However you refer to your excess belly fat, the fact remains that it is unattractive and anyone with it has issues and strives to get rid of it. This, however, is easier said than done. Don’t make the mistake of many others and waste your time and effort on so called magic pills or potions, you won’t wake up with super flat stomach, you will wake up with the same jelly belly as you went to sleep with!

So what exactly is the best and fastest way to shift belly fat?
Well, there’s no secret to banishing that belly fat permanently, it’s a combination of diet and exercise. Now don’t groan and roll your eyes, yes you’ve heard it before, that’s because it’s true. It’s a scientific fact that neither is any good by itself, they have to be combined.

There are two main steps to shifting that flab;

1) You must do the right exercises. Stop all those crunches and sit ups and other abdominal exercises that the internet experts have told you to do. They are strengthening the underlying muscles which are hidden, but are doing nothing to get rid of the fat that’s covering them.

Don’t just have an exercise routine that concentrates on the mid section, this won’t reduce your belly. These exercises will improve tone and shape but the key is to work your whole body, including chest, legs and back.

Doing multi zonal exercises increases your metabolic rate greatly for the 24-48 hours immediately after your workout. It is also releasing all important hormones necessary for fat burning, an effect you will never achieve from just doing abdominal exercises.

Now you know the correct exercises to do, plan yourself a realistic regime that you can stick to. Build up gradually and combine it with step2.

2) Alter your daily diet and shift that stubborn fat

Adjusting your diet and changing what you consume is the all important second step. Diet pills and potions, crash diets and restrictive plans are tried by millions, and failed by millions. They simply don’t work. Ok, you starve yourself and lose 5lb in a week, the minute you eat normally again it goes straight back on. That’s because these tend to cut out one or two of the major food groups, so our metabolisms practically stop and the weight we are losing is the lean muscle which we need.

The eating plan to shift your belly fat must contain all the food groups, particularly Carbs, proteins and healthier fats such as omega-3.

Your carb intake should consist of whole grain, oatmeal, brown rice etc, These complex Carbs cause our bodies to burn energy to digest them. Protein should come from chicken, lean meat, fish etc. We all need fats too, so get it from healthy sources such as seeds, nuts (these nuts help in your weight loss), avocados, olive oil etc.

This type of balanced diet combined with the exercise raises the metabolic rate and burns off that belly fat faster.