It seems so simple. The key to how to lose belly fat is to simply eat less food energy than the body needs to run each day. But people and their lives are a lot more complicated. The busy and activity packed lifestyles of people today do not give them the time to spend hours in the gym and hours cooking nutritious meals.

Diets that contain very few calories, often less than 1,000 per day, tend to be a bad idea. They sound great in theory, but in practice they panic the body, sending it into famine mode where it tries to hoard resources. If too few calories are consumed each day, the body will slow down and consume muscle tissue to save energy.

Fad diets and diets that restrict one particular food group are also a bad idea. The main way that they work is that a person has little choice in the foods that they can eat so they get bored and so eat less. Unfortunately these diets often mean that a full range of nutrients is not eaten. Missing out on a nutrient for a day or two will not harm a person, but over a longer term a body needs a variety of different foods.

The healthy diet for someone who wants to lose fat is the same as a healthy diet for most people – just less of it! This diet should be based on fresh fruits and fresh vegetables combined with whole grains. Small portions of nuts, dairy products, and lean proteins can then be added to round out meals, and simple sugars should be restricted as much as possible.

The best work outs for losing fat and keeping it off should be based on weight or resistance training. Building muscles in this way will provide several benefits. When muscle is clearly needed it will not be broken down for fuel. The exercise of working muscles causes the body to use more energy after the work out, as well as during it. Muscle needs more fuel than other tissues each day simply by being there, so the metabolism is boosted.

Cardiovascular work should also be done to help with fat loss. The best type of workout does not need to mean spending hours jogging. A far better way to do this is interval training. Many team sports are also good. This method involves spending a short amount of time working with as much intensity as can be managed, then spending another short time recovering but still working gently, this process is repeated a few times.

Another activity to consider is yoga. The mechanism by which this helps when losing fat is not yet fully understood (although plenty of people have a pet theory!). However, it can help, and in addition, it has further benefit in its ability to make a person look more attractive.

It is unfortunate that there are no quick fixes or magical techniques for instant fat loss. However, learning the fundamentals of how to lose belly fat properly will improve the efficiency of the process and will ensure that the fat does not come back.