Struggling to get rid of that stubborn belly fat? Here’s what you need to know about stubborn fat and how to lose it for good.

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There comes a point in the fat loss journey when the calorie deficit is running smoothly and you’ve been locked in on this thing like Neo plugged into the Matrix.

Fat loss has happened and you’re feeling great. You’re crushing workouts and eating protein. It’s all about consistency for you and you’ve embraced the never miss twice mindset.

Except for those last little bit of stubborn belly fat.

You’ve got that little pooch that stares at you when you look at yourself in the mirror.

Or maybe it’s that last little jiggly arm fat that you try to cover up with longer sleeve t-shirts.

Perhaps you’ve got a little more junk in the trunk than you’d like to have given how far you’ve come in the fat loss progress.

Those final few pounds are the hardest to lose.

And today, I’m going to give you a few tips on how to finally lose that stubborn belly fat––whether it’s in the gut, the chest, the arms, the thighs or even in the booty.

Let’s get into it.

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The RIGHT Way to Get Rid of Stubborn Belly Fat

Before we dive into this thing, we’ll start by playing a little fact or fiction and bust some pretty common myths about those stubborn areas of unwanted fat that are driving you crazy.

Myth No. 1––You can burn stubborn belly fat with targeted exercises (like crunches and ab work)

The Instagram and TikTok influencers have a ton of “helpful” videos where they take you through a bunch of random ab exercise in hopes of blasting belly fat.

They are lying to you.

If you ever see a video or so-called coach showcasing some promise to burn stubborn belly fat with a few movements that work the core, please immediately hit the unfollow, block and report buttons to every single one of these grifters.

Here’s the Fact––Spot reduction is not possible.

You cannot simply do a bunch of ab exercises in hopes of targeting the fat around your abs.

This works for other areas of the body, too. It’s not just exclusive to the gut.

If you’ve got arm fat, doing extra bicep curls will not make it go away.

Hate the extra junk in your trunk around your booty and thighs? It’s common. But doing extra squats ain’t gonna eliminate fat there, either.

The bottom line is that fat is only eliminated through a consistent calorie deficit.

You absolutely can strengthen the areas of need. In doing so, you might be able to build up a little underlying muscle. When that happens, your muscles and that stubborn area will stand out (in a nice, “lean and toned” way) once that fat finally flushes away.

But the only way to actually flush that fat away is through science.

And the science is that a calorie deficit is needed to burn away arm fat, thigh fat, booty fat and yes … even your stubborn belly fat, too.

Myth No 2––It’s all about eating less and moving more

The most watered down soundbite of the fitness industry is also a tad misleading. I’ve outlined why in several articles, but I’ll go ahead and bust this one again.

Yes, you can eat fewer calories and increase your daily movement with simply walking and you will lose weight. Calorie deficit after all.

However that weight you lose will also include muscle.

Fact––Incorporating strength training and prioritizing adequate protein consumption will lead to a better overall body composition.

When we talk about the desire to lose weight, we really mean a desire to lose fat. Very few of us are looking to make a weight class for sport or any competition of some nature.

So yes, we want to lose fat.

And in order to lose fat, that first rule of thermodynamics still applies, you must absolutely be in a calorie deficit in order to make that happen.

But, then you’ve got to work a little smarter, not necessarily harder to reap the benefits of fat loss principles. It starts with ensuring enough protein to preserve lean muscle tissue during your fat loss phase.

Then you need to add in a program built around strength training.

No. You cannot spot reduce. See the first myth I just busted.

But by properly feeding muscle and training with an intent to get stronger, you can build muscle in the problematic area and that leads to a much more improved physique on the back end of the fat loss phase.

Strengthening your abs and building a little muscle in your core will make it far easier for those muscles to “pop” at slightly higher body fat levels than someone that never strength trains at all.

If you need a guideline to how to get started with an effective strength training regime, I’ve got you covered with my beginner’s guide to the best weight loss workout program right here.

Let’s put this into action with some steps to make this work for you.

It’s all going to start with that magical fat loss elixir that I like to call … a calorie deficit.

You know how science works by now. It’s all about the balance of energy (calories) that will determine if you lose fat at all.

Now where most people get this situation all messed up is by trying to rush the process. In the past, you’ve probably taken that deficit too aggressively in hopes of losing a bunch of weight really quick.

Instead of a rapid transformation, you probably ended up slacking more on weekends and holidays––or maybe you just threw up your hands and quit altogether.

Scrap the crazy deep deficit targets and aim for a much more attainable, sustainable and moderate calorie deficit number.

Here’s my handy guide for making that happen. But, if you are not really into reading more, I’ve got you covered with my baseline formula here to establish a fat loss calorie target.

The most basic way to get an accurate caloric deficit target for yourself is to utilize your bodyweight and find an appropriate multiplier based on how active you are on a daily basis.

Multiply your CURRENT bodyweight (IN POUNDS) by 10-12

• 10 = completely sedentary (i.e., and office desk job or just sitting on the couch watching way too much Netflix)
• 11 = somewhat active
• 12 = moderately active (on your feet all day, doing manual labor stuff, like construction)

Is this a perfect equation? Nope. Is it close enough to get you started? Absolutely.

Technically, you can eat in a calorie deficit and still lose weight no matter what you eat.

Yes, those calories could literally come from anything. Pizza. Pop tarts. Avocado toast. Even butterbeer.

Seriously. It really doesn’t matter in terms of overall energy balance.

Energy In versus Energy Out. Manipulate this equation in your favor and weight loss happens.

This does not mean you’ll look very awesome or feel very awesome as a result of a diet full of crap.

And if you are reading this article in hopes of removing that stubborn belly fat (or any stubborn fat, to be honest), you’ll want to maximize that calorie deficit by prioritizing protein and produce.

Eat more protein.

Protein preserves lean muscle tissue while in a diet. When you hit me up on the interwebz and tell me that you want to get lean and toned, it means you want to lose fat and keep your curves (aka, muscle).

Protein is the first part of that process.

You need to be eating more protein to assist that hard-earned calorie deficit. And I’ve got just the guide to show you how to make it happen.

But to make it simple, I’d like you to start by aiming for about 100+ grams of protein if you are a woman, and 120+ grams of protein if you are a man.

Ideally, you’ll work up to at least 0.7 to 1.0 grams per pound of your body weight.

For instance, if you weigh 150 pounds, you’d aim for 105 to 150 grams of protein.

Start small and work your way up.

Doing so will help with satiety (keep you full) while also boosting that whole preservation of muscles thing.

From there, you’ve got to eat your damn veggies.

Vegetables pack all kinds of nutrients. Vitamins and minerals will help your body function better, on top of helping your stay full.

The volume from prioritizing foods like fruits and vegetables means you can eat more stuff for lower calories. A pound of strawberries is only 140 calories. Meanwhile, that cookie you just housed was about 200 calories.

Which one has the opportunity to keep you satisfied until your next meal, the strawberries or that cookie?

Aim for about 80-90 percent of calories to come from the nutrient-dense, lean protein categories. Then you can play around with some more fun foods with the remaining 10-20 percent of your food.

Get up and move

I cannot stress this enough. Run a quick search through this site on the importance of walking and getting your daily step count up and you’ll come back with a majority of my content.

It’s that important.

And it’s that overlooked.

Most of us are completely sedentary and tied down to a desk, only moving to head to the bathroom or to find food to stuff our face holes.

Then it’s on to sitting in the car or mass transit for the commute home. Only to position ourselves on the couch, pop on the TV and sit in all kinds of pretzel-like positions that completely wreck our posture.

Stop it. Stop it right now.

Get up and walk. It boosts metabolism.

In fact, here’s a challenge:

If you live a mostly sedentary lifestyle and get no more than 4,000 to 5,000 steps per day, I want you to get up and walk. Over the next 2-3 weeks, you could likely keep your diet mostly the same, but just double or even triple your step count and I guarantee you’ll see a little bit of a progress.

Just off of walking alone.

This is not an invite to eat like an asshole and then proceed to walk it off. Remember, calorie deficit and hitting protein, nutrients and then picking up heavy things will always be the best recipe for long-term weight loss.

But, please … do not sleep on the importance of walking.

Make it a priority and make the time for it.

You can break up your day like the following:

• Morning meditative session: 20 minutes
• Post-lunch walk: 15 minutes
• Pre/Post Workout paces: 10 minutes before/after training
• Evening stroll: 20-30 minutes after dinner

I’ve got a few tips here for fitting more activity like walking into your schedule to help burn some extra calories.

Pick up heavy shit.

Lifting weights will not make you bulky. I repeat: Lifting weights will not make you bulky.

If any coach out there tells you otherwise, kick them in the duodenum. Then fire them. And never speak to them again.

You don’t need that kind of stupidity in your life.

The only way you can get “bulky” from lifting weights is by eating a metric fuck ton of food (aka, a calorie surplus), crushing weights consistently and even then, you might still need some … uh … pharmaceutical assistance.

Instead, you need to incorporate strength training into your workout routines.

I’m sorry to say that OrangeTheory is not a strength training program. Neither is SoulCycle. That boot camp class that you attend with your brunch besties is not strength training either. Nor is that workout video from YouTube that has you doing a bunch of burpees and tricep dips from your couch.

Taxing your muscles a few times per week will lead to an increased metabolism and better overall body composition.

If you are confused on what a proper strength training program should look like, I’ve got you covered with this article on how to set up a weight loss workout program for beginners.

Flex the patience muscle

So you’ve set a goal to lose that stubborn spare tire that stares back at you in the mirror every time you take that shirt off.

And because you’ve hated this thing for so long, you’ve decided to kick ass at this fitness and diet thing and finally make that belly fat go away.

Summer is coming up. Or maybe it’s a vacay. Perhaps there’s a special trip. Maybe it’s just some other arbitrary time goal you’ve set for yourself.

I’m never going to knock someone for taking the time to think out their goals and set some deadlines. But, you need to be much more realistic about how long it takes.

So go ahead and set that deadline … and then double the time.

If you think it will take eight weeks to lose those final stubborn 10 pounds, it’ll probably take closer to 16 weeks in reality.

Fat loss takes time.

And you must be willing to be patient. Ignore those silly magazine articles that say you should be losing one to two pounds per week.

Instead, a great rate of progress is more like 0.5 to 1.0 pounds per week on average. I emphasize on average because you won’t lose weight every single day. You won’t lose weight every single week.

But you might give up after just two weeks because the scale didn’t budge. Instead, if you’d just stayed patient, there might have been a big scale weight drop waiting for you on the following week.

That’s why you should take the time throughout your journey to acknowledge successful markers of progress outside of the scale weight.

Things like progress pictures, measurements (especially at the waist and the hips), and making note of how your clothes fit can tell the whole picture of your journey.

Equally important is to focus less on that progress and more on the habits you’ve put in place to make the progress happen.

If you’ve been tracking calories but simply going with a “stuff your face with a bunch of crap because it all fits your macros” type of approach, that is not going to allow you to sustain any progress you make long-term.

As a result, you’ll be right back here again in another year, reading this same article and wondering if this will finally be the time to get rid of that stubborn belly fat.

But, if you focus on the habits I’ve laid out for you today:

• Eat adequate protein
• Fill up with fibrous fruits, vegetables and other nutrient-dense foods
• Prioritize daily movement in the form of walking
• Lift heavy weights a couple of times per week
• Trusting the process and being consistent and patient

Do all of the above, and the results will come in due time. Maybe not quite as fast as the celebrity promised you, but the progress will come.

Promise.

Let me help you get rid of that stubborn belly fat for good … 

I’m here to help you out. 

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “Stubborn Belly Fat” and I’ll answer any questions you have to make this work for you.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

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