1. Relax and de-stress everyday.

Researchers have found that when you’re stressed your body creates several hormones that can increase your abdominal fat stores. If you have chronically high stress levels your body will continually pump these hormones into your bloodstream and the fat around your midsection will dramatically increase over time. To lose belly fat you have to find effective ways to lower your stress levels. Some of the best anti-stress techniques are deep-breathing, meditation, and “relaxing” exercise like yoga or bike riding. Practice one or more of these techniques everyday and you will notice a big difference.

2. Eat more healthy fats.

The vast majority of people simply don’t get enough healthy fats in their diets, especially the vitally-important omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fats have been shown to decrease fat-storing while increasing fat-burning. They may also be able to reduce stress hormones in your body. So if you want to lose belly fat you should be eating omega-3-rich foods — like fish and flax seeds — or taking a good omega-3 supplement every day.

3. Do some vigorous and “refreshing” exercise 3-4 times per week.

Nothing reduces stress or burns tummy fat like regular vigorous exercise. The trick is to find something you really enjoy and to not wear yourself out by trying to do too much too fast. If you hate running on a treadmill… don’t do it! Training yourself to hate exercise is a big mistake that way too many people make. Instead, try speed walking, jogging or hiking outdoors. Buy a good bike and use it often. Play your favorite “vigorous” sport several times per week. You’ll know you’ve found the right exercise to help you lose body fat when you feel more energized and refreshed after your workouts.

4. Try the Mediterranean Diet… or at least a “Mediterranean-style” diet.

Over and over again this natural diet has been shown to boost health, protect against chronic disease, and help reduce body fat levels. It works because it’s high in antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables as well as healthy fats like virgin olive oil and oily fish. At the same time it’s low in “bad fats” and “bad carbs” — especially processed foods. Even if you don’t want to make a complete diet switch, it’s extremely easy to incorporate delicious Mediterranean foods into your daily diet.

want to introduce you to 3 workouts you can do at home for free, or with very little financial investment, and gain all the fat loss benefits that come with high intensity exercising.1.)Pilates: I think a very overlooked exercise to lose belly fat is pilates. Why? Because it doesn’t appear to be very high impact. It seems more like stretching then getting in a good work out. To anyone who thinks that, I can only presume you’ve never spent time doing a pilates workout.

The easiest way to get started with pilates is to purchase a low cost mat and a dvd workout from a local sports store, or even some book stores are carrying them now. There are services online that offer pilates workouts, how ever I haven’t had a lot of luck with trying to workout with a video on my laptop. The dvd’s have worked best for me. 2.)Yoga: I’m sure some people are thinking the same thing about yoga as pilates. It’s not high impact, it’s relaxing and almost like meditating isn’t it? Again I say that those of you who don’t think yoga qualifies under the exercises to lose belly fat category hasn’t spent much time doing it.

Yes yoga is somewhat relaxing, and in it’s native country used as meditation. How ever the stretching and movements associated with yoga are intense. Especially when you’re first starting out, you won’t believe the workout 20-30 minutes of yoga a day can give you.

Similar to pilates there’s a low cost startup here, purchase a mat, and possibly a set of yoga bricks (if you shop around you might be able to find a beginners kit with a dvd, mat and bricks in one). Instructional dvds are

best, as you can watch them then imitate them. Because yoga is becoming a trendy thing in most urban centers classes are becoming quite expensive, so I’d suggest starting on your own first.3.) Walking: That’s right good old fashioned walking. How ever there are a couple of points I’ll stress about walking. First don’t just go for a neighborly walk. Go out with the intention of walking at a pace where

you’re breathing heavy enough that it’s difficult to carry on a conversation. This won’t be the same speed for everyone so don’t feel bad if a friend, spouse, or partner walks a bit quicker then you do. We should work up to a faster speed.

The second thing is Make sure you walk far enough. Try to walk for 30 minutes a day. In order to ensure your losing belly fat as a benefit of your walking you need to get the heart pumping and your cardiovascular system going that much.

The cost associated with walking is none, well of course a good pair of running sneakers should be worn. How ever the space to walk is free so walk as much and as often as you want and can.

So there you have it three examples of exercises that will lose bely fat for you with a low or zero startup cost. I urge you to try a couple of these, probably the best is to combine either yoga or pilates with walking. Inter

change which days you do what, and keep it up. Combine these exercises with a focused and balanced diet aimed at weight loss and things will start to happen sooner then you might think.