You know you’ve let your midsection get out of control when little kids mistake you for Santa Claus. Or when that person asks you when you are going to have your baby. Okay, maybe it’s not that bad, but you’ll want to at least lose some of your midsection.

You could do sit-ups until the day you die and still not be guaranteed to lose that midsection. Exercises targeting a certain body part are not guaranteed to remove fat from that body part. But there are some things you can do to help improve your chances of losing that midsection.

Just exercise!

Although targeted exercises don’t work; if you exercise regularly, you will reduce your total body fat. Simply walking or jogging for about 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week can greatly improve your health and your chances of losing weight. Where do you usually start to lose weight first? Start there and eventually (if not sooner) if you continue to exercise, your midsection will start to shrink.

Count… 1, 200…

It’s very simple. We all have a certain amount of calories that we can take in each day, which will be burned at the end of the day. This means that we will not gain weight in this way. Calories are simply measures of energy. For example, let’s say 3,500 calories equals a pound to me. If I eat 2,800 calories each day, that leaves me a 700-calorie margin each day. After 5 days of eating like this, I can lose a pound. Add exercise to the equation and my chances of losing more pounds increase! It makes sense and you can shed the pounds fast if we started counting calories.

Losing your midsection isn’t as difficult as some people think. Get started with these simple tips and start a healthy lifestyle today!