How to Lose Body Fat in 7 Weeks
We share three simple steps to encourage fat loss while staying healthy. These strategies can also aid with weight loss if you’re looking to drop pounds as well as flab:
Step 1. Balance Anaerobic and Aerobic Exercise
Exercise is 100 percent necessary if your goal is to cut down body fat.
Aerobic exercise is most effective, especially if you ramp up the intensity. High intensity training, or HIIT, can significantly boost fat loss [1]. This sort of aerobic exercise is also convenient in terms of time: less than 20 minutes will suffice since you’ll be pushing yourself to the maximum.
Although aerobic-style workouts are usually the go-to for fat burning and weight loss, you should also consider pursuing strength training.
Any anaerobic exercise that demands strength—e.g., machine-based resistance training or weight training with barbells—can help you shed fat while building muscle [2]. If lifting weights isn’t appealing to you, you can always perform resistance training using only your body weight.
Step 2. Overhaul Your Diet
Your calorie intake per day and what foods you get them from can make all the difference in successful fat burning.
Don’t Undereat
Severely limiting your calorie intake might be tempting to eliminate pesky fat—but it isn’t the best strategy. Ensure you’re consuming an appropriate number of calories for your age, weight, and activity levels. To lose weight, a calorie deficit of 500 to 1,000 fewer calories per day should suffice for most [3].
For one, overly restrictive diets aren’t usually sustainable over time: you’re more likely to gain weight again. Next, eating too few calories long-term might promote fat burning but cost you lean muscle mass, which you don’t want [4].
Eat Fat to Lose Fat

Many people automatically steer clear of fat in the quest to lose weight. However, adding healthy fat to your diet can promote weight loss. That includes butter, unprocessed cheese, avocados, olive oil, and fatty fish like salmon.
For instance, the keto diet emphasizes consuming plenty of fat successfully decreases weight while preserving lean muscle [5]. Similar high-fat, low-carb diets boast other health advantages such as lowering blood pressure, heart disease risk, and blood sugar.
Increase Protein Intake
Although there’s some controversy surrounding high protein diets, there doesn’t appear to be harmful effects from getting most of your calories from this nutrient. One study found that men practicing strength training and consuming lots of protein benefited from less fat and better body composition overall [6].
One other way protein can help is by encouraging weight management over time. Research found protein can improve disease risk, satiety, and body composition. If you’re vegan or vegetarian, ensure you’re choosing protein-rich foods like lentils, tofu, and tempeh.
Eat Your Greens
Vegetables are one of the critical components of a healthy diet: unless you’re going full carnivore, you should try to adapt to eating greens. Increasing your consumption can aid both fat and weight loss [7].
Besides being lower in calories than other food groups, certain vegetables are high in protein, such as spinach and broccoli. They can also help lower blood sugar and blood pressure to mitigate your risk of diabetes and cardiovascular illnesses.
Fiber Is Your Friend
Upping your fiber intake each day can help control appetite and improve dietary adherence, especially if you’re restricting calories [8]. One study found that eating fiber may significantly limit the chance of weight and fat gain in women [9].
There are many high fiber foods you can pick from. Cereals (whole grains only), certain fruits such as berries, nuts, and seeds, and legumes are all fiber-rich.
Minimize Refined Carbs and Sugars
Processed foods are one of the ultimate foils if you’re trying to slim down, not to mention the adverse effects on blood sugar and overall disease risk. That doesn’t only refer to obvious culprits like soda and candy, either. Frozen meals, dressings and sauces, and even fruit juices can contain hidden sugars and carbs, not to mention extra calories that hinder fat loss.
You can make small substitutions to help adapt to eating more wholesome foods in the interest of fat loss. For example, whole grains are preferable to refined grains.
Cut Down on Alcohol

Despite claims that wine in moderation is a healthy choice, booze, in general, won’t help your quest to slim down—frequent drinking is linked to obesity and belly fat in particular [10]. Hangovers can also impact performance and recovery after high intensity training sessions [11].
If you must keep drinking, skip the many calories you don’t need by consuming a small amount (e.g., one drink a day) and avoiding sugary cocktails.
Take Probiotics
Multiple studies found that people with poor gut health are more prone to weight gain [12]. Although a good diet can help balance out the bacteria in your gut, one surefire strategy is to take probiotics.
Probiotics are proven to help with insulin sensitivity, which in turn can fight fat retention [13]. You may experience mild side gastrointestinal side effects when you first start a probiotic that should disappear with time.
Step 3: Examine Your Lifestyle and Overall Health
Successfully burning flab isn’t only about following a healthy diet and hitting the gym. Other factors people don’t generally associate with weight gain could be potential culprits.
Stay Well-Rested
If you’re not getting enough sleep regularly, this may be the culprit behind your stubborn belly fat. Multiple studies found that individuals who deal with insomnia are more prone to weight gain [14].
Practice good sleep hygiene by setting up a calming nighttime routine and avoiding napping during the day. You’ll also find you perform better during workouts and may have fewer cravings when you’re well-rested.
Reduce Stress
Occasional stress is one thing, but if you’re under high amounts of stress every day, it could be sabotaging your fat loss. Due to heightened cortisol levels, chronic stress is linked to weight gain, especially around the abdomen [15].
Seek to eliminate stressors when and where you can in your daily life. Set aside time for yourself to decompress each day, whether it’s a calming bath or a quick meditation session.
What Medical Conditions Make It Hard to Lose Fat?
If you’ve found that all your attempts to reduce body weight have failed, you might want to investigate with your doctor.
Certain diseases and medications encourage weight gain or make losing fat challenging, including but not limited to [16]: