How to Lose Belly Fat in Two Weeks, According to Weight Loss Experts

The decision to lose weight is and should be a personal one. But if you’re wondering how to lose belly fat, it’s understandable to want to look for guidance.

It’s important to point this out upfront: You can’t pick and choose where you lose weight on your body. When it comes to your midsection, it’s a good idea to think beyond crunches and planks and adopt a well-rounded approach. “It’s got to be more losing fat as a whole,” says Chris Gagliardi, a certified personal trainer at the American Council on Exercise (ACE).

Basically, as you lose weight in other parts of your body, it’s very likely you’ll also drop inches around your midsection.

Meet the experts: Chris Gagliardi is a certified personal trainer at the American Council on Exercise (ACE); Jessica Cording, R.D., is the author of The Little Book of Game-Changers; Lawrence Cheskin, M.D., is chair of the department of nutrition and food studies at George Mason University and associate professor of health, behavior & society at Johns Hopkins University; Yasi Ansari, M.S., R.D., C.S.S.D., is national media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; Chris DiVecchio, is a NASM-certified personal trainer and author of The 5 x 2 Method: Revealing the Power of Your Senses; Keri Gans, R.D., is author of The Small Change Diet.

Keep in mind that weight is only one component of a healthy body, and that you can absolutely have belly fat and still be a healthy person. If you want to make more dramatic changes to your lifestyle, it’s also a good idea to consult your doctor, just to make sure you’re both on the same page. But if you’re just looking to make smaller adjustments, these are best ways to lose belly fat.

How to lose belly fat in two weeks

Weight loss—and sustainable weight loss in particular—is usually a process that takes time, says Jessica Cording, R.D., author of The Little Book of Game-Changers. But there are some things you can do to speed up the process.

1. Accept that your behaviors will adjust.

A big part of weight loss is simply being aware of the decisions you’re making. For example, when out at happy hour with friends, you may lose track of how much you're eating or drinking. But if you take a split second to step back and become aware of that fact, you’re able to course correct. “The awareness and then planning for what else I can be doing, that might give me the same benefit of eating comfort foods,” says Gagliardi.

2. Track your calories.

The most basic approach to weight loss is burning more calories than you consume. For instance, since 3,500 calories equals one pound of fat, a weight loss app—or even just a pen and paper—can help you decide how many calories you need to cut from your diet or burn at the gym in order to meet your goals. “If you were to burn 500 more calories per day seven days a week, that would lead to 3,500 calories in a week and one pound of weight loss,” says Gagliardi.

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An easy way to help you figure out what you need to hit your goal is to look at the National Institutes of Health’s Body Weight Planner. This online tool asks you to you enter in information about your current weight and activity level, along with what your weight loss goals are and how much time you want to spend reaching them. From there, it will give you an estimated amount of calories you should strive to eat each day. While it won’t tell you exactly how to lose that weight off your belly, it can still help guide you overall.

3. Eat more fiber.

Foods that are high in refined carbs and sugar don’t actually tame your hunger, so you end up reaching for more. Instead, eat more fibrous foods like whole grain breads, oats, vegetables, fruits, beans, legumes, and chia seeds. “They fill you up more,” as fiber helps slow your digestion, says Lawrence Cheskin, M.D., chair of the department of nutrition and food studies at George Mason University and associate professor of health, behavior & society at Johns Hopkins University.

A 2015 study from the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that for those who have a hard time following a strict diet, simplifying the weight loss approach by just increasing fiber intake can still lead to weight loss. Women should aim for at least 25 grams of fiber per day (based on a 2,000-calorie) diet, according to the most recent U.S. Dietary Guidelines. Start with our high-fiber diet plan.

4. Walk every day.

If you don’t have an established exercise routine, “walking is a pretty good entry point for people,” says Gagliardi. One small study published in The Journal of Exercise Nutrition & Biochemistry found that obese women who did a walking program for 50 to 70 minutes three days per week for 12 weeks significantly slashed their visceral fat compared to a sedentary control group.

“Even if your starting point is a one-minute walk, if that’s more than what you’ve been doing, there’s health benefits to that,” says Gagliardi. One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lose weight is that they try to do too much too soon and get burnt out.

“Starting slow and working your way up is better than overdoing it and giving up,” says Gagliardi. An easy way to approach it: Commit to going for a quick, 10-minute walk after dinner, and slowly increase the time as you become more comfortable with daily movement.

5. Begin strength training.

It’s important to do full-body strength training if you want to lose belly fat—especially if you’re trying to keep it off for the long haul. “Strength training should be a part of just about everybody’s exercise plan,” says Dr. Cheskin. That’s because strength training helps you build muscle, which will replace body fat. And because muscle is metabolically active, you’ll continue to burn calories after working out, thereby, reducing overall body fat. Bonus: When your metabolic rate becomes faster due to muscle growth, you’ll have a little more wiggle room in your diet if that’s something you struggle with, says Dr. Cheskin.

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To get started, lift weights at least two days per week and work up from there, says Gagliardi. “One way to think of it is that you are building up to supporting your long-term goals,” he explains.

For example, maybe you want to be able to do certain movements, like a deadlift or bench press, and work your way up to more reps of those exercises—or maybe it’s as simple as wanting to improve your activities in daily living, like more easily lifting groceries.

6. Embrace healthy fats.

If you want to lose fat, you have to eat fat...the healthy kind, that is.

Adding healthy fats, in the form of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, can help you feel more satisfied with your meals. Yasi Ansari, M.S., R.D., C.S.S.D., national media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, says, “Fat sources that I recommend boosting in the diet come from unsaturated fatty acids found in foods like olive oil, nuts, avocados, fatty fish, and eggs, as they can help increase satiety while providing a variety of health benefits when consumed in moderation.” You can increase your intake of healthy fats by adding some chopped avocado into your salads, enjoying wild salmon twice a week, and having a little peanut butter with your post-workout snack or smoothie. Just remember to enjoy them in moderation as they’re still very calorie-dense, Ansari says.

1. Load up on protein.

There’s a reason everyone harps on about protein: Not only does it help keep you full, but it’s also responsible for repairing the tiny tears caused by strength training in your muscles. This helps them grow bigger and stronger, nudging out body fat in the process. As a general rule of thumb, aim to get at least 70 grams of protein throughout the day, says Dr. Cheskin.

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This is especially important before you exercise. We’re all guilty of going hard at the gym, and then heading straight to Chipotle afterward because we’re super hungry. The result? You eat more calories than you burn and end up with excess belly fat.

To avoid feeling hungry after a workout, eat a snack with at least 12 grams of protein before exercising, says Dr. Cheskin. And if you’re still hungry afterward? First, check in with yourself and make sure it’s actual hunger and not dehydration, says Dr. Cheskin. Then, eat a protein-rich snack that also includes some carbs, like a protein bar with whole grains.

2. Okay, now you can do some crunches.

Although you can’t spot reduce fat, you can target building lean muscle tissue, which in turn helps burn fat. “There are literally dozens of muscles between your shoulders and your hips that are involved in every movement you do,” says Chris DiVecchio, a NASM-certified personal trainer and author of The 5 x 2 Method: Revealing the Power of Your Senses. “The fastest way to create a lean midsection begins with choosing the right moves.”

Aim to do ab work three or four times a week on non-consecutive days with at least 24 hours of rest in between sessions, says Gagliardi. During those sessions, you can start with simpler moves like crunches, bicycle crunches, and planks. Even though you may only be directly targeting your abs three or four times a week, you should still be activating your core (aka, tightening your ab muscles) in every workout you do, says Gagliardi.

There are tons of different ab workouts you can do right in your home. Once you’re comfortable in an ab routine, work your way up to more complex ab exercises, like side-to-side med ball slams and weighted Russian twists, says DiVecchio.

3. Try to limit your stress.

Stress can mess with every part of your body—but how you deal with it can make or break your weight loss goals. “I think most of the effect of stress is behavioral rather than neurochemical,” says Dr. Cheskin. “It makes us eat more, because we use food as a substitute for dealing with stress.”

The truth is, eating food to make yourself feel better is usually a whole lot easier than actually facing the stress head-on. “People gravitate toward something that doesn’t require anybody else to do it, is immediately satisfying, and doesn’t take a whole lot of effort, especially if you’re just opening up a package or box,” says Dr. Cheskin.

Stress-eating can only lead to one thing: growing your belly rather than whittling it. If you find yourself stress eating, take a step back and think: What’s causing my stress, and what can I do about it? Find a way to remedy the solution or talk through it with a therapist rather than turning to a bag of Doritos.

4. Prioritize quality sleep.

Sleep is huge when it comes to your weight loss success—and that’s both if you sleep too much or too little. “Sleeping too much is probably not great for you healthwise,” says Dr. Cheskin. “But sleeping too little is worse.”

Case in point: One 2017 review and meta-analysis from the U.K. found that people who slept 5.5 hours or less per night ate an extra 385 calories the day after compared to those who snoozed for at least seven to 12 hours. On top of that, they preferred to munch on fatty foods full of empty calories, like chips.

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If you’re only getting a minimal amount of sleep each night, that leaves more time for you to snack and make otherwise unhealthy decisions that could affect your weight loss. Although it will vary from person to person on how much sleep you actually need to be most effective (and therefore make progress toward your weight loss goals), the ideal number is typically seven or eight hours, says Dr. Cheskin.

5. Drink less alcohol.

To lose weight, you simply have to consume fewer calories—but that can be tough when feelings of hunger start creeping in. One good plan of attack? Ditch the empty calories that don’t serve your goals so you can make more room for the foods that do. This includes all sugary drinks, like soda, but alcohol is a big one.

Ansari says alcohol can prevent weight loss in several ways, including the fact that heavy alcohol intake can stimulate food intake. “Binge drinking can overload the liver. The liver then prioritizes processing alcohol over other nutrients and then stores the protein, carbs, and fat as fat in the body,” Ansari explains. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines binge drinking as having five or more drinks for men, and four or more drinks for women in two hours. “Also, alcoholic beverages are often mixed with sugar-rich beverages. Drinking more than moderate amounts of alcohol can cause calories to add up quickly,” she says.

Research also finds that drinking frequently—even if it’s a moderate amount—can set you up for excess pudge. Not only do the beverages themselves contain unnecessary calories, but once you start sipping too much, your inhibition also plummets, according to one 2016 study. The result? You’ll have a hard time resisting that late-night slice of pizza. So if you’re going to imbibe, stick to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks for men. (Order one of these lowest-calorie alcoholic drinks.)

6. Cook more often.

Spending more time in the kitchen can help you shed belly fat, as long as you’re cooking with the right foods, according to a 2017 study. After analyzing data from more than 11,000 men and women, U.K. researchers found that people who ate more than five homemade meals per week were 28 percent less likely to have a high body mass index, and 24 percent less likely to carry too much body fat than those whole only downed three meals at home. (*Please note, while many studies use BMI as a measure of overall health, Prevention does not).

The researchers explain that people who cook their own meals may simply have other good-for-you habits, like exercising more. However, they also concluded that home cooks ate more fruits and vegetables (along with a wider variety of foods), have healthier methods of prepping their food, and splurge less on foods high in calories and sugar. Consider any of the healthy eating books below to get started.

7. Avoid sugary foods.

Research has found a link between eating a lot of sugar and having higher amounts of belly fat. “Added sugar is a very large contributor of excess calories,” says Cording. “If you’re not replacing it with other sources of calories, it can help contribute to a healthy calorie deficit—and that will help you lose weight.”

Having too much sugar can also cause spikes and crashes in your blood glucose levels, Cording says. And, when you have those crashes, it can make you feel tired and hungry, raising the risk that you’ll overeat.

8. Skip ultra-processed foods.

Processed foods cause a lot of the same issues with weight loss as sugar in that they can lead to excess calories, Cording says. “A lot of packaged foods have been shown to contribute to bodily inflammation, which is a big driver of belly fat,” she adds.

9. Cut back on simple carbs.

Simple carbs like those found in breakfast cereal, white bread, and cookies, convert into sugar in your body, and that can mess with your blood sugar balance and contribute to bodily inflammation, Cording says. “If your blood sugar is all over the place because you’re eating too many simple carbs, that can play a role in the formation of fat,” she says.

10. Take a pass on sodas and juices.

Sodas and juices can be sneaky sources of calories, and they don’t fill you up, says Keri Gans, R.D., author of The Small Change Diet. “If you cut back on your source of excess calories, wherever they may be coming from, that will help you lose weight,” she says. While most people are aware that sodas are often liquid sugar, juices tend to have a health halo that isn’t accurate, Cording says. “When you drink juice, it doesn’t have the same fiber as you’d get by actually eating a piece of fruit that will slow down digestion,” she explains. “It hits the bloodstream really quickly and you can have a blood sugar crash afterward.” Weeding out these drinks from your diet will help cut out these excess calorie sources and regulate your blood sugar, she says.

11. Do intense bursts of exercise.

While any type of activity will help you burn calories, “intense exercise” like HIIT workouts can help you torch calories faster, burning fat—and belly fat—in the process, says Gina Keatley, a certified dietitian nutritionist practicing in New York City.

“These are short bouts of exercise that help to build muscle and get the heart pumping,” Keatley says. “Think sprinting up hills and walking or jogging back down, or setting the resistance on a stationary bike way up while standing in the saddle,” she says.

12. Make healthy swaps.

Feeling like you are depriving yourself isn’t a good way to approach weight loss, Cording says, but it’s a good idea to take a look at the foods that may be tripping you up and consider healthier swaps, she says. “This is something that I’m a big fan of,” Cording says. “It can not only help support your goals, it can be really powerful and motivating.”

So, if you’re really into having something crunchy in the afternoon, consider having carrot chips or roasted chickpeas over potato chips. These can be fast and easy ways to cut calories, while sliding some healthier foods into the mix, she says.

13. Figure out what’s behind your unhealthy eating habits.

If you struggle with mindless snacking or tend to overeat, Cording says it’s important to try to figure out why this is an issue for you. Maybe you tend to reach for certain foods when you feel stressed and want a mental pick-me-up, or you always eat before bed because you’re actually tired and subconsciously trying to increase your energy levels.

“Once you’ve realized what’s behind a behavior, that unlocks all these potential ways that you can address changing that behavior,” Cording says. “It allows you to approach changing that behavior with self-compassion and understanding. You can then start to identify action steps to change that behavior.”

Why is belly fat bad for you?

Research has repeated linked belly fat with serious health complications. “Individuals with excess deep-belly fat are known to be at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease,” Keatley says. People with high levels of belly fat “may have a higher baseline level of inflammation, which can be dangerous when the body mounts an intense immune response to bacteria or viruses,” she adds.

Belly fat is “unfortunately the most dangerous location to store fat,” Dr. Cheskin says. Because belly fat—also known as visceral fat, or the deep abdominal fat that surrounds your organs—is more temporary, it circulates throughout the bloodstream more regularly and is therefore likelier to raise the amount of fat in your blood.

Okay, you get the point: belly fat = bad.

Why does belly fat usually form?

Weight gain as a whole is a little complicated but “belly fat typically forms from consuming too many calories, which causes weight gain,” Gans says. That said, you really can’t control where fat accumulates in your body. “We have practically no control on where that weight goes,” Gans says. “It usually ends up on our belly or hips and thighs based on one’s genetics, sex, and/or age.”

Gaining weight quickly raises the odds that you’ll develop more belly fat, Cording says. “But different body types are more prone to storing fat tissue around the midsection,” she says.

Certain other factors, like not getting enough sleep or being stressed out can also raise your risk of developing more belly fat, Cording says. “Higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol has been shown to promote more accumulation of fat tissue around the midsection,” she explains.

What is healthy belly fat?

Here’s the thing: It’s normal—and even necessary—to have some amount of belly fat. “One of the functions of fat tissue is to cushion our organs,” Cording says. “You have several organs in your midsection, so you need some belly fat to protect them.”

Fat (including belly fat) also helps with temperature regulation to keep you warm. “We do need some fat around the midsection,” Cording says.

But the concern with belly fat is having too much of it. “When we have too much adipose tissue around the midsection, it can contribute to increased disease risk,” Cording says. “There is an inflammatory response tied to having too much central body fat.” The only way to know for sure if your belly fat could be a health issue is to consult your doctor. “From a health standpoint, belly fat is something to keep an eye on but there are other factors that contribute to overall health,” Cording says.

How long does it take to lose belly fat?

Cording says she’s asked this question “all the time,” and the answer is the same: It varies. “Our bodies are all so different,” Cording says. “So many things impact the way we carry muscle and fat tissue in different parts of our body.” How much excess weight you have in the beginning of your journey and the steps you take to lose weight can dictate the pace that you’ll lose belly fat, she says. Keep in mind, too, that your belly may be the first and last place you lose weight—everyone’s body is different.

A lot of factors go into why you develop body fat, including your genes, your hormones, medications you may be on, how well you’re sleeping, your eating plan, and your exercise routine, Cording says. “I always tell patients that it’s better to play the long game,” she says. “Your body likes consistency and stability. When you take a slow, steady approach to weight loss and fat loss, there’s a better chance that those changes will stick.”

What can you do if you’re not losing belly fat?

Here’s the thing: Just like there’s only so much you can control about where you gain body fat, it’s equally tricky to dictate where you’ll lose it from.

“It doesn’t mean that if you develop belly fat that you will be stuck with it forever,” Cording says. “But you don’t get to pick where you lose excess weight.” Keatley urges people to be persistent. “Don’t give up,” she says. “ The section below your ribs and above your hips is where most people have most of their fat—it protects our organs and keeps us warm. Getting your belly fat down is going to take longer than most other fat, so have a sustainable plan that can take you all the way to your goal.”