Belly fat is not just a sign of being overweight or obese. It can also be detrimental to your health. Belly fat is an indicator of an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, a serious disease associated with blindness, stroke and kidney failure.

Thus, losing weight and removing that stubborn fat around your waist, is not only for looks but also important to your health.
- Fat loss basics
Exercise burns fat because it increases your body's metabolism by increasing your muscles' energy usage. When you eat more calories than your body requires, you will begin to store the excess calories as fat in your adipose tissue.
When you burn more calories than you take in, through exercise and a low-calorie diet, your body begins to break down the fat stored in the adipose tissue, to provide energy for your body. The only way you can lose weight and belly fat is by eating less and/or exercising to increase your fat burning.
- Targeting fat loss to belly
Unfortunately there is no such thing as spot reducing fat from your body. This means that you cannot target fat burning, with an exercise, specifically to your belly.
Doing thousands of sit-ups will strengthen your abdominal muscles but will not specifically burn the fat around them. When you exercise, fat is burned equally all around your body.
This is unfortunate, especially because when you eat excess calories, your belly is one of the first places where fat begins to accumulate and one of the last places where it burns off.
- Cardio and belly fat
Regular cardiovascular exercise and a balanced diet are the best ways to lose your belly fat. Exercises, like running, walking, bicycling, skiing and hiking, raise your heart rate and increase your body's metabolism.
As a result, your body begins to burn fat for energy. Recommended amounts of cardio for adults are 150 minutes every week. You can split this between five days and do 30 minute workouts with moderate-intensity.
Stair climbing is an excellent cardio workout that you can do with moderate to high intensity.
- Stair exercise
You do not have to exercise 30 minutes at a time to get your metabolism up and increase your fat burning. Ten-minute workouts are also beneficial to your health and weight loss. You can even do this at work, if you can access stairs.
Set a timer for 10 minutes and hit the stairs. Keep a moderate intensity throughout the entire 10 minutes. You do not need to run the stairs up, walking will do fine.
You can also alternate between climbing up and down. Use the down climbing phase to lower your heart rate and recover before climbing up again. Repeat this 10-minute workout three times or more, five days a week.
(Source: Livestrong.com)