Pesky lower belly fat can be hard to shed.

In fact, certain body types will hold on to fat stores around the stomach longer than anywhere else.

You can lose fat on your thighs, arms, and chest before you even notice a difference in your lower belly.

Losing belly fat can be a challenge.

Nevertheless, it’s not hopeless. Eating healthy and following a strong workout plan helps you get rid of lower belly fat and keep it off.

The most important aspect of weight loss is a balanced diet. Eating too many calories (even if it’s healthy food) will make you to gain weight, while too few calories may cause your body to hold on to pesky fat stores as a measure against starvation.

To get rid of lower belly fat, you need to eat the right amount of food, and the right kind of food.

Read on to learn more about the diets and exercises that help you lose belly fat and keep it off!

Step 1: Limit the junk food. 
You don’t have to eliminate junk food from your life.

In fact, the occasional treat can help you stay on track with your eating.

However, daily burgers and ice cream will add inches to your waist line.

Even if you’re cutting calories from other parts of your life, a daily junk food fix can stop you from losing belly fat.

Start by replacing junk food with healthy alternatives.

Have a banana instead of dessert, or veggies with hummus instead of salty chips. If you currently eat junk food every day of the week, but begin limiting it to three nights a week, you’ve already cut your junk food consumption by more than half!

Step 2: Make Your Diet a Lifestyle.
Not only do our bodies react differently to diets, so do our brains.

For one person, frequent meals can help prevent cravings. For someone else, constant grazing can be the cause of weight gain.

Some people benefit from tracking their intake and counting calories. Others can find this stifling. Find a diet that works for you and make it a lifestyle.

Avoid crash diets and restrictive meal plans.

Step 3: Stick to it.
Once you’ve found a plan that works for you, the trick is to stick to it long-term.

Constantly vacillating between diets can lead to a vicious weight gain cycle and unhealthy relationships to food. In fact, it can cause you to hold on to stubborn lower belly fat longer. When you put your body on a restrictive diet, your brain can interpret the lack of sustenance for a famine. If this happens, it will slow down your metabolism and hold on to fat stores in case of emergencies.

Instead of cycling through restrictive and binging periods, try sticking to a healthy diet for an extended period of time. You’ll be able to eat when hungry, you’ll be full of energy, and you’ll see better results.

Step 4: Add exercise.
Once you’re settled into healthy eating habits, try adding an exercise plan.

We have many beginner workouts as well as 5K training plans.

When it comes to losing belly fat, you want to do a combination of cardio, ab workouts, and strength training. Cardio helps you shed excess weight. Ab workouts tone your abdominal muscles for a tight, strong core. Finally, strength training builds muscle, and more muscle means you’ll burn more calories while at rest.

Step 5: Stay confident!
Our final step to losing belly fat is to stay confident.

Chances are you’re more self-conscious of your belly fat than you should be. Don’t waste time and energy putting yourself down. Instead, focus on the positive. Learn to love your body at every point of the journey and you’ll find that eating healthy and exercising regularly become easier than ever!

Credit: SkinnyMs