Abdominal fat loss is one of the most common inquiries my office gets, especially during the spring and summer season when everyone is looking to get summer-ready. This is definitely understandable because a reduction in abdominal fat does not only help you look better, but also reduces your chances of getting certain chronic health conditions like diabetes and heart disease. Fortunately, by taking the correct steps anyone can achieve that much desired but often elusive flat belly!
Diet
There is a lot of truth in the adage- ‘abs are made in the kitchen.’ You cannot spot reduce fat in an area with exercise alone, but instead have to achieve overall weight loss to reduce fat storage in any body part, including the abdomen. While crunches build better abdominal muscles, unless you lose weight and the fat that is sitting on top of those muscles, you will not be able to show off those rock hard abdominals. A successful weight loss plan includes lowering your carbohydrate intake to approximately 50g of net carbohydrates and replacing this with a high protein, medium fat diet. Once your whole body starts losing fat, you will start seeing a reduction in your waistline. However, If you are already at your ideal weight and eat a healthy low carbohydrate diet, you do not need to make any dietary modifications, but instead should consider a non-invasive body contouring treatment to permanently destroy the fat in your midsection. This is discussed below in more detail.
Exercise
Core strengthening and abdominal exercises are a great way to strengthen the midsection but again are not enough as you cannot spot reduce fat. Instead, focus on full-body strength training that includes your lower and upper body at least 4 to 5 times a week, to build muscle throughout your body. Muscle is metabolically active and even burns calories while at rest. This means that strength training will lead to overall faster metabolism and result in weight loss. As you lose weight, those strong abdominal muscles will soon start revealing themselves!
Non-Invasive Body Sculpting
While exercise and weight loss certainly help shrink our mid-section, we are still sometimes left with stubborn pockets of fat that just don’t shrink no matter what we do. In my practice, I frequently meet folks who are very diligent about what they are eating and exercise regularly, yet they cannot seem to get rid of stubborn areas of fat, especially in the abdomen. This is exactly when body sculpting treatments with technologies like Sculpsure can be extremely helpful. Non-invasive body sculpting treatments have become one of the fastest-growing procedures in the medical aesthetics industry precisely for this reason. These treatments permanently eliminate fat, leading to ‘inch loss’ in targeted areas without surgery. The results are permanent and because Sculpsure is heat-based, it provides the added benefit of skin tightening in the treated area (which is one of the main benefits Sculpsure offers over other popular body sculpting treatments like Coolsculpting. Sculpsure can be done on really any part of the body, even the chin, but the abdomen always seems to be the most popular area clients want to be treated. It is a short 25-minute treatment without any downtime and most people need anywhere from 2 to 3 sessions a month apart. There is up to 25% permanent fat destruction with each treatment and results are visible anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months.
Is body sculpting right for me?
Ideal candidates are generally healthy individuals who are in a normal weight range, and despite their best efforts at eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly, they cannot lose certain pockets of fat. I think most of us can find that annoying bulge that never seems to get smaller no matter how rigorously we exercise or diet. These bulges are perfect targets for body sculpting and can be performed on literally any part of the body.
What parts of the body can you perform body sculpting on?
Body sculpting treatments are extremely versatile and can be performed on any part of the body. The most common areas we see clients looking for a reduction in are the abdomen, ‘love handles’, and ‘saddlebags.’ Abdominal fat can be frustrating, but with the right strategies in place and a focused approach, it can definitely disappear in no time!
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