11 Steps to Lose Belly Fat | Dr. Josh Axe

Hey guys, Dr. Josh Axe here, doctor of natural medicine and founder of draxe.com. In this video, I'm going to share with you my 11 steps to lose belly fat fast.

And if you're a person that maybe you've even worked out or been on a diet and you can't really lose that fat that sticks right here, I'll be going over exactly what you need to do in terms of the best diet, the best supplements, the best exercises to get rid of the belly fat fast. And I know this works because I've done it myself, I've worked with thousands of patients.

Patients, helping them lose fat and keep it off for good in an all-natural way. Number 1, you got to eat more fat-burning foods. And really remember this, here's sort of the secret ingredients. You need to get fiber, protein, and healthy fat. Those 3 things in every single meal. So protein, fiber, healthy fat, and I would also say phytonutrients is sort of the other thing there. So again, fiber.

Fiber, we know, helps cleanse the colon. We know it helps you detox and really it helps you stay fuller longer. So number 1, you've got to get fiber in your diet. Number 2, you've got to get protein. Protein is what you're going to turn into muscle and muscle actually burns body fat and what keeps your metabolism elevated. Number 3, healthy fat.

You want to switch your body from being a sugar burner to a fat burner. So consuming a diet where your body is actually burning more fat and you're eating a lower amount of carbs is typically better for the body. And then number 4, you want to get plenty of herbs in your diet, things like turmeric, cayenne pepper, ginger, basil.

These herbs actually contain compounds that activate fat-burning things within your body. For instance, cayenne pepper contains capsaicin, a compound that's thermogenic that actually helps you burn Body fat. So again, by getting in every meal fiber, protein, healthy fat, and some type of herb, it's actually going to help you burn fat and lose weight.

What this might look like is for a breakfast smoothie, you might put in 1 scoop of bone broth protein powder. There's your protein. You might add in a tablespoon or 2 of chia seeds. There's your fiber. Then you're going to add in some healthy fat, maybe a little bit of coconut milk. Yeah. And then herbs, you're going to add in maybe some cinnamon and ginger there as part of that smoothie.

But again, that's an example of a perfect meal that's going to help you burn fat. Similar thing for lunch, salad, you got a lot of lettuce there and vegetables, there's your fiber. You add in maybe some salmon, there's protein and fat, or a chicken breast, there's protein, some olive oil, there's your healthy fat, and then sprinkle on some other herbs, maybe some dill, maybe some— Basil.

You know, garlic, some rosemary, Italian seasoning like basil. Those are the type of meals that are going to help you burn fat and burn it fast. All right, let's talk about what you've got to avoid and get out of your diet. Number 2 here, you've got to avoid sugar and grains.

If you're consuming a lot of sugar and conventionally, especially processed grains, your body is going to store those as body fat. So again, get rid of the sugar. And listen, sugar is hidden everywhere. Fruit juices. That's sugar. Wheat bread products, white bread products, pastas, potato chips, all of these are processed. They're high in sugar or really quickly digestible carbohydrates.

You want to get those things out of your diet completely. The number 3 secret to burning fat and burning it fast is practicing mindful eating. You know, I had a great opportunity years ago to work with some Olympic-level athletes including, you know, some of the world's fastest swimmers.

And one of the things I noticed about them is they were always looking to do— one of them was a 3-time Olympic gold medalist and he was always asking me, Dr. Axe, what do I got to do to swim faster and recover more and have less inflammation in my joints? And he was very mindful in the way he ate. And I know he was competing for Olympic medals, but you know what?

We should be thinking the very same way. What do I need to eat in this meal to be the very best I can be? Most of us ask the question, what can I get away with? What can satisfy my sweet tooth? Rather than, what do I need to eat to be the best I can be? Start thinking like an Olympian when it comes to what do you need to eat and being the best you can be.

And a lot of this is just being conscious of, am I eating organic? Is this food natural? Again, eating foods that are real foods, that's something you want to make sure you're doing. Number 4, intermittent fasting. You know, fasting has been used for thousands of years to support the body. And burning fat and burning it fast.

And so one of the things, popular forms of fasting that there's a lot of research behind today is intermittent fasting. Now, most of us eat right when we wake up in the morning and even do a snack before bed. With intermittent fasting, you're typically eating in between like maybe a 6-hour window.

So what you're going to do basically, you're going to skip breakfast and maybe your first meal will be around noon o'clock or 1 o'clock, you'll eat another meal around 3 and another one at 6, but that could be a very Yeah.

So just to give you a simple example, your first meal is at noon, your second meal is at 3, your next meal is at 6, or maybe you're just eating 2 meals a day, one at 1 o'clock, one at 5 or 6 o'clock.

But again, you're giving your body a larger period of time to cleanse, to heal, for your organs to function specifically, and it actually allows your body to release more human growth hormone, which in turn can help you burn body fat.

So again, intermittent fasting can be a great way Number 5, HIIT workout, that stands for HIIT, high-intensity interval training, also known as burst training or Tabata workouts also fall into this category. HIIT training is exercising like a sprinter rather than a marathon runner.

When you exercise like a sprinter, think about a sprinter if you've seen some of those gold medalist runners, they're very lean, they're very cut. I mean, there's not— it doesn't look like there's an ounce of body fat on them. Yeah. A lot of people today get on the treadmill, they go at a slow steady pace. Think about what a marathon runner looks like.

Most of them actually do store some belly fat. They don't have this ripped 6-pack versus sprinters. You're seeing every— they're so toned, they're so defined. You want to exercise like a sprinter rather than a marathon runner or do a combination of some weight training with burst training or high-intensity interval training. Hands down the best way to burn fat.

One example of this could be, you know, getting on a bike, maybe in a spin class, and you go really hard for 30 seconds, you go easy for 30 seconds. Or going to your local track or on a treadmill, you're running for a minute, you're walking for a minute. Those are some examples of doing that high-intensity interval training that work for burning fat fast. Reducing stress.

Emotional stress will absolutely cause cortisol to increase. Which in turn can lower melatonin production and human growth hormone, which will cause you to store body fat. So, you know, reduce stress. A great thing to do is go out in nature and go for a walk. One of the things I do is I go to my local park and go for a walk out in nature every single day. That's stress-relieving.

You can also get out a sheet of paper. On one side, write down all the things that are stressing you out. On the other side, write down all the things that bring joy to your life that you love doing. Schedule in the things you love, take these things that are causing stress and find ways to get them out of your life. By doing so, it actually helps you burn fat in a hormonal manner.

Getting more sleep, this is crucial. I saw a recent medical study that showed if you are getting less than 7 hours of sleep a night or 6 hours or less as well, what happens is your body stores more body fat. You've got to get plenty of quality sleep, go to bed earlier. Is really one of the keys to doing that.

You know, I recommend going to bed the very latest 11:00, ideally closer to 10:00 at night or earlier. And by doing that, you're going to put your body in a state to where you're going to get better quality sleep. In fact, I heard somebody say once, every hour of sleep you get before midnight can count as double the amount of restful sleep you'll get during the night.

If you think about our ancestors, they were out in the woods. Yeah. It would get dark earlier and they would go to bed probably an hour or so after it got dark. They would wake up right before sunrise. Today, we definitely go to bed much later than we should be.

But again, medical studies have proven getting 8 hours of sleep a night of quality sleep can absolutely help you burn fat and lose bad belly fat and weight. Number 8, try a ketogenic diet. Now, this is again causing your body to switch from being a sugar burner into a fat burner. Imagine this.

Every time you wake up in the morning, you look leaner and more fit because your body has been burning body fat even while you're sleeping at night. That's the key to the ketogenic diet. You're eliminating almost all carbs from your diet and you're consuming lots of fat, a moderate to small amount of protein, and a little bit of fiber, and that's really it during your diet.

You're also— during a ketogenic diet, you want to get a lot of coconut oil in your diet, A lot of avocado, a lot of healthy other fats and oils like wild salmon in your diet. That's a diet very high in fat. By doing that, it's going to help you burn fat and lose weight. If you want to learn more about a ketogenic diet, I've got a great article.

Just Google search Dr. Axe ketogenic diet and you'll find an article I've written online there on my website, draxe.com. Number 9, add metabolism boosters to your diet. You know, I actually believe one of the best metabolism boosters is bone broth. Bone broth contains certain types of amino acids that support metabolism.

You can actually get bone broth in a protein powder form and do a bone broth powdered protein in a smoothie every single morning is great. Also, certain herbs like capsaicin, which is found in cayenne pepper, has a thermogenic nature. Cinnamon contains cinnamaldehyde, which is great for blood glucose levels. Ginger is very warming to the body, can help burn body fat as well.

And also doing adaptogenic herbs such as holy basil, ashwagandha, and Rhodiola are great for rejuvenating the adrenals and thyroid, which hormonally can help you burn fat and lose weight. So again, add in more herbs to your diet, add in some bone broth. By doing that, that's going to help take your metabolism to another level. Now, in terms of exercise, this is important.

I mentioned earlier you want to do a lot of HIIT training or burst training, exercising like a sprinter. In addition, you want to do some weight training. And you want to do some core workouts where you're working your core, but actually the most beneficial type of workout for burning belly fat is working your largest muscle groups such as your legs and your back muscles.

You really want to burn fat, do lots of bodyweight squats. So heavier weights or moderate weights, but lots of squats, lots of deadlifts, lots of lunges. Working your legs in weightlifting actually is going to help you burn fat. And then also doing larger muscle groups like your back has really large muscle groups, your lats, your rhomboids.

So doing pulldowns and pull-ups or rows, those exercises are all great. Again, legs plus core plus back are probably the best overall workouts for getting that 6-pack or at least that really lean stomach that you've always wanted. And then number 11, work out on an empty stomach.

I really believe the best time to work out is you wake up first thing in the morning And you work out and then you eat after your workout. But again, working out on an empty stomach, especially first thing in the morning, actually can help raise human growth hormone, which is amazing for anti-aging but burning fat all the time.

So again, if you really want to lose weight, work out on an empty stomach and practice these 11 steps. Number 1, remember, eat those fat-burning foods. Remember getting healthy protein in your diet such as bone broth and wild-caught salmon and chicken breast and grass-fed beef.

Getting more healthy fats in your diet from coconut and avocado, getting more fiber in your diet from chia seeds and berries, and then remember getting lots of herbs in your diet can be beneficial as well. Eliminate and avoid sugars and grains. Practice mindful eating. Eat like an Olympian. Practice intermittent fasting, so skip breakfast there. Do HIIT workouts. Reduce stress.

Get more quality sleep. Try out a ketogenic diet. Add metabolism boosters such as cayenne pepper and rosemary and those types of— and cinnamon, those types of herbs to your diet. Work out your legs especially and your core and then also work out on an empty stomach. These have all been medically proven to support your body in losing weight fast.

And hey, if you've enjoyed this live training video, hey, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel. I've got a lot more videos on here on burning fat, losing weight, exercise, and fitness. And also, hey, if you want to learn more, you can also check out my website, draxe.com. Guys, I hope you've enjoyed this video on 11 ways to lose belly fat and to lose it fast. Hi, Dr. Axe here.

I want to say thanks so much for checking out this YouTube video and also don't forget to subscribe if you want to get more great content on things like herbs, essential oils, natural remedies, and how to use food as medicine. Also, check out more of our content on my YouTube channel. Thanks for watching.