The 9 Essential Ways of How to Lose Belly Fat Fast : Finding and Nurturing a Support System

Finding and Nurturing a Support System

Losing belly fat is far from easy. In fact, the road to a flat stomach is a rocky and bumpy one that’s riddled with holes. And if you think losing the weight in the first place is challenging, making sure that all that nasty visceral fat stays off is even harder. That’s why it’s important for you to have a support system that can help you stay on track and it will also give you someone to talk to. Telling your family and friends about your goals is a good start so that they know what you’re trying to achieve and won’t spontaneously drop by with a box of doughnuts. But the best support system that you can have is a diet buddy or a diet group that knows exactly what you’re going through.

A study by the National Weight Control Registry found that people who lost weight and continued to attend group meetings about losing weight and keeping weight off maintained their target weight while those who didn’t regained almost half what they lost. Discipline and willpower are important when it comes to losing fat, especially belly fat, but a weight loss buddy or group can make a huge difference between sticking to the plan and throwing in the towel. You have someone to lean on when you feel like you’re about to give up and someone to cheer you on when you start hitting milestones. Most of all, you’ll have someone who wants the same thing that you want which will be an excellent source of motivation.

There are plenty of ways to start a support group or to join an existing one. On principle, I tend to avoid commercial groups because they charge a fee for meetings, but that’s just me. You should check out what they have to offer if you’re interested. Another quick way of finding a group is by doing a quick search online. There should be a lot of free groups online or you can also look for existing local groups that you can join. I believe that physically meeting with people makes a huge difference over just meeting and conversing online. The best way to go is to find someone who wants to lose belly fat like you do so that you can pair up and start the program together. That way, you’ll both be starting out and you’ll be implementing the different steps and reaching milestones at around the same time. And because it’s more than just an online group, you’ll have someone to do your grocery shopping with, learn to cook with, and have an instant exercise buddy.

Here are a few things that you can look for in a potential weight loss buddy:

1.      Find someone accessible

When it comes to choosing someone to lose belly fat with, you need someone who’s somewhat accessible. She doesn’t have to be available 24/7 but she should at least be willing to meet up every week or every two weeks, reply to texts, and return phone calls. If your buddy can’t be reached, it’s as bad as not having one.

A good way to keep communication lines open is to decide on a primary code of contact. Whether it’s email, text or calls, deciding on how to communicate with each other can save you from checking your email, your phone, or your computer all the time. It’s also good to know where to send a weight loss SOS.

2.      Have a similar schedule

Having a buddy with a similar schedule means that meet ups won’t be too difficult to set and that you can communicate with each other. Essentially, your weight loss buddy is someone who keeps you in track (and vice versa) so communication is vital.

3.      Have a good personality

Your weight loss buddy won’t be much of a support system if you can’t stand being around her. She doesn’t have to be Mary Poppins, but she should at least be someone you like spending time with. She should also be serious about losing belly fat so that you can both be supportive towards each other but never overly indulgent. 

Let’s take a closer look at the part about your buddy having a good personality. When we say good personality, we mean someone that you like having around but will still help you achieve your goal of having a flat stomach and less fat around the belly. There are things that you would hate hearing from your friends – like calorie counting or looking too closely at the food you’re eating – is something that you actually want in a weight loss buddy. But at the end of the day, choosing a weight loss buddy is as personal as choosing a partner in your other life ventures. What’s important is that you have someone who shares your goals and that you can count on.

When you have your buddy, you can take the different ways of how to lose belly fat that we’ve outlined and explained in this book and try to tackle one chapter per week or every two to three days. For the first few days, you can learn about the difficulties of visceral fat and pay more attention to how your body works. 

For the second time you meet up or talk, you can take on the second chapter and try to put together a list of food that you can include in your meals and snacks while also making a list of the food that you’re currently eating but are counter-productive to your goals. 

You can make a steady progress towards changing your lifestyle, becoming less prone to diseases, and losing belly fat in the long term. With a diet buddy, you can make the process a lot more fun

This is an excerpt from the book: The 9 Essential Ways of How to Lose Belly Fat Fast