• A smaller midsection reduces the risk of diseases associated with excess tummy fat.woman's belly, isolated image by Olga Sapegina from Fotolia.com
  
  Whether you're rail-thin or curvy, belly fat can be hard to get rid of, especially as you grow older. An excess of stomach fat increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain types of cancers. Luckily, simple lifestyle changes in conjunction with targeted exercises help fight tummy trauma.
  
  

Eat Smaller Meals More Frequently and Have Breakfast

• Eating fewer calories on a more frequent basis helps avoid hunger and overeating. Less hunger leads to less snacking, avoiding consumption of unneeded calories. It's also essential to have breakfast. According to a study published in the 2009 May edition of the Journal of Obesity, "breakfast skipping was related to increased intra-abdominal fat independent of age, gender, total fat, total lean tissue, and total energy intake." An increased percentage of energy consumed with breakfast lowers the chance of weight gain, thus avoiding tummy bulge.
  
  

Visit the Produce Section

• Fruits and vegetables aid in burning belly fat. They detoxify the system, causing it to function and process food more efficiently. Citrus and other fruits are vital for cleansing, along with greens such as cabbage and broccoli.
  
  

Rest

• Rest is essential when trying to rid yourself of body fat. A proper night's sleep enhances your ability to burn calories in addition to staving off hunger pangs, as the hormone leptin is produced in larger amounts during the cycle of sleep. Leptin is an important protein hormone for regulating metabolic function and body weight.
  
  

Decrease Alcohol Consumption

• Alcohol causes swelling of the gastrointestinal tract, leading to bloating. In addition, alcohol is dense with calories. When drinking alcohol, try to stick to lower-calorie drinks. Beer drinkers who have six or more drinks a week maintain higher waist-to-hip ratios, followed by those opting for liquor, according to research at the University of North Carolina at ChapeI Hill. The same research discovered wine drinkers had the slimmest waistlines.
  
  

Exercise

• When exercising, remember there's more to a flat tummy than just crunches. Although they tone abs, crunches don't get rid of excess fat around the stomach. Aerobic exercises such as running, cycling or jumping rope help increase the metabolic rate, in turn burning belly bulge. Use various abdominal exercises as well, and mix it up. Making small changes to abdominal exercises help your muscles to not get bored.