While fat is often most noticeable in common areas of the body such as the stomach, thighs, and the backside, fat exists all over the body. This is why people often make the mistake of concentrating too much of their time on working out these problem areas and not getting a good full-body workout. You must exercise to lose body fat while eating healthier and weight training to tone muscle.

An increase in regular exercise will help to increase your calorie expenditure. The more physical activity you do the more calories you will burn. Accordingly, if you increase your physical activity, and do not increase your intake of food, you will draw the extra energy needed from your stored body fat. Cardiovascular workouts are great calorie-burners. The more energy you use, the more calories you burn, so try to choose activities that take a lot of energy without over-exerting yourself. Heart-pumping workouts like jogging, skipping, aerobics and swimming are great cardiovascular exercises that burn calories efficiently. If you haven’t worked out in a while, start off slowly and increase your workout over time. Walking is a great way to burn calories while toning muscle throughout your body. If an individual burns more energy than he or she is consuming, the extra energy stored in the body will be removed to be broken down for physical activity.

Of course, a healthy diet is essential to reducing your calorie intake and losing that gut. There is no point working out to work off calories if you are consuming more than you are burning. Cutting highly-processed carbohydrates from your diet will help you reduce your abdominal fat quicker and lose stomach fat fast. These foods, sometimes referred to as "white carbs," include anything made with refined flour and/or refined sugars. The foods include some but not all breads, cereals and pasta. Make sure you check the contents of the food you eat. Too many carbohydrates affect your blood sugar and insulin levels negatively. Obviously avoiding fatty foods, such as fried and greasy foods will help you lose your stomach fat. By reducing the amount of foods that contribute to belly fat, working the fat you already have will be that much easier.

Weightlifting is also a great way to utilize the calories in your body. Muscles need calories to build and maintain themselves, so by working out your muscles you are designating your calories to do other things than sit around turning to fat. Toning and building muscles in all parts of your body ensures a more effective fat-losing process.