8 Tips How To Lose Belly Fat Without Losing Weight

You can lose belly fat without losing weight elsewhere by paying careful attention to your calorie intake and the types of training routines you do.

First of all, losing fat to achieve a flat stomach will require you to eat fewer calories than you burn in a day [1].

For extreme weight loss efforts, that would mean achieving a calorie deficit of 20% or more.

The problem is that such a calorie reduction will impact your body weight in other areas, including muscle mass.

Studies on this have shown that the right type of exercise can reduce the risks of muscle wasting [2].

People tend to look at overall weight gain as a generally negative thing.

But when you understand that muscle tissue and fat have different densities, then you gain a better understanding of your body weight.

While a pound of muscle and fat weigh the same, it’s important to understand that muscle tissue is denser than fat [3].

Even a modest increase in muscle can more than make up for the fat you lose. And this often catches people out as they see the scales aren’t changing much, but they are ignoring their BMI.

So, when we’re talking about weight loss, what we want is a fat reduction and an increase or maintenance of muscle tissue.

OK, it’s time to turn to some tips on how to lose belly fat without losing muscle mass.

Stretching can help with weight loss in two ways.

First of all, it can have a significant impact on your stress hormone levels, and those could have a big impact on your weight [8].

But it can also improve your range of motion which would help you perform better during workouts.

5. Turn Down The Cardio

While cardio is great for fat loss, you need to balance it carefully with your strength training [9]. You’ll need to do some cardio like running to reduce belly fat and get a flat stomach, but don't let it take over your weekly training plan.

6. Turn Up The HIIT

In my experience, doing high-intensity interval training for losing weight is one of the best ways for consistently losing weight. The great thing with HIIT is that you can combine resistance training and cardio to remove that stomach fat and boost your muscle growth.

7. Control Water Retention

One of the main reasons that people experience water retention is excessive sodium intake and a lack of hydration. Yes, not drinking enough can cause the body to retain water and store it [10].

8. Keep A Good Desk Posture

You don’t have to resort to desk exercises to lose weight, but good posture while sitting and standing could have a big impact on how much your gut sticks out. Keep your back straight and shoulders back, and feel how your core automatically pulls in.