If you are thinking to get rid of the fat from your belly or are constantly asking yourself how to lose body fat fast, then you are thinking the right way. Too much body fat overall is bad for you.

Why? Because you end up generating adipose hormones and adipokines which are the bad guys that travel to your blood vessels and organs, and wreak havoc. In doing this, they cause inflammation that can lead to unpleasant problems like heart disease and diabetes. Who would want that? It’s time to get off your horses and fight the forces of belly fat evil!

YOU’RE ON A LOW-FAT DIET

To shed belly fat, it’s good to eat fat—specifically monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). When researchers in one study asked women to switch to a 1,600-calorie, high-MUFA diet, they lost a third of their belly fat in a month. “MUFAs are satiating, so they help you eat fewer poor-quality foods,” says David Katz, MD, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center.

Have a serving of MUFAs—like a handful of nuts, a tablespoon of olive oil, or a quarter of an avocado—with every meal and snack. This will shed fat from your belly, giving you a before and after weight loss transformation 🙂

GLOOMINESS

Depression sort of goes both ways. For example, I have seen people who put on weight when dealing with depression because they develop improper eating habits. When you’re not in the best mood then you’re probably not in the best mood to eat anything at the moment (unless you are seeking food to make yourself happier).

Examples of poor eating habits as a result of depression / gloominess is someone that ends up eating one meal for a day. This leads to overeating of a single meal. It happens. But what I really wanted to mention was that women with depressive symptoms were far more likely to have extra belly fat, as found by a recent Rush University Medical Center study. That may be because depression is linked to reduced physical activity and poor eating habits as mentioned.

YOU ARE EATING PROCESSED FOOD

Simple carbs (like chips) and added sugar (in items like sweetened drinks) cause your blood sugar to spike, which triggers a flood of insulin—a hormone that encourages your liver to store fat in your middle.

Instead of focusing on cutting out junk, you can lose fat naturally by focusing your efforts on adding in healthy alternatives (think extra servings of vegetables at each meal). As Dr. Katz says, “Filling your tank with high-quality fuel thwarts hunger.”

YOU NEED MORE MAGNESIUM

Magnesium regulates more than 300 functions in the body. No surprise, then, that a 2013 study found that people who consumed more of it had lower blood sugar and insulin levels.

Regarding how to burn fat fast, try at least twice a day to reach for magnesium-rich foods such as dark leafy greens, bananas, and soybeans.

DIET SODA

A study in Obesity found that diet soda drinkers were more likely to have a high percentage of fat in their bellies. The researchers think that diet drinkers may overestimate the calories they’re “saving,” and then overeat. Yikes!

HAMBURGERS

When Swedish researchers gave one group of adults 750 extra daily calories, mainly from saturated fat, and another group the same amount of calories but mostly from polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for seven weeks, the saturated fat group accumulated two times as much visceral fat.

Dine on fatty fish like salmon or trout once a week to get a good dose of PUFAs. The rest of the time, reduce your intake of red meat and opt instead for protein low in saturated fat, such as legumes and chicken.

ALCOHOL AND PARTYING

According to a 2013 Danish study, beer may indeed be linked with abdominal obesity. And although beer appears to have the greatest impact, don’t think that you can get away with wine in any matter — one study found that the amount of alcohol of any type that women drank contributed to weight gain. Surely you won’t be able to burn fat fast when you’re consuming alcohol all the time.

What should you do? Stick with seven or fewer alcoholic beverages a week. Light to moderate drinkers are the least likely to carry excess weight anywhere, shows a recent Archives of Internal Medicine study.