In this instructional video, the presenter debunks popular belly‑fat myths and outlines five evidence‑based dietary strategies for losing abdominal fat. 1) Low‑calorie‑density foods – eating foods like fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins that provide fewer calories per gram lets you eat larger volumes, keeping you fuller while staying in a calorie deficit. 2) Lean protein – protein has the highest thermic effect (15‑30% of its calories are burned during digestion), is the most satiating macronutrient, and supports muscle growth, which raises daily energy expenditure. A quick formula (goal weight in lbs × 0.8) is offered for daily protein grams. 3) High‑fiber, slow‑digesting foods – fiber‑rich foods (e.g., whole‑grain breads, berries, sweet potatoes) digest slowly, prolong satiety; the presenter recommends at least 20 g of fiber per day, achieved by two high‑fiber foods daily. 4) Hydration and artificial‑sweetener drinks – drinking 30‑60 oz of water daily prevents mistaking thirst for hunger. Artificial‑sweetened beverages can curb sweet cravings with minimal calories; a 2015 study is cited showing greater weight loss in a group using these drinks versus water alone. 5) Sustainable inclusion of favorite foods via the 80/20 rule – 80% of calories should come from the “clean” foods above, while 20% can be allocated to treats, preventing binge‑restriction cycles. Real‑client examples (Genevieve and Zach) illustrate success with this approach. The video also provides links to a free calorie‑deficit and protein calculator and promotes the creator’s coaching services.
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Lemon water, chia seed water, apple cider vinegar, and whatever other latest social media craze is all claim to be belly fat burning foods. And while these all might be great for some explosive bathroom trips, they won't do anything for burning belly fat. So let's cut through the BS and actually use science to figure out what the top 5 best belly fat burning foods are. Food number 1 has to do with something called calorie density foods. For example, this is 200 calories of strawberries. This is 200 calories of raspberries. 200 calories of cooked chicken breast. 200 calories of Greek yogurt. Basically, most fruits, veggies, and low-fat proteins classify as low calorie density foods. Versus this is 200 calories of Nutella. This is 200 calories worth of ice cream. These low calorie dense foods that I showed you earlier are so good for belly fat loss because your body is designed to hold on to your belly fat for the longest period of time. So that means the only way you're going to get rid of it is by adhering to a calorie deficit for long enough. Simply put, you need to eat less calories, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you need to eat less actual. With these low calorie dense foods, you can actually eat more food for less calories, and this will help actually fill your stomach up by putting more food in your stomach for not more calories. And this will help you feel more full and feel more satisfied. Then throughout the rest of the day, you will eat less calories, allowing you to adhere to your calorie deficit better. Versus if you were to eat a lot of those high calorie dense foods, you would eat less food for more calories, which means there's less food in your stomach but you're eating more calories. This means you'll always be hungry and you'll end up overeating, not sticking to your calorie deficit. This doesn't mean that you should completely cut out your favorite foods, because at the end of the video I'm gonna give you my favorite strategy you can use to still eat your favorite foods foods while still losing belly fat. And if you want my favorite low-calorie dense foods, I'm going to put them in a pinned comment down below. And eating these low-calorie foods will make a big difference, but especially if you pair it with our second food that we're going to discuss right now. If you didn't know this, your body has to burn a certain amount of calories to digest the food you eat. And depending on the type of food that you eat, it's going to burn a different amount of calories for each. There are 3 different kinds of foods you can eat: protein, carbs, and fats. For your carbs, your body has to burn about 5 to 10% of the calories to digest the food. For fat, your body only burns about 0 to 3% of the calories that you eat. But for protein, your body has to burn 15 to 30% of those calories Digesting the food. This is called your thermic effect of food, and it's why food number 2 on our list is going to be lean protein sources. Now, eating a diet that is high in protein, it might only actually burn 50 to 100 extra calories per day, which you might not think is much, but the benefits of eating lean high protein sources go far beyond just the calorie burn. Number 1, protein is going to be one of the most satiating macronutrients. And what this means is it's going to keep you more full for a longer period of time. Number 1, protein is going to be the only food that is going to be able to build muscle. And so the more muscle you have, the more calories your body has to burn as well. So now it's not only the fact that protein Protein burns more calories digesting it. It's also the fact that you will burn more calories because you have more muscle, and protein is one of the most satiating foods. And all this big word means is it just keeps you full for a longer period of time. We talked earlier about if you are more full, you will eat less food and less overall calories to be able to stick within that calorie deficit. So now. It's increasing your calories burned and decreasing your calories consumed. This is very good if you are trying to stick to a calorie deficit. Now, how much protein should you be eating per day? Well, it's going to somewhat depend on the individual, but if you want a quick formula, you want to take your goal body weight in pounds, multiply that by 0.8, and that's how many grams of protein per day. So if let's say you want to weigh 150 pounds, you would eat at least 120 grams of protein per day. And by the way, if you want a free calorie deficit and protein calculator for you and your goals, just click the link in the description of this video. It'll be right there below. Now I know I said that protein was one of the most filling foods you can eat, but food number 3 actually probably takes the top spot in most filling foods. Your body digests foods at different rates. For example, foods like white rice or cereal or white bread are going to be more of your fast-digesting foods. Versus if you took foods like whole grain bread or raspberries or bananas or fruits or sweet potatoes, these foods are going to digest at a much slower rate Because they are foods that are high in fiber. Foods that are fast digesting typically leave you way less full and satisfied, whereas foods that are more slow digesting leave you much more full and satisfied, which is why high fiber foods come in at number 3 on our top 5 foods. I will also put some of my favorite high fiber foods in the pinned comment below. And just make sure you're trying to get around 20 grams per day at least. And the way I would do this is just make sure you have 2 foods per day off of that list that are high in fiber, and you should be able to hit that goal. Now, food number 4 on our list actually isn't gonna be a food at all. It's gonna be a liquid. And you might be thinking, oh my God, Eric's gonna tell me to drink water. Well, yes, seeing that primarily your body is made up of water, I would at least try to get 30 to 60 ounces per day. And the reason this is pretty important is because a lot of people think that they're hungry when in reality they're just dehydrated. Either way, your body needs something, right? If it doesn't have enough food, it'll make you hungry. Or if it doesn't have enough water, because again, your body is primarily water, it will make you try to get some. But that often comes in the form of being hungry. So if you're dehydrated, you'll end up eating more calories and not sticking to your calorie deficit, which if you're not properly hydrated, your cravings go way up. But this segment actually isn't just talking about water. It has something to do with your cravings. And I know some people are going to lose their minds over this, but food number 4 is going to be drinks with artificial sweeteners. And here's why. There was a study done in 2015 where they had 2 groups of people who were both trying to lose weight. One group only drank water, and the other group drank drinks with artificial sweeteners. Which group do you think lost more weight? Well, it would actually be the group with the artificial sweeteners. And the reason this is to be believed is because when you are drinking these drinks, your cravings are getting satisfied. And as opposed to maybe diving into treats or some of the high-calorie dense foods that we talked about earlier, like ice cream or Nutella, if you're having drinks with artificial sweeteners, sweeteners for zero calories or very low calories, you can satisfy these cravings for way less calories, which helps you adhere to a calorie deficit over the long run. And we know that is the main thing you need to do when you're looking to lose belly fat. Some people are worried about the safety of artificial sweeteners, and just know, unless you are a rat drinking 200 of these per day, as far as the research we have right now, these are absolutely safe for you, and you can use them to aid in your weight loss journey, which actually goes along with our final food, food number 5, that is gonna help you lose belly fat. So you've probably heard me talk in the video about, oh, you should eat fruits and you should eat veggies and lean protein. And maybe you're like, I don't wanna eat those things. Maybe you know you have to, but you probably don't love to hear it. So this is why food number 5 is going to be including your favorite foods if you want to truly lose and sustain your belly fat loss. And while yes, like we said earlier, these foods are typically your more calorie-dense foods, they don't keep you full for a long period of time, and they're usually touted as bad for weight loss and belly fat loss in particular. But here's the thing, if you try to cut them out completely, what's going to end up happening is you might be able to do it for a brief period of time, but eventually You are going to end up binging slash overeating on your favorite foods, which is essentially going to wipe out all of the progress you've made from clean, healthy eating the entire week. Because not only have you over-restricted yourself from them, but when you do have them, you're going to think, man, this is my only time to have this food, so I better have as much as I can. I better have all that I can because I'm going to go back to not being allowed to have them. And this forces this binge and restrict mindset, which again can essentially wipe out your progress that you made during the week, and you keep yo-yoing back and forth between losing and gaining the same couple of pounds. Does that sound familiar? And so I told you in the beginning of the video, I'm going to give you my favorite strategy you can use to still incorporate the foods that you enjoy in your diet while still being able to lose belly fat, and that is going to be something called The 80/20 rule, and let me explain. Let's say you used my free calorie deficit calculator in the description of this video below, and it told you you should be eating 2,000 calories per day. The 80/20 rule states that 80% of those calories should be coming from your clean, healthy foods, like the low calorie density foods that we talked about earlier, like the lean protein sources, the high. Fiber foods, 80% of your daily calories come from that. So in numbers, this would be about 1,600 calories per day. And then the remaining 20% of your daily calories can come from treats or your favorite foods or things that you enjoy, even if they are higher calorie dense and they don't keep you as full and they're quote unquote bad. And this would come out to about 400 calories per day from these foods. One of our coaching clients, Genevieve, followed this exact structure with her calorie deficit, and as you can see, she was able to make incredible progress. The reason this works so well is because as long as you're doing this right here, you're gonna be full, you're gonna be satisfied, you're gonna have good energy while not losing your mind from cutting out your favorite foods. You can still incorporate them in moderation, and this really sets you up in a sustainable way to not only lose the belly fat but keep it off forever. And here's another one of our clients, Zach, who used this same exact strategy and as you can see was able to lose his belly fat. And if you are interested in becoming a client of ours and getting one-on-one expert help with your training, nutrition, all geared towards losing belly fat, click the link in the description of this video below. And I hope this helps.
