You can be eating clean, exercising regularly and doing everything you think you’re supposed to, yet still find the weighing scale stubbornly refusing to budge – while those last few inches around your abdomen seem equally determined to stay put. Weight loss , particularly around the belly, can take time, but your everyday food choices can play a role in supporting the process.
Fitness coach Chadoy Leon is breaking down how the right nutrition choices can support weight loss efforts. In an Instagram post shared on September 17, the fitness trainer highlights six foods that may help support a healthier metabolism, regulate the body’s stress response and promote better gut health – all of which can play a role in managing belly fat.
Eating a protein-rich breakfast not only keeps you fuller for longer, helping you power through the day, but may also help blunt the body’s stress response. The fitness trainer highlights, “Protein first thing in the morning blunts your cortisol response. Cortisol is the stress hormone responsible for storing fat specifically around your midsection. Adding a small amount of apple cider vinegar before meals can be used as a simple hack to reduce how much excess energy is stored as fat. Chadoy notes, “One to two tablespoons before a meal lowers your insulin response to the food you’re about to eat. Lower insulin means your body stores less of that meal as fat. One tablespoon in water before your two biggest meals is enough. Since cortisol is the primary hormone driving belly fat storage, keeping it low is non-negotiable. Two to three servings a week is enough to move the needle. Wild caught over farmed, whenever you can.”
Three eggs at breakfast keeps cortisol low, keeps you full for hours, and gives your body 18 to 20 grams of complete protein before the day even starts. A 12-week Japanese study showed subjects lost measurable visceral fat with no changes. Fatty fish are rich in healthy unsaturated fats, particularly omega-3 fatty acids, which may help reduce inflammation and regulate the body’s stress response – factors that drive abdominal fat storage. Chadoy highlights, “Salmon, mackerel, and sardines are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids that lower cortisol throughout the day.
