Excess belly fat is almost always a byproduct of being overweight since it is very rare to see someone with a belly fat problem that does not also struggle with obesity. Obesity has become one of the deadliest plagues of the 12st century and countries such as the US and the UK have an obesity rate of almost 40%. This translates to hundreds of millions of dollars a year in lost productivity to the economy and hundreds of millions f dollars more in medical costs emanating from obesity-related conditions.
Obesity is a medical term given to a condition where the body accumulates fat to the extent that it becomes a health risk. There are many ways that people accumulate excess fat and thereby belly fat. One of the main reasons for belly fat accumulation is indulging in high calorie diets with the emphasis on fast foods. Fast foods have become very common in the United States because many people do not have time to shop for groceries and prepare their own meals. This is essentially because the socio-economic structure demands a lot in terms of time from the people and when they arrive home, they are too tired to cook. The easier alternative is to frequent a fast food restaurant buy some take-away.
Most of the fast food restaurants fry their food and while they have made an attempt not to use trans- fats, they nevertheless use grease that causes the food to have extremely high calorie and cholesterol levels. Some meals can have up to 3000 calories in one serving which is the entire daily calorie requirement according to the USFDA food pyramid website.
Another reason why people accumulate fat in the belly is because of lack of exercise. When one indulges in high calorie diets and does not engage in corresponding exercises to burn the subsequent fat, then belly fat accumulation is almost always inevitable. There are also those who have genetic issues that cause their bodies to accumulate more fat than is necessary and if these same people are not watchful of their diet and do not exercise adequately then obesity is logical next step. But for many, 2009 is a year where they have determined to lose belly fat and there are certain ways they can do this.
One of the ways is to exercise more. The fast step is to refuse to drive for short distances. The culture of driving even small distances has to stop and people have to learn to walk to the store if that store is located a few blocks from their house. Exercises such as running and walking around their neighborhood can also help immensely. One need not join a gym and spend money. There are also many sports stores that sell exercise machines. Visit these stores and see what exercise machines are necessary to lose belly fat. Another way to lose belly fat is to watch one뭩 diet and make sure that the food one buys has the right calorie count.