HOW TO GET RID OF BELLY FAT?

Ditch your diet and stop counting calories, otherwise your body will think there’s a famine and will raise stress levels, which contribute to fat storage.

Eat every three hours. Keep your blood sugar levels and energy levels stable by eating regularly. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner plus a mid-morning snack and one mid-afternoon. No carbs after 6 pm. This will stop those roller-coaster highs and sugar cravings. Because your blood sugar isn’t allowed to drop, your body will no longer have to ask you for a quick fix.

Don’t skip breakfast. If you do, your body immediately registers famine and holds on to your stores of fat.

Cut down on all added sugar and refined carbs. Avoid any foods that make your blood sugar rise quickly, because, as your blood sugar drops again, your body releases adrenaline and cortisol to stabilise it once more. Switch to whole grain alternatives that release energy slowly.

Add protein to each meal. It slows down the rate your stomach processes food and delays the passage of the carbohydrates with it, keeping your sugar levels at bay.

Eat essential fats. Long-term dependency on low-fat products might mean that you’re consuming less saturated fat, but also that you are deficient of the good fats — essential fatty acids, found in oily fish, nuts and seeds. They help to boost your metabolism, so don’t forget to include them in your diet.

Don’t eat on the run. It tells your body that time is scarce, you are under pressure and stressed. Furthermore, your digestive system will be less efficient. Make it a point to sit down and eat your food as calmly, as possible.

Cut out all caffeine and sugary drinks and significantly lower your alcohol intake (abstain completely for a month if you can). If you can’t live without your cappuccino, make sure you don’t drink it on an empty stomach as it gets straight into the bloodstream and triggers cortisol release.