Four reasons you’re not losing belly fat

NO one wants excess fat hanging around their mid section, but for many, it’s often the first place it lands and the last place it leaves. 

As stubborn as belly pooch may be, here are four science-backed ways to dump it for good.

THE ANATOMY OF BELLY FAT
There are two different kinds of fat surrounding your mid section: subcutaneous and visceral. Subcutaneous, which means “under the skin,” is the fat we can pinch and hangs over the belt.
Visceral fat is the type of fat stored deep within our abdomens surrounding the vital organs, making our tummies protrude in a classic “beer belly” bulge. Visceral fat not only affects your wardrobe, it also sets you up for health problems.
When we ‘store fat’, particularly the visceral stuff, it alters the way your body uses metabolic hormones, increasing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. Research shows males with a waistline measuring more than 94cm and females whose waists measure more than 80cm are at increased risk of developing these health complications.
So why is it that some of us tend to gain weight around our midsections? There’s no single answer. Instead it involves many factors:

1. MIDDLE AGE SPREAD
An expanding waistline is sometimes considered the price of getting older.
With age, muscle mass typically diminishes, while fat increases. And since muscle is a highly active tissue that burns a lot of energy (even when we’re sitting at our desk), losing muscle makes it much more likely we will gain weight. On top of that, sex hormones shift as we age. Testosterone predisposes men to accumulate fat around their abdomen and the big drop in oestrogen during menopause for women tends to deposit fat centrally — making it harder to shed stomach pudge.

Belly Blaster: Shrink Your Waist With Weights
By pumping iron, you’re continually building and preserving muscle, which doesn’t necessarily happen when you rely solely on cardio (like walking, biking, swimming) for exercise. Result? More muscle equals a faster metabolism, which sets your body up to burn more fat. To slow muscle loss, aim to tone your large muscle groups two to three times a week.

2. YOU’RE ALWAYS TENSE
When things get extra-hectic (be it economic challenges, job demands, family tensions), the body is literally bathed in a flood of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, which may cause blood sugar imbalances, inflammatory responses, and among other things, can bolster an intense appetite that causes us to overeat.
The excess weight we gain from overeating, as a result of hormonal imbalances, tends to settle mainly around the middle.

 

 

A bit more inspiration to feel the Zen. Picture: STM / Chantel ConceiSource:Supplied

Belly Blaster: Practice Zen Habits
To boost stress-resilience, it’s critical to take some down time each day. Practising deep breathing, learning to find humour in everyday things, having a bath before bed and finding some private space and time to record uncensored thoughts into a journal are among some of the simple things you can incorporate into your daily routine.

3. YOU’RE SLEEP DEPRIVED
Multiple studies have shown that falling short on shut-eye causes changes in brain activity by stimulating hunger-inducing hormones (ghrelin and leptin) which tells the brain we need to eat. But you’re not exactly craving carrot sticks and hummus. Instead you’ll be tempted to look for a quick hit of energy — the kind that lives in vending machines or behind drive-through windows.

Belly Blaster: Practice good sleep habits
Besides the obvious curfew on caffeine, alcohol and heavy exercise too close to bed time, set a digital detox period (say after 8.30pm), hit the sack at the same time each night, and set up your bedroom for optimal comfort by keeping it cool and free of disrupting noises.

4. GENETICS
You can thank (or blame) your parents for the genetics you have inherited, as the tendency to carry weight around the waist might have a genetic component.

Belly Blaster: Change your environment
The saying goes: “Genes may load the gun, but environment pulls the trigger”. In other words, your genetics will only activate if you give them a comfortable environment to do so — like eating highly processed foods and being sedentary.
Instead, design your environment for success. For example, if you serve yourself on a smaller plate, you’ll eat less; if you lay out your running kit or pack the gym bag the night before, you’ll hit the gym.

Kathleen Alleaume is a nutrition and exercise scientist and author of What’s Eating You?

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