Lose your tummy fat

Healthy diet? Check. Regular exercise? Check. Gruelling abs routine? Check. If you’re doing all the right things but still can’t lose your tummy fat, then it may be down to your lifestyle and hormones. But don’t worry, optimising your hormones to melt fat from your stomach is more straight-forward than it sounds. In fact, it might be as easy as simply chilling out, kicking back and relaxing. Yes, really.

‘Stress plays a huge role in the formation of tummy fat,’ explains personal trainer Dan Lawrence (danlawrencetraining.com). ‘Adrenaline and cortisol are produced as a stress response, and these hormones instruct your body fat to release their fatty acids in order to produce energy quickly. This is the kind of energy that you need for a short duration due to stress or excitement.’

While the stress hormones can be good thing sometimes – for example, in a high-pressured situation or during a tough workout – chronic stress causes us to produce this energy when it’s not needed. ‘A lack of sleep will lead to a build-up of fat around the abdominal area due to this increase in cortisol,’ Dan adds. ‘As well as this, your muscles are in recovery mode when you’re sleeping, so this reparation and growth elevates your metabolism, leading to a tighter, leaner body composition.’ When you’re not sleeping enough, you simply don’t get this benefit.

If you’ve been struggling with belly fat, make sure you’re getting 8 hours’ sleep a night, especially if your exercise routine is a demanding one. ‘Steer clear of refined carbs, which are addressed by your body the same way as sugar,’ says Dan. ‘Complex carbs like wholegrain products are released more slowly into your bloodstream, as fibre takes longer to digest.’ Watching your carbs and sugars intake also means keeping an eye on your booze intake. Often we forget about our liquid consumption – but there’s a reason the ‘beer belly’ got its name.