8 Tips for Losing that Last Stubborn Belly Fat

Are you at or near your target weight, but still have some last belly flab you'd like to lose?

I'm doing pretty well on my fitness goals.  Since I lost 75 pounds steadily over the past year, mostly during an 8 month period, my skin was pretty much able to keep up with weight loss.  But, as with most people, there is still a small layer of stubborn belly fat that I'm trying to lose, eventually.  My motives aren't to reveal a six pack as much as to remove the last bit of flab.  

If you Google the subject, you'll see thousands of web pages talking about how to lose the last bit of weight, which seems to be a common challenge.  Some will try to get you do some intense abdominal exercises, others will emphasize strict dieting, and many will try to sell you pills or other rapid weight loss solutions.

I'm not going to go over the reasons why it's harder to lose the last few pounds, but here are some things I learned about how to lose them that may help you as well.  Remember, these tips really only apply if you're already close to your target weight.

1. Don't try to spot reduce.  The concept that you can target a specific area of your body for losing fat by doing specific exercises is a myth.  The only way to lose fat on your abdomen is to lose fat everywhere on your body.  
   
2. Aim for around 10% or less body fat.  If you're trying to eliminate flab or even reveal the six-pack you already have, then you're looking at getting to around 10% or less body fat, although anything below 17% is pretty good for men, or 24% for women.  See my blog post about body fat.
3. Emphasize cardio exercise.  While building muscle helps with fat loss, to lose the last few pounds it appears as though more cardio is your solution.  High intensity interval training (HIIT) is the most effective kind of cardio exercise, where you do intense bursts of aerobic exercise with short rest periods between. Like 1 minute of sprinting and one minute of walking over a period of 20 minutes. Follow that up with some steady-state cardio like walking, biking or elliptical. Keep up the strength training though, you don't want to lose any muscle in the process.  
4. Do cardio in a fasted state.  This is what prompted this post.  Looking for ways to tweak my routine, I learned that it can help to do your cardio first thing in the morning after you've fasted during the night.  Skip any pre-workout drinks or food and do your cardio routine and you're more likely to tap into your fat stores.  There is much, much more to this subject - read this article for more background. On days that you plan to do strength training, it's not a good idea to skip a pre-workout drink or food.  
5. Watch what you eat.  It doesn't help much to be diligent in exercise but not eat cleanly.  That last bit of flab isn't going to come off unless you control what you eat, and how much you eat.  You want to be running in a calorie deficit in order to lose fat.  See my blog post about food planning and this one about setting your overall goals.  And this one about food journaling.
6. Include abdominal exercises.  While you can't spot reduce fat, when that fat comes off it would be good if you had some abdominal muscle definition, so include some good exercises in your routine.
7. Use smart supplementation.  There really aren't any really safe and effective fat burning pills out there, but there are supplements that help you maintain optimal nutrition for fat loss.  Read my blog post about fat loss supplementation.
8. Maintain your commitment.  Sometimes the reason it's hard to lose the last few pounds is because you are exhausted from the constant diet and exercise regimen. But done correctly, healthy eating and exercise aren't viewed as a chore but as something that makes your whole life better.  But as you get closer to your goals, it is natural to let up on the gas when perhaps you should be maintaining your momentum.  If you really want to lose the last few pounds, you can't view yourself mentally as in "maintenance mode," but need to still be in "weight loss mode" and act accordingly.

There you go!  Now I need to follow up on my own good advice and let you know how it goes for me, and you can let me know how it goes for you.