Develop a Diet Plan to Reduce Belly Fat in 5 Easy Steps

The Lifesum app includes twelve built-in diet meal plans to choose from, or you can develop your own. But, with so many options for structuring your diet, how do you choose one that fits your lifestyle? Follow these five steps to take charge of your diet and exercise routine.

Step 1: Record Everything

It is impossible to set an effective goal without a baseline. A fitness tracker will help you to be aware of your physical activity, while our app will help you record your eating habits. You should gather eating and exercise data for at least a week to establish a baseline from which to set goals.

Step 2: Recognize Patterns

Now that you have gathered your biometric data, you can begin to notice patterns. Are you stopping for fast food after work? Are you craving sweets late at night? By recognizing patterns of behavior that cause you to make unhealthy decisions, you can arm yourself against the cravings, and develop a diet and exercise plan that will actually work with your lifestyle.

Step 3: Set your Goals

Often, people think that a health goal is a weight-loss goal, but these two things are not the same. Instead of asking yourself how much weight (or how many inches) you’d like to lose over a set period of time, set a goal for your behavior. A goal like, “I will cut the amount of sugar I consume in half” is more effective, and more likely to be achieved than “I will lose 2 pounds this week.” By setting goals for behavior rather than outcomes, you increase the likelihood that you will meet those goals, and that you will stay on track in the long run.

Step 4: Choose a Diet Plan

There are so many effective options for diet plans that it can be hard to choose one that will get you the results you want. This is why you should let your data and goals drive your decisions. For instance, if you find yourself eating out with friends every Saturday night, then don’t choose a diet plan that asks you to stop doing that, because you won’t be able to sustain it. Use our app to find or develop a plan that works with your lifestyle, and helps you to meet your goals.

Step 5: Follow-Through

Follow-through is not just about following the rules of the diet plan you have set for yourself; its also about continuing to track your behavior so that you know if you are meeting your goals and can adjust accordingly. Keep it up, and you will see the results you desire.