By knowing what to and what not to eat, you will maximize your efforts trying to lose belly fat. The seven tips below will guide you on your way to proper nutrition and efficient weight loss.

1. Cut Sugars and Starches

The most crucial part to cut off in your diet when trying to lose weight is carbohydrates (starches). To give you a little bit of a background, insulin is responsible for storing your fat. Insulin-release is also stimulated when you eat too much sugar that comes from starch or carbohydrates.

The more sugar you eat, the more your body releases insulin, and the more it stores fat. But when insulin goes down, you don’t give your body a lot of chance to store up on fat, making it burn more to fuel your body instead.

Another benefit of lowered your insulin level is that it allows your kidneys to do what they are supposed to do – and that is to get rid of excess sodium and water in your body. Excess sodium causes you to bloat up and store the water as weight excess. As soon as you get rid of carbohydrates on the first few weeks of your diet, you will notice you are losing more weight than expected.

2. Eat Vegetables, Complex Carbohydrates, Healthy Fats and Protein

Taking away many of the more commonly understood sources of carbohydrates (pasta, white rice, bread etc) does not mean you can’t have them anymore. Carbohydrates from vegetables sources can provide the recommended range of 20 to 50 grams per day. You can get your daily requirements of carbohydrates through eating vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and swiss chard for example. Sweet potato is an excellent source of carbohydrate as well.

Healthy protein sources can be found in tofu, beef, chicken, turkey, eggs, lamb Fish (also rich in omega 3 – an important antioxidant needed by your body). Aside from that, eating proteins and healthy fats is a must. Healthy fats can be obtained by including fish oil, avocado, olive oil, peanut oil and alike.

By constructing your daily meal in these components, you help better boost your metabolism. The best part about eating these kinds of healthy fats is it doesn’t raise the risk of you getting any kind of heart disease.

3. Lose Belly Fat – Add Strength Work into your Training 

 Yes, it’s possible for you to lose weight without exercise, but getting your body active is always recommended for better results. Going to the Box at least 3 times a week to warm up, stretch out and lift some weights is beneficial in speeding up your weight loss. Lifting weights allows you to burn more calories and increase muscle mass when done properly.

Remember, muscle metabolism takes up a lot of calories. When done right, you will most likely gain weight because of the gained muscle mass, but lose fat because your body had converted it to supply the energy it requires for using your muscles. It is also essential that you replenish your body and recover properly after training.

4. Lose Belly Fat – Make Time for A Cheat Meal

Deprivation is usually the cause why so many people falter on their weight loss journey. Allow yourself to indulge at least once a week.

But just because you’re allowed a cheat meal doesn’t mean you can eat as much as you can. Pick a reasonable size portion and eat the food that you’ve been fantasizing about. This will help you to stay on track and maintain discipline the rest of the time.

Overdoing it will cause you to fall behind on the results you want to achieve. This is the time you can eat something unhealthy, but make sure you do it to satisfy your taste buds and not your appetite.

5. Lose Belly Fat – Control Portions and Calories

Without proper nutrition knowledge, calorie counting will be both exhausting and somewhat useless. The truth about it is calorie counting becomes unnecessary when you stick to the protein – healthy fat – low carb vegetables plan.

Sticking to that diet alone tells you that you’re already hitting the kind of nutrition you need in order to lose weight. But if you still want to count your calories to make sure you’re sticking to the plan, by all means, go right ahead.

Using a calorie counter or a calorie calculator is the best option if you’re not into keeping a food journal.

6. Drink Plenty Of Water

Always remember that your body needs the proper hydration to make sure that all metabolic processes are working like a well-oiled machine. Water can make you feel fuller, help you reduce cravings, and hydrate your cells and skin. Water is also a great way to help flush down the excess sodium in the body.

Remember when we said too much insulin can stock up on sodium? Well, as soon as you cut back on your simple carbs, and lower down your insulin, your body is going to need the right hydration to help eliminate the excess salt that’s causing you to keep your water weight. So, drink up like there’s no tomorrow!

7. Lose Belly Fat – Sleep Properly

The body regenerates cell repair faster while you’re sleeping. If you think your exercise routine has gotten you feeling completely sore, a good night’s rest will help heal the torn tissues caused by working out. You can also relieve pain by bathing in warm water. Every movement in the body causes wear-and-tear, so if you want to naturally get rid of the pain, sleeping will help hasten the healing. Many top CrossFit Games Athletes sleep 8 – 10 hours a night.