If you’ve been trying to lose belly fat, you are not alone. A high percentage of women aim to have flat bellies, if not a toned one. Unlike men, women have a higher chance of getting belly bulge which is highly caused by hormonal imbalance. The drop in estrogen whenever we get pregnant, go through our menstrual period or menopause makes it harder for us to tone our abs. There are basically three advices a doctor would give you if you want to get rid of belly fat—diet, burn fat by doing cardio exercises and tone the muscles by strength training. If you want to lose belly fat fast though, you’d need to know more than that. Here are some rarely known facts that would help you learn about how to lose belly fat fast for women.

FACT #1 - MIX YOUR ROUTINE

One of the most popular exercises for losing belly fat is crunches. While this is very effective, doing it for a long time will make your body efficient at executing the exercise. You’ll end up using less energy, burn less calories and your muscles won’t get the workout that they need. It’s best that you tweak up your routine every few weeks like stretch your arms in the front instead of keeping it behind your head or raise your shoulders halfway instead of reaching all the way to your knees.

FACT #2 - THIRTY IS THE LIMIT

As we get older, our body goes through a lot of changes and one of these is gaining weight. While genes have a lot to do with it, most of us start gaining additional pounds when we reach thirty. This is because our metabolism starts slowing down at this age, making us burn fewer calories. Unless you eat less and workout more, you’d no doubt put on a few pounds or more. This is especially true for women, whose body experiences a fluctuating level of estrogen and progesterone.

FACT #3 - STRESS CAUSES BELLY BULGE

Unknown to a lot of people, stress actually contributes to belly bulges. A study conducted at the Yale University has shown that participants with high stress levels tend to have bigger waistlines. This may be because of cortisol, a hormone which our body produces whenever we get stressed. Since the area around the belly has more receptors for cortisol, it attracts it which in turn pads our belly with fat. Simple relaxing activities such as listening to music and reading have shown to lower stress levels and aid is losing belly fat.

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