It is certainly no secret that thousands of people struggle trying to lose stomach fat. Many of these people have fit areas on their bodies, however they still have that small or perhaps a not-so-small pooch that just won't seem to go away. The good news is that losing fat anywhere on our body requires the same tried and tested formula - decrease food intake and increase physical activity. People who have excess fat in the stomach area often feel embarrassed by the condition, and have low self esteem. Stomach fat can often be quite difficult to lose because it is the primary storage area for adipose (fat) tissue and is one of the last places that the body will give up its fat stores.

There are many fat loss myths out there - some quite humorous and others just plain ridiculous. Below are two common myths that prevent people from reaching their weight-loss goals.

Myth #1: Abdominal and oblique exercises burn fat from the stomach and love handles. Since so many people believe this myth, most all of the abdominal gadget's infomercials claim to help you burn fat. While some fitness equipment and abdominal exercises will help firm and tone our abdominal areas, they will not get rid of the underlying fat. Performing aerobic exercises such as running or swimming, five times per week, thirty minutes per session will produce tremendous benefits if one is following a healthy, low-calorie diet.

Myth #2: Skipping meals will result in fat loss.

Skipping meals usually means a reduction in caloric intake and may result in weight loss, however skipping meals will not result in fat loss. Why? Because skipping meals hinders the body's fat-burning mechanism - the metabolism. You see our metabolisms work best when we are eating small, balanced meals often. This is why bodybuilders usually eat five to six small meals per day.

Anyone that is serious about losing stomach fat must know what works and what doesn't. Below are a couple of tried and true weight loss facts.

Fact #1: Exercising in the morning on an empty stomach is the best time to exercise in order to burn fat. For example, if you jog before breakfast, your body will be burning stored fat (the carbohydrates) you left there during the night. A study conducted in Sweden a few years ago concluded that exercise in the morning before eating burns nearly three and a half times more fat than exercising in the evening! Obviously, exercising at any time during the day is better than not exercising at all.

Fact #2: Fat-loss programs should include aerobic and weight training activity. People who combine both weight training and aerobic exercise achieve faster results. The reason is quite simple. Aerobic activity increases the heart rate resulting in an expenditure of calories and weight training increases our metabolic rate, enabling our bodies can burn calories all the time.

If losing stomach fat is your primary goal, develop an obtainable plan on how you would like to get started on your fat loss program. Be sure that your plan includes a healthy eating plan, weight training and aerobic activity. You're not going to get rid of stomach fat in just a few days, so keep yourself motivated and you'll find that it will get easier over time. Thousands of people have realized their fitness goals and you can too!