How To Quickly Lose Your Lockdown Belly
Lockdown belly is an increasing problem among men who are working from home. People who work from home mostly work longer hours than when they went into the office. This trend means less activity, and when work is over, it is a short trip from your desk to your couch! Losing your lockdown belly can be challenging but not impossible, all you need to do is change a few habits at home.
The way to lose lockdown belly fat is to monitor your diet by reducing sugar and carb intake and eating a high protein, high fiber diet. When you combine this with getting more exercise such as walking, cycling, and mat exercises that target the abdomen, like crunches, you will lose belly fat fast.
The way our world has changed and the adaptation of our working habits has been a huge upheaval in many people’s lives. Adjusting to change is never easy, and it takes some time to establish new habits and routines.
Unfortunately, our health is one aspect that can suffer due to these societal changes that affect our daily lives. An increase in belly fat is an undesirable consequence of lockdown, and we need to do something about it before the problem gets out of hand!
Why Does Lockdown Cause Belly Fat?
Like it or not, our society and workplace have changed due to circumstances outside of our control. As humans, we adapt well to new circumstances and challenges, but it may take time to effect these changes.
When we are under lockdown, or our work situation has changed to enable us to work from home, our normal daily habits change. We wake up later, don’t go to the gym, are generally less active, and eat more!
It is almost as if we are in limbo, waiting for things to return to normal and go back to the way life was, and in the meantime, all our usual routines go out the window! Unfortunately, for us men, this means picking up weight around the midriff, the proverbial spare tire!
Working from home has reduced our activity, even our daily commute involved some walking, and we would leave our desks periodically for a break. We now move from our bedroom to the kitchen to our desk as the daily commute!
The refrigerator is also only a few short steps away from our desk, which means we are snacking more when confined to our homes!
The inactivity, higher calorie intake, and the gym out of bounds have increased our belly fat, which is not a healthy outcome for men.
The Bad News About Belly Fat
Picking up a few extra pounds may not seem like a big deal, but it can become problematic if those extra pounds are around your belly. The problem with belly fat is not only the fat under the skin but also the fat that starts to accumulate around the organs in your abdomen.
An increase in body fat has proven to increase health risks for men. These include an increased risk of the following issues.
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Sleep apnea
- Colorectal cancer
- High blood pressure and its associated problems
- Premature death from a range of causes.
While all this sounds like bad news, there is some good news, but it will mean getting off the couch and stop waiting for life to get back to normal. Take your life back in hand and follow our tips to burn off that belly fat at home!
How To Lose Your Lockdown Belly
Instead of waiting for your daily routines to go back to normal, create your own new normal and implement a routine at home that will encourage activity and better habits to help you lose that belly!
Weight loss is never only a one-component strategy. Effective weight loss involves a combination of eating right and increasing your physical activity.
Change Your Eating Habits
Increasing your activity level is not going to do the job alone of reducing your lockdown belly. The increased activity must be combined with a change in your eating habits. The changes do not need to be drastic, but you will need to stick to them.
Increase your soluble fiber intake. Soluble fiber is found in avocado, blackberries, flaxseed, and legumes such as peas.
Eat a high protein diet. Fish, eggs, dairy, beans, whey protein, and meat can be included in small portions with each meal.
Reduce your sugar intake. Sugar is a leading contributing factor to weight gain, especially belly fat. Reduce your sugar intake by drinking less sugary drinks or using artificial sweeteners in your coffee.
Cut back on carbohydrates. Limiting your intake of foods like potatoes, rice, and bread will help to get your body to burn the fat around your belly rather than converting the carbs into stored fat.
Reduce your portion sizes. Eating smaller meals means a lower calorie intake which will help to reduce your belly fat.
Reduce your alcohol intake. Alcohol of any sort has shown to contribute to weight gain in men. The recommended maximum is two drinks per day for men under 65-years, and for men over 65-years of age, one drink per day is the maximum recommended.
Get good sleep. Train yourself to sleep for at least eight hours a night, and the best sleep we get is in the hours before midnight, so don’t go to bed too late.
When you snack during the day, try to have high protein snacks rather than snacks loaded with empty calories or sugar and carbs.
Exercises To Lose Belly Fat At Home
It may be difficult, or in some cases even impossible, to get to the gym, but that by no means indicates that you should accept inactivity as your new normal! There are several forms of exercise that you can do at home or that are naturally conducive to social distancing but will get you out of the house and off the couch!
You don’t need all the equipment and machines at your local gym to work on your belly fat. A few basic forms of exercise at home that will improve your activity level while specifically targeting the belly fat will give you some noticeable results in two or three weeks if you combine the exercise with changing your eating habits!
How To Burn Belly Fat Fast At Home
Cardio exercises are the best forms of exercise to burn belly fat and exercises that target the midriff.
Many of these home exercises can be done without the need for any equipment, but with some of the exercises, a few inexpensive accessories will increase the effectiveness of the exercise dramatically.
The following exercises will help with burning belly fat and get your stomach back into shape quickly.
Walking. Walking is a very effective belly fat burning activity. We are not talking about a slow stroll here but rather a focused power-walking style of waking. If you are badly out of shape, starting off with a brisk walk is a good way to start easing back into an exercise regime.
You can slowly increase the intensity by picking up the pace and also add small weights strapped to your ankles or carried in your hands to give more of a workout.
Cycling. Cycling on the road is a naturally social distancing activity, and the belly fat-burning ability of this sport is great. If you prefer to keep your cycling indoors, a stationary indoor bike is the ideal piece of equipment.
Stomach crunches. There are various forms of stomach crunches that you can perform, all of which target the abdomen muscles, which will help burn away belly fat. Stomach crunches can be performed by lying on your back on the floor or on an exercise mat.
Position your hands on your chest or behind your head, and extend your legs. Raise your feet off the floor and pull your knees up towards your stomach. Simultaneously, raise your shoulders off the floor and bring your chest towards your knees. You can vary the exercise by alternating legs and twisting your torso to the leg being brought up.
What Exercise Burns The Most Belly Fat?
The exercises that burn belly fat most effectively by far are stomach crunches and static exercises targeting the abdominal region.
When you combine this exercise with some resistance, such as performing the exercises with a medicine ball, it increases the effectiveness of the exercise.
Hold the medicine ball to your chest and perform the crunches in the same way. You can also increase the resistance and difficulty by adding extra weights to your ankles.
If you include stomach crunches in your daily routine, as well as include some form of cardiovascular exercises such as walking or cycling, your belly fat will melt away.
Conclusion
If you have noticed your jeans getting tight around the waist and your belly expanding, it may be time to evaluate your lockdown habits. Make some positive changes to your lifestyle before your excess belly fat starts to adversely affect your overall health.
Creating new routines to fit in with your new lifestyle regime by eating better and getting some exercise that targets your belly fat is the best way to beat the lockdown belly!
