Hello everybody! Welcome back to my blog!

Today, I would like to debunk another fitness myth.

A lot of clients ask me this question: “Which exercise can I do to lose the belly?”

They always look very disappointed when I answer: “Cooking.”

Sometimes they laugh and they ask again like: “Come on, which ABS exercises can I do to lose the belly?”

The truth is, exercising the abs is good to get the muscles stronger, but losing the belly is another story. When we do exercise, our fat mass will decrease while our muscle mass will increase (this will also depend on everyone’s starting level). Nonetheless, our body is not going to target our belly fat, it will target the overall fat. So we’re not just losing belly, we’re losing fat everywhere in the body.

Why is my answer to that question always cooking? Because when they say that the abs are worked out in the kitchen, it’s true.

Even people with a healthy body or underweight, might still have belly fat. It’s the most difficult part of the body to tone for a lot of people.

For some women when we are on our period, we feel our stomach bloated and sometimes the surrounding area. In my case, my abs seem to be on holiday when I’m on my period. This is very normal, is the action of the hormones.

Fit people can feel bloated and their stomach inflamed after having a heavy meal. People who eat meat may feel that way the days they eat red meat. This is because of the inflammation caused by the saturated fats that red and processed meats have. I bet you won’t feel bloated if you eat fish and vegetables!

The process of digestion requires energy from many of the bodies main internal organs. When doing this complex process, our blood is accumulated in this part of the body, and goes away from our brain. That’s why we feel tired after lunch. It’s also the reason why we have always been told not to jump in the swimming pool right after lunch.

Once the process has finished, we feel better, and our belly doesn’t feel so heavy anymore, but the timing of the process will depend on what and how much we ate.

Nevertheless, we know already that eating well is not enough to be healthy, we need to combine this with a good sleep and exercise. If you take anything away from this post let it be this; don’t kill yourselves in the gym doing crunches. The best way to lose fat mass is full body strength training, focusing on big muscle groups.

It’s been demonstrated that lifting weights is more effective than doing cardio. For me, a combination of strength and cardio training is the best way to lose fat mass, because it stops me from becoming bored of doing the same thing. I find it more engaging and it helps me implicate the whole body in the exercise, not just one group of muscles.

By eating the right food in both quality and quantity, we will reduce this feeling of bloating. With time and being consistent, you will lose fat thanks to a combination of diet and exercise and therefore, you’ll lose the belly.

I’d recommend to not get obsessed with the abs. There’s a lot of pressure on the internet with all those fitness gurus sharing their perfect belly pictures. The truth is that they’re showing you their abs in their best moment. They are not always like that. They won’t have those amazing 6packs in certain situations or moments, especially the ones that go to competitions.

Remember, if your goal is having that type of body, this is not a blog for you. But if you want to feel better and healthier, do yourself a favour and unfollow all those people that make you feel bad about yourself!