Ever wondered why even after spending hours together sweating out in the gym and surviving completely on salads, you are not able to get rid of belly fat? Even though you are losing weight overall and stepping on the weighing scale makes you happy, but the lower belly pooch causes disappointment. Sometimes we overlook tiny details while paying attention to the big picture, and in this post, we list out 10 reasons you are not losing belly fat and what to do about them. So, do read on:

1. High Transfat Content: If you are trying to weed out unhealthy stuff from diet, make sure you include “transfat” because research has shown that transfat not only leads to weight gain, it tends to mobilize fat from other areas of the body to the belly area! Transfat is artificially made from vegetable oil by a process called hydrogenation where hydrogen molecules are added to the oil. This is done to increase the shelf life and solidy the oil, and make it more appetizing and suitable for frying. Margarine, frozen pizza, cakes, non-dairy creamer, etc. have transfat in them. Also, here’s a a list of “15 Transfat Food Items you should Avoid to Lose Weight Effectively.”

2. Not Following the Right Kind of Weight Loss Diet: Here’s a thumb rule anyone who wants to lose weight should follow – eat the right kind of food because without eating right, weight loss will not happen! Even if you spend two hours in the gym, the weighing scale would not move in your favour if there’s no calorie deficit achieved through dieting. That’s why following the right kind of weight loss diet is imperative to burn fat, and Rati Beauty diet on the Rati Beauty app help to drop extra weight the healthy way without compromising on nutrition. Also, diet food is not “meh” and “bland” anymore on these weekly diet programs.

3. Not Drinking Enough Water: As cliched as it may sound, people who do not drink enough water tend to overeat food because they tend to confuse “thirst” for hunger, and turn to food to curb hunger pangs, adding unnecessary calories that are hard to burn off at the end of the day. Drink a full glass of water upon waking and sip on water through the day. Also, keep a bottle handy at all times and keep refilling it through the day.

4. Not Eating Nutrient-Rich Food: Deficiency of vitamin D, calcium, iron, magnesium can all affect metabolism and the pace at which the body burns fat. When the metabolism becomes sluggish the body tends to store calories as fat instead of burning them up. Include nutrient-dense food in your daily diet to level up metabolism and keep it high.

5. Adding Extra Sugar To Tea/Coffee: This is especially for those who think they cannot ‘function’ without their cuppa of coffee and chai. While it is fine to drink a cup or two of tea or coffee per day, drinking more than that can give your weight loss regime a hitch, and adding more sugar to those cups can definitely lead to increase in belly fat. You end up consuming high levels of caffeine, that increases the quantity of the stress hormone, cortisol, in your body, and that too adds to weight gain around the belly area. Do not add sugar to coffee/tea – use stevia leaves instead.

6. Allowing Stress To Take Control of your Life: Have you heard about stress belly? Stress badly affects your metabolism, and makes you eat more food. Research says that we crave for high-calorie things, like desserts, chips, chocolates, etc., under stressful situations and the stress hormone “cortisol” is one of the major reasons why you are not losing belly fat. Do find stuff to release stress – any hobby that takes your mind off, dancing, yoga, reading, anything!

7. Eating Food Too Fast: Our tummy takes around 20-30 minutes to let our brain know that it is full, so if we eat fast, we eat way more than required which increases the daily calorie count, and we would be unable to lose any weight due to the calorie surplus.

8. Compromising on Sleep: Depriving yourself of good sleep acts as a big roadblock that comes in your way to achieve a flat belly. Sleep deprivation causes the imbalance of two hormones in your body- leptin and ghrelin. Leptin sends signals to brain that you are full after you eat, and ghrelin stimulates hunger. Due to lack of sleep, the quantity of leptin decreases in your body, and the ghrelin levels increase, and cortisol levels also rise. And, you tend to indulge in late-night eating habits as well. So, to avoid this, make sure you take around seven hours of sleep every day; it would be best if you sleep and wake at the same time daily.

9. Leading a Sedentary lifestyle: You may be watching what you are eating and hitting the gym as well, but a sedentary lifestyle for the rest of the day with little to no movement hampers weight loss goals and it would be extremely hard to burn belly fat. Be on your feet through the day and see the belly fat disappear.

10. Hormonal Issues: Polycystic ovarian disease, hypothyroidism, insulin resistance, all of which are caused by hormonal imbalances can trigger weight gain, especially around the tummy. Unless these issues are addressed, losing weight can be an uphill task, especially losing belly fat.

Well, now you know the reasons behind belly fat and ways to correct them – flaunt a flat belly with these tips.

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