more fat in just a single session.

Z Lipo cools fat in a controlled manner, which results in the destruction of fat cells. Dead fat cells will then be naturally cleared through the lymphatic system over a period of 10 to 12 weeks.

The thing that makes Z Lipo unique is that is has two built-in applicators that can treat two different areas of concern at the same time. This then decreases the overall treatment time for reducing unwanted fat. The procedure is also pain-free and has virtually no side effects.

Burn Stubborn Fat with Vanquish

Vanquish is another non-invasive FDA-cleared fat reduction procedure. But unlike CoolSculpting and Z Lipo, it delivers heat using radiofrequency in targeting fat cells. Vanquish is ideal for reducing the circumference or “inch loss” of your waistline without surgery or downtime.

Its effectiveness is due to the science of impedance or the fat’s resistance to heat compared to other tissues in the body. The fat’s higher resistance to heat energy can cause it to absorb more heat, which is helpful in triggering apoptosis or natural cell death.

Heat exposure causes the fat cell so naturally die over time, which will then be processed as waste in the liver and cleared through the lymphatic system.

Another unique thing about Vanquish is that it helps reduce fat without having any contact to skin. This is because the device hovers the fat area using an array of heat to kill fat without harming the skin or the muscles.

To learn more about the non-invasive fat reduction treatments mentioned above, contact Cutis Laser Clinics today and schedule a consultation with our Harvard-trained aesthetic doctor, Dr. Sylvia Ramirez, to find out which body contouring procedure is right for you.

Tags: Lose Belly Fat, CoolSculpting, Z Lipo, Vanquish, Aesthetic Doctor