How to Reduce Waist Size

Co-authored by Laura Flinn

Last Updated: March 13, 2023 References Approved

Belly fat can be especially dangerous, so reducing the size of your waist is often associated with better health. If you need to trim your waist size, you’re not alone. Luckily, there are ways to reduce the size of your waist.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Eating the Right Foods

1
Reduce calories. It’s a fairly obvious point, but if you want to reduce your waist size, you need to reduce the amount of calories you consume. Weight loss is an obvious equation: You need to burn more than you take in, and exercise burns fewer calories than many people think.
- It takes a caloric deficit of 3,500 to lose a single pound. Many studies have found that if you keep a food diary in which you list what you eat every day, with the number of calories consumed, you will be more likely to eat less.
- Use online calorie counters to figure out the number of calories in everything you eat. Pay careful attention to condiments, like salad dressing, that might contain more calories than you think. Even eating 100 fewer calories per day will make a difference over time ^{[1]
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  Mayo Clinic
  Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals
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- Running is a great way to burn calories. Try to work toward running for 30 minutes at least three times a week. You can alternate walking and running until you’re stronger. ^{[2]
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  Research source} If you could jog 20 miles per week, you could lose a lot of belly fat in 6 months time. ^{[3]
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2
Eat more protein and fiber. You will eat less if you eat protein-heavy meals because they make you feel fuller. You should make sure you eat a high-protein breakfast, especially. Don’t skip breakfast. You could increase your weight loss rate by 25 percent if you switch to a high-protein diet.
- Remember that 80 percent of losing weight (including around your waist) needs to come from diet, not exercise.
- Eggs, tuna fish, vegetables, salads, almonds, apples, and lean meats are good choices. If you find it hard to clean up your diet, remember that having a waist over 34.5 inches means you’re at higher risk for a series of ailments, including heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. And you simply will not shrink your waist dramatically without a decent diet. ^{[4]
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- Try to limit how much dairy you eat. Foods that you should fill your diet with include skinless chicken, brown rice, and broccoli. These are good for the waist.
- If you can pull it off, try to eat at least one-third of your overall diet raw.
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3
Avoid starch and sugar. The problem with starches and sugar is that they raise the levels of insulin production. This hormone is associated with larger waist size. So you need to weed starch and sugar out of your diet. Avoid refined carbohydrates (foods made out of white flour won't help your waist).
- Be aware that high sugar foods can contribute to belly bloat, and some of them are foods you might assume are healthy, like beans, potatoes, and bananas.
- The other problem with sugar and starch is that you will end up with high calories and less satisfaction. These are basically empty calories with little nutritional value. Examples include doughnuts, French fries, and white bread.
- Look at labels, and weed fructose out of your diet. Fructose makes it a lot harder to lose weight. It’s found in a lot of processed foods and drinks, and you should limit your intake of it to less than 15 grams per day. Some foods that are considered healthy but have a lot of fructose in them can include enhanced water, yogurt, and some foods labeled as diet foods.
4
Don’t drink fizzy drinks. Even if the carbonated drink you typically reach for is a diet version, it can be problematic for your waist size.
- Fizzy drinks increase the amount of gas in your intestinal system. In addition, some diet drinks contain sweeteners which the body has trouble breaking down. Both of these things contribute to larger waist size.
- Instead, drink water (you need to drink water throughout the day, as it will also increase your metabolism). And try drinking peppermint tea. If you must drink alcohol, red wine in moderation is a better choice than beer.
- Another reason to drink more water is because people often mistake dehydration for hunger. So, if you feel hungry, try guzzling a bottle of water instead. ^{[5]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Doing the Right Exercises

1
Try waist turns and curls. Make sure the exercises you choose specifically target the waist. Avoid doing the old-style crunch. It can damage your spine.
- Stand with a pole between your shoulders. Keep your back straight, and your feet apart. Twist your waist from side to side while looking straight ahead. See how many rotations you can do. Try to do as many as 50 rotations.
- Instead of a crunch, try a curl. Lie on your back. Your hands should be palm down. Tuck them under your back. Bend your knees and lift your head and shoulders – but only a bit.
2
Try hooping. If you get bored with typical exercises, why not buy a hula hoop? If you hoop for just a few minutes a day, you will end up with a smaller waist. ^{[6]
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- Even hula hooping for 10 minutes a day has been found to reduce waist size! You can also burn 100 calories a day just with a few minutes of daily hula hooping. ^{[7]
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- To hoop better, keep your back straight, bring the hoop against your back when you start hooping, and try not to turn your hips too much. Put your right foot slightly before the left. Spin the hoop counterclockwise and then shift your hips from front to back to keep the hoop moving. You need to keep your core engaged, making the hoop stay above your hips.
- One study found that hooping for 30 minutes, three times a week took 3-6 inches off the waist in just a month. ^{[8]
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  PubMed Central
  Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
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3
Join a pilates or circuit training program. Circuit training is a great choice for an exercise program because it involves elements of strength training, resistance training, and cardio, all of which will help you pare your waist. Pilates features many poses that work on the core.
- A typical circuit training program would involve 4 circuits that feature different exercises, which you do for about 12-15 reps about three times each and then rotate.
- Circuit training often involves such exercises as squats, push ups, vertical jumps, resistance bands, and using light dumbbells.
- Pilates will tone your waistline because it focuses on poses that will create a strong core.
4
Try waist training. If exercise isn’t cutting it for you, you could try the latest celebrity trend: Waist training. Jessica Alba is among the celebrities who have tried this technique, which she did to help regain her figure after having a baby.
- Basically waist training means you wear a corset on a daily basis. Buy a waist trainer (or corset, or waist cincher) that has flexible bones in it, so you can breathe. Don’t expect instant results, though. Waist training can take months to be visible.
- You could also try buying a waterproof cord you wear underneath your clothes around your waist, and you tighten it as you lose weight. This will help you realize when your stomach is expanding.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Making Lifestyle Changes

1
Reduce stress. It might surprise you, but stress is associated with larger waist size. This is because it increases the hormone cortisol, which is associated with weight gain around the belly.
- The other problem with stress is that it causes many people to overeat or reach for the snacks. Meditation and yoga are techniques that can help you reduce stress.
- People sometimes wonder why waist size is so much harder to shrink than it is to lose weight in general. This is because waist size is linked to the hormones of cortisol and insulin, not just diet. If you understand this, you will realize that reducing stress can be a key factor in shrinking your waist size. ^{[9]
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2
Sleep well. Experts suggest that insomnia is associated with weight gain, especially around the stomach. There are hormonal reasons for this.
- You should aim to get about 7-8 hours of sleep a night. This will reduce hormone production and make your appetite decrease. Sleep is associated with increasing the human growth hormone that burns fat and builds muscles.
- Insomnia is associated with high stress levels, which also leads to production of cortisol, the hormone associated with larger waist size.
3
Don’t smoke. Smoking isn’t just bad for your lungs, but it’s also a bad thing for your belly. So if you want to reduce your waist size, you need to put down the cigarettes.
- Studies have found that smoking increases waist size.
- It's never a good idea to smoke in order to lose weight (as the cliche goes), but it's definitely not going to make you lose weight around the waist.

Expert Q&A
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Question

What's the most important change I should make to my diet?

Laura Flinn
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Laura Flinn is a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Certified Personal Trainer, USA Olympic Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach and Certified Fitness Nutritionist, with an additional qualification as a TRX Suspension Trainer. Laura runs her own personal training program based in the San Francisco Bay Area and specializes in topics such as weight loss, muscle growth, cardiovascular training, and strength training.

Laura Flinn

NASM Certified Personal Trainer

Expert Answer

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Limiting your intake of simple carbs should be the priority. Instead, replace those foods with complex and whole carb options that will fill you up for longer with fewer calories consumed.