You are very aware of that belly fat below your belly button and you want to get rid of it, even if nobody else notices it. You have tried dieting, and you have lost weight, but that extra layer of fat on your lower abdomen just doesn’t seem to go away. Here are some recommendations for losing that belly fat.

If you are already eating sensibly, and you are physically active, here are some exercise recommendations to target your lower belly fat specifically, so you can lose belly fat.

The best way to help your core muscles - the ones around your midriff - remain toned and tight and to reduce the unsightly bulges on your abdomen, is to exercise all three major groups of muscles as equally as possible. The three groups of muscles are the abdominal muscles, the obliques, and the lower back muscles. Whenever you exercise one of these groups of muscles, be sure to balance the effort by exercising the others. The exercise which uses all of them at the same time is the bicycle crunch. Lie on your back and raise your knees to imitate the action of riding a bicycle in the air. As you do this, meet each forward knee with the elbow of the opposite arm. This means your muscles are working in a diagonal criss-cross over your abdomen. Make sure you breathe calmly throughout this exercise, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Try 3 to 5 sets of 20 counts.

Between sets, lay your legs slowly down flat on the mat, stretch your arms above your head, and stretch the entire length of your body, paying special attention to stretching your abdominal muscles. The more you stretch, the longer and leaner your muscles become. You want your abdominal muscles, in particular, to be long and flat. You can accelerate the fat burning process by using a heat belt as you complete bicycle crunches. Your midriff will sweat, helping to reduce the water deposits between the fatty deposits, and reducing your waist and hip measurements in only a couple of weeks.

Complementing exercises include slow crunches and leg raises to 45 degrees, while lying on your back, and torso raises and leg raises, while lying on your belly. In all cases, stretching between sets will lengthen the muscles, and proper breathing will supply oxygen to them. Always remember to inhale through your nose before starting the crunch, and exhale through your mouth, to supply your muscles and your brain with valuable oxygen.

You actually only lose belly fat when you lose fat throughout your body, but these exercises, which tone your abdominal muscles, when they are performed properly, will result in muscles around your waist which act as a corset. This will give you the sensation and measurements that your aiming for, as you lose belly fat. It will take a few weeks, but the results will be long-lasting if you remain faithful to your healthy diet and to your exercise schedule.