Aim For 200-300 Minutes of Cardio a Week

Strength training is a key element to any weight-loss program, but registered dietitian and ACSM-certified personal trainer Jim White, owner of Jim White Fitness and Nutrition Studios [8], said cardio is still an essential to losing body fat, including from your belly.

"According to the ACSM, in order to lose weight, it is recommended to aim for 200 to 300 minutes a week of cardio," Jim said. "Shoot for five days a week of 45 to 60 minutes of cardio to really burn body fat and lose weight."

Strength Train With Compound Exercises

Yes, cardio is important for fat loss, but lifting weights can also help you burn calories and lose weight long-term [9]. Strength training will allow your body to build muscle, and more muscle mass means your body burns more calories at rest [10]. Jim recommends strength training about two times a week.

To make the most of your strength-training session, Rachel Gerson, an NASM-certified personal trainer, said to focus on compound exercises [11], which are exercises that target groups of large muscles, like barbell squats, deadlifts, and the leg press. "Compound movements concentrating on larger muscle groups will burn the most calories," Rachel said. "If you think about it, you'll feel a lot more tired after doing a barbell squat than doing a bicep curl."

Plus, moves such as squats, deadlifts, and overhead presses also target your core, so you are working multiple muscle groups at once. "When you burn the fat off your midsection, you'll have built nice muscle underneath that will start to show, which is what gives you that toned look in your midsection," she said.

Eat in a Healthy Calorie Deficit

While exercise is an important part of any weight-loss plan, your nutrition has the most impact [12] on your ability to lose weight. To lose body fat, you need to eat in a calorie deficit — as in, expend more calories than you take in.

"You've got to burn more calories than you eat," Kimberly Gomer, MS, RD, LDN, director of nutrition with the Pritikin Longevity Centre [13], told POPSUGAR. "Create a calorie deficit, keep at it, and you will lose excess fat, wherever it is on your body."

To lose about a pound a week, you need to eat 500 fewer calories a day. Just make sure you don't eat fewer than 1,200 calories a day for women; eating too few calories will slow down your metabolism [14] (not to mention make you deprived of essential nutrients [15]!)

To find an approximate daily calorie target to lose weight, use this formula [16]. However, it's not just the quantity of calories that matter, but also the quality. You need to focus on nutrient-dense foods that give you more bang for your buck. Think: leafy greens, nonstarchy vegetables, and fruit.

Ditch Ultra-Processed Foods

"Reduce intake of ultra-processed foods that are produced using high-fructose-containing sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup," sports dietitian Rachel Fine, MS, RD, CDN, told POPSUGAR. "These processed sugars are concentrated in fructose, which in high amounts has been shown to promote visceral fat accumulation [17] in the liver, leading to weight gain, inflammation, and related diseases like metabolic syndrome."

Although processed sugars are found in the typical culprits: cookies, candy, canned fruit, and soda, it's also found in frozen packaged food like frozen pizzas and frozen dinners. It best to avoid these types of packaged food altogether, but if you indulge, be sure to check the labels.

Cut Back on Sugar

This should come as no surprise: too much added sugar (not just processed sugar) can lead to weight gain, including in your belly, especially if you reach for sodas or fruit juices. Research shows that an increase of sugar-sweetened beverages [18] can lead to more belly fat.

You probably already know to limit the typical sources of sweets, but you also need to pay attention to your labels for other sources of added sugars. Registered dietitian Jeanette Kimszal said that added sugar can make its way into "healthy" foods [19] like granola, breakfast bars, yoghurt, and nut butters. "Having no added sugar is optimal, but striving for only 25 grams (six teaspoons) a day is recommended for those who want to lose belly fat," she told POPSUGAR. "If you have a health condition, you may want to limit your sugar intake to 15 grams (four teaspoons) a day."

Cut Back on the Booze

Yes, you can drink alcohol and still lose weight [20]. But if you're trying to target belly fat specifically, it may be best to lay off the booze.

"Reducing intake of alcohol can also help to reduce belly fat. We often forget that alcohol is a nutrient of its own, weighing in at seven calories per gram," Rachel explained. "Alcohol is absorbed faster than most other nutrients. When over-consumed, alcohol metabolism impairs metabolism of other macronutrients, such as carbs and fat." She added that this promotes the storage of fat rather than the breakdown of fat.

Reduce Stress

So far we've focussed on diet and exercise, but getting your stress under control is key for shedding body fat, especially in your belly. "Stress releases a hormone called cortisol," Erica Patel, MD, internist at the University of Southern California, told POPSUGAR. "[The release of cortisol] causes high blood sugar levels by promoting the breakdown of protein stores into glucose to be used as fuel. Over time, persistently high levels of cortisol [21] seen in stress promote the storage of excess glucose as fat in the abdomen, causing belly fat [22]." Not to mention that stress can trigger unhealthy eating habits: how often do you reach for a bag of chips or into the cookie jar after a bad day at work?

Reducing stress in your life is easier said than done, but when you're feeling stressed [23], implement other coping mechanisms [24] that don't involve food or alcohol: read, go for a walk, take a bath, light a candle, practice meditation, or journal. If you're feeling extra stressed at work, see if you can get up from your desk for a few minutes and take a walk around the office. Plus, getting enough sleep at night [25] — aim for seven hours — will keep your stress levels down and help you feel well-rested to take on the day.

Limit Refined Grains

"To peel off belly fat, ditch refined grains like white bread and white rice and eat more whole grains, such as oatmeal, barley, farro, quinoa, whole-wheat pasta, and brown rice," Kimberly said.

You've probably heard that whole grains are healthier than their refined counterparts, but there's science to back it up; a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who ate whole grains over refined grains lost more belly fat [26].

Not only do refined grains spike your blood sugar [27] and mess with your insulin levels, which can lead to weight gain, they are also high-calorie but not satiating. Kimberly said it's easy to overeat these types of foods, which are calorie-dense. "Dry and refined carbohydrates like pretzels, flour tortillas, popcorn, rice cakes, baked chips, and dried cereals add up to a hefty 1,400 to 1,750 calories per pound," she said. "You could easily swallow a few bites and take in 1,000 calories long before you sense any fullness."

Load Up on Fibre

Speaking of whole grains, these complex carbohydrates [28] tend to be full of fibre. Kimberly said that loading up on fibre can help you reduce belly fat, especially since it is more filling. And you don't need tons of fibre to have it be beneficial for you; about six grams a day should do the trick.

She recommends loading up on fibre-rich foods such as cooked beans, hot whole-grain cereal (like oatmeal), fresh fruit, baked potatoes and sweet potatoes, greens, and 100 percent whole-wheat bread.

Get in More NEAT

Your activity shouldn't end as soon as you leave the gym. In fact, one of the keys to losing weight and keeping it off is to incorporate more NEAT said Eric Bowling, an NASM-certified personal trainer at Ultimate Performance [29]. NEAT stands for nonexercise activity thermogenesis [30], and it refers to the activity you do each day outside of formal exercise.

"When it comes to fat loss, NEAT is massively overlooked and sometimes completely forgotten, yet it is a powerful fat-loss tool," Eric said. He encourages his clients to be more active outside of the gym and increase their overall steps to 10,000 per day minimum [31]. Other NEAT activities include gardening, doing chores, playing with your kids, and carrying groceries back from the store.

Add HIIT to Your Fitness Plan

HIIT, which stands for high-intensity interval training [32], can help you get in an effective workout in a shorter amount of time. In HIIT, you do a period of all-out exercise followed by an even longer period of rest. You can do HIIT with bodyweight exercises [33], weightlifting moves [34], or cardio [35], such as sprinting on the treadmill [36].

There is some evidence that HIIT can target belly fat [37]. Eric recommends people do HIIT one or two times a week to lose fat. HIIT can also help you achieve EPOC, or excess postexercise oxygen consumption [38], also known as the afterburn effect, during which your body keeps burning calories even after the workout.

To get started, check out some of our favourite HIIT workouts [39].