If your fantasy diet motto is, "Start slowly, then chill out," you are SO smart. Skipping boot camp workouts and dramatic calorie slashing could get you newly-slim hips and a trim waistline by the time the next American Idol is picked.
That's because severe calorie cutbacks and high-octane exercise drills put your body into a panic. In fact, if you'd been part of one study, 3 weeks of frantic dieting would have increased your stress hormones, hunger hormones, and binges on high-fat foods . . . but decreased your physical activity. These instinctive calorie-hoarding responses helped your prehistoric ancestors survive famines . . . but they send you cruising for glazed crullers and looking for excuses to skip your spin class. All because your body's petrified of starving. So outwit it.
- Never go hungry. Just make eating small portions of high-nutrient, low-calorie foods ultra easy. Keep a stash of good-for-you emergency foods on hand: salad fixings, precut fruits and veggies, 100% whole-grain crackers, instant oatmeal. If you start feeling ravenous and deprived, you'll soon be hunting for apple pie a la mode. Here are 4 smart ways to lose belly fat.
- Cement a no-matter-what exercise habit. How? Begin by walking (or biking, swimming, dancing—whatever you really enjoy) for an extra 30 minutes a day. Do nothing more out of the norm for a solid month (no strength training, power yoga, extra stepping—nothing, unless you do it already). By then, this easy start-up plan will have become a rock-hard habit.
- Blow off steam. Sure, going on a diet is stressful. So boost your odds of success by increasing levels of stress-busting, brain-friendly nitric oxide. How's that? Just do a few minutes of deep, slow belly breathing every day. And start shopping for smaller belts.
Medically reviewed in September 2019.
