If You Can't Seem to Lose Belly Fat, Experts Say These 14 Eating Tips Are Key

It's important to know how many calories you need per day to maintain your weight. "Caloric needs are based on numerous factors, but the most important ones for a healthy individual include gender, age, weight, height, and activity level," Stephanie Ferrari, a registered dietitian with Fresh Communications, told POPSUGAR. To figure out this number, either meet with a dietitian or use this formula.

Then figure out how many calories you need to lose weight — go for a moderate calorie deficit, not a major one, to avoid extreme hunger, which could result in binge-eating. Creating a calorie deficit — without going below 1,200 calories — will absolutely help you lose weight.

If it comes from a package with a million ingredients listed that you can't pronounce, don't eat it! Eat foods in the form most closely found in nature. Vermont-based registered dietitian and nutritionist Maddie Kinzly MS, LD, told POPSUGAR that whole foods are "loaded with healthy vitamins, minerals, and fiber to keep you full," which helps you feel satisfied, so you don't overeat.

Your plate should be made up of whole foods, such as complex carbs including fruit, sweet potatoes, and whole grains, plus a variety of veggies, nuts, and seeds, as well as lean protein. Try to limit the packaged foods with tons of ingredients, additives, and dyes.

One macro to focus on for fat loss is protein. Dietitian Maddie Kinzly suggests getting lean protein at every single meal to not only build muscle but to also satiate hunger. Getting enough protein makes it easier to stick to your daily calorie goals because you'll feel satisfied.

For protein, you need about 0.8 to 1.8 grams per pound of bodyweight, depending on how active you are. A good rule of thumb is to aim for 20 to 30 grams of lean protein at every meal from sources that are low in saturated fats and processed carbohydrates. "This doesn't necessarily mean eat more meat," Kinzly explained. "There are many plant sources that contain protein, including grains, beans, legumes, nuts, and vegetables."

Whatever diet you follow, whether it's plant-based, Paleo, or low-carb, follow the 80/20 rule of eating. This means eighty percent of the time, you eat meals and snacks that are healthy, then you indulge the rest of the time, if you feel the urge.

Swapping most of your meals for healthier options is an easy way to "diet" without feeling deprived. For even greater results, Beachbody trainer Autumn Calabrese, creator of the 21 Day Fix and 80 Day Obsession fitness and nutrition programs, recommends the 90/10 rule, which can be especially helpful to jump-start your efforts or if you have hit a fat-loss plateau.

Eating more veggies — not just at dinnertime — is one of the easiest ways to start losing body fat. Vegetables are the food group you want to be filling up on the most, because "they are high in volume and weight and fill up our stomachs, which helps us register the feeling of fullness," said registered dietitian and cocreator of Beachbody's 2B Mindset nutrition program Ilana Muhlstein, MS, RDN.

Registered dietitians Stephanie Clarke, RD, and Willow Jarosh, RD, of C&J Nutrition, agree and say that veggies are also high in fiber, so they'll satiate your hunger longer, helping you consume fewer daily calories. Aim to include them every time you eat, for all meals and snacks.

Take eating more veggies a step further, and make more of your meals plant-based. Studies show that vegetarians (and even more so, vegans) routinely have lower bodyweights, Seattle-based registered dietitian nutritionist and Arivale Coach Ginger Hultin, MS, CSO, told POPSUGAR. That's because plant-based foods like veggies are high in fiber, and research shows that women who followed a higher-fiber diet were at a reduced likelihood of having an increased waist circumference.

Try eating a more plant-based diet, focusing on veggies, whole grains, and plant proteins such as beans, nuts, seeds, and soy products. You could even set up a plan where you eat vegan on certain days of the week (try these tempeh tacos on Taco Tuesdays!) or eat vegan until dinner.

We are not fans of the clean-plate club! Instead of putting down your fork when you've finished eating every last bite, eat slowly and pay close attention to how your belly feels. To prevent overeating, "eat until you are no longer hungry, not until you are full," Kristin Kirkpatrick, a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic's Wellness Institute, told POPSUGAR in a previous interview.

When cooking meals at home, serve an appropriate portion on a plate, then put the rest in the fridge — not on the table in front of you, because you'll be more likely to go for seconds when you're not even hungry. It's also OK to leave some food on your plate if you're not hungry for it. Pack away the extras immediately so you're not tempted to grab bites just because it's in front of you. When eating at restaurants, try this tactic: ask for a to-go container as soon as your meal is served, and pack up half right away to save for tomorrow's lunch.

Don't give up any foods or food groups entirely, because denying yourself the bites you crave can backfire, causing you to feel deprived, resulting in binge-eating. So make a point to keep yourself happy and your cravings satisfied by allowing a small treat every day, such as a square of dark chocolate, one of these mini vegan strawberry cheesecakes, a handful of chips, or a small glass of wine.

Many of us eat out of habit to satisfy cravings because we're bored, because it's a certain time of day (noon equals lunchtime!), or because someone else is eating around us. So registered dietitian Leslie Langevin, MS, RD, CD, of Whole Health Nutrition, said to get to know what true hunger feels like. If you're not hungry for breakfast at 8 a.m., it's OK to push it to 10 a.m. when you are actually hungry.

Clarke said to be mindful of the hunger scale. "It's a scale from one to 10, with one being your absolute hungriest, feeling-lightheaded level, five being completely neutral (not hungry and not at all full), and 10 being really uncomfortably stuffed," Clarke explained. "You want to grab a snack or meal at about a three, when you're moderately hungry, and stop eating around a six, just past that completely neutral feeling."

Basically, you want to develop a personalized eating schedule where you eat when fairly hungry (if you waited another hour, you'd be famished) and eat just enough to feel satisfied and be hungry again three to four hours later.

It may surprise you to hear Jade Jenny, head CrossFit coach and owner of Champlain Valley CrossFit, say that "reducing belly fat ultimately comes down to how you eat," rather than your workout routine. It's true: you can't exercise away a bad diet. Abs truly are made in the kitchen.

This means a healthy diet is essential to your weight-loss success. Instead of choosing (not-so-healthy) meals in the moment, planning out and prepping a week's worth of meals and snacks will help you stay on track.

Here are some incredibly helpful meal-prep hacks to help you lose weight, such as making freezer soup packs, prepping a week of Buddha bowls, or freezing cooked whole grains.

Intermittent fasting (IF) involves not eating (aka fasting) for part of each day or a few times a week. One common example of this is called 16:8, eating during an eight-hour window and fasting for the other 16 hours. When your body doesn't have a constant energy source from the food you eat, it allows your body to utilize the fat stores it already has, helping you lose body fat and ultimately belly fat, too.

Ferrari and Luiza Petre, MD, a weight-loss specialist and board-certified cardiologist, told POPSUGAR that IF raises growth hormone levels and lowers insulin levels, both of which help burn more fat. "Insulin decreases when you fast, and lower levels of insulin results in burning more fat," Ferrari added.

Eating in a shortened window not only reduces hunger, but since you're not eating for long periods of time, there are also fewer opportunities to consume calories, which is why intermittent fasting helps people create a calorie deficit with little effort.

It's not just the empty calories you need to worry about when it comes to sweets and packaged junk food; it's how these foods affect your insulin. Jason Fung, MD, a nephrologist, explained that processed carbs and sugary foods such as doughnuts, crackers, pasta, and white bread spike your insulin levels, which can cause weight gain. Keeping your insulin levels low will help reduce your overall body fat percentage, and that means belly fat.

When eating sugar elevates insulin levels, it blocks leptin (the hormone that signals to your body that you're full) and overloads your dopamine receptors, which leads to insatiable cravings, explained Susan Peirce Thompson, a psychology professor with a Ph.D. in brain and cognitive sciences. In her book Bright Line Eating, she explained that this is why you eat cookie after cookie and still want more — eating sugar makes you crave it. Since sugary foods are so high in calories, and you tend to overeat them, it's no wonder eating sugar leads to weight gain and belly fat. If you cut down on these types of food, you'll definitely notice a difference in how you feel and how your belly looks.

Aside from being high in carbs and increasing your cravings, sugary foods also tend to be high in calories. That's not the only problem, though — eating them doesn't offer your body any nutrition, so you end up feeling hungry, which makes you eat more food overall.

You don't need to ditch all carbs, though. Avoid refined carbs and go for complex carbs like whole grains, beans, veggies, and fruits. Langevin said, "They break down slowly in the body because of their high-fiber content and help to keep blood sugar levels steady since they are digested slower. They're also richer in nutrients than simple carbohydrates." Aim for three servings a day of whole grains, one to two of fruit, and one to two of legumes. Here's a list of the best carbs for weight loss.

That glass of wine or bottle of beer every night with dinner isn't doing your waistline any favors. Each drink is around 80 to 150 calories (or more!), and aside from that, Kinzly said drinking can dull your willpower and make you more likely to say yes to food when you're not hungry (been there!). She added, "Excessive alcohol will cause the liver to stop metabolizing fat and carbohydrates in order to metabolize the alcohol first." If you don't want to give it up entirely, choose one or two nights a week to enjoy a drink.

Eating certain foods, like monounsaturated fats (MUFAs), may help diminish belly fat and can make tackling that belly fat through diet even more effective. Add MUFA-rich foods like nuts, seeds, avocados, and olive oil to your diet, being mindful of portions, as these tend to be high in calories. This avocado filled with salted sunflower seeds is a MUFA double whammy!