A common misconception is that doing 100 sit-ups a day or 10 minutes on the ab machine is going to rid you of your stomach fat. Unless you change a couple of crucial factors you will find losing weight extremely hard. If you want to expose the muscles under that layer of fat you need to firstly lose the fat currently on the body & then maintain it by following the two rules listed below.
Remember DIET & EXERCISE have a direct result on how body stores fat.
There are two things are needed to combat excess fat, they are...
1: Fitness. An exercise regime consisting of both aerobic or cardio training (jogging, dancing, sports) & strength or anaerobic training such as sit ups & crunches ( a "Swiss Ball" is an excellent way to target your abdominal muscles as well as a fun alternative that you can do at home) are essential for burning fat and maintaining a healthy weight.
Using cardio exercises 4-5 times per week in conjunction with strength training is the most effective way to lose fat quickly & maintain a healthy weight. Try using a pedometer when jogging or walking it's a great way to keep track of the amount of calories you're burning. Another important point to remember is abdominal fat can be a lot harder to shed than other areas of the body so don't expect results over-night, or be disheartened when you don't see rock hard abs within the first week of training (any ab machine company claiming to do so is lying) with targeted training on those specific muscles & some perseverance you will be rewarded with great results in no time at all.
2: Correct Nutritional Intake. When we eat certain unhealthy foods our bodies convert the carbohydrates into sugar (lots of it) so the bodies response is to create insulin, whose job is to drop the sugar levels within the body, the problem is over time we can build up a resistance to insulin which can lead to severe health problems that effect our metabolism & ultimately effect our weight.
Eating fat burning foods like fresh fruit & vegetables & and eliminating the intake of refined or processed carbohydrates eg. sugars, breads & pasta is an essential factor in losing belly fat.
Check out this link for a great list of fat burning foods.
http://www.easydietsreviewed.com/?page_id=230 Following these two things in a consist ant manner will ensure a highly effective way of losing fat and maintaining a healthy body.