Why Does All My Fat Go To My Stomach

Not All Fat Is Created Equal

There are two types of fat that are especially important when were talking about stomach liposuction: subcutaneous fat and visceral fat.

Subcutaneous fat is the jiggly, pinchable fat located just underneath the skin. Its generally harmless, but aesthetically it can be undesirable. Visceral fat is stored inside the abdominal cavity. Visually, it can be identified as the typical beer belly its firm and hard, and people with a lot of visceral fat are sometimes referred to as skinny-fat. Its also much worse for your overall health than subcutaneous fat. All fat cells release hormones, but because visceral fat is stored next to your organs, its more likely to interfere with organ functions, which can lead to greater insulin resistance , higher blood pressure, higher bad cholesterol levels in your blood stream, and increase risk for heart disease and stroke.

Stomach liposuction can only remove subcutaneous fat. Visceral fat is firmly embedded inside the abdominal cavity it cannot be suctioned out. Weight Loss through diet and exercise can reduce visceral fat safely and effectively.

An abdomen liposuction before-and-after photo

Without an MRI or CAT scan, you cant tell exactly how much visceral fat you have, but there are some general guidelines.

In your consultation, well address visceral fat, whether youre a candidate for stomach liposuction, and talk about the kind of results you can expect from the procedure.

Reducing Excess Visceral Fat

Since lifestyle behaviors cause excess accumulation of visceral fat, modifying these behaviors help reduce it and associated disease risks. Belly fat responds more efficiently to diet and exercise than subcutaneous fat does.

To reduce visceral fat and potentially increase lean muscle mass, add 30 minutes of moderate physical activity to your daily routine on most days of the week. Moderate exercise can include aerobic activity and strength training with weights. Combining a more balanced diet with a regular exercise routine can accelerate the loss of belly fat and improve other cardiometabolic risk factors. Adding more whole fruits and vegetables and minimizing sugar intake from processed foods are effective diet modifications for reducing dangerous fat around the organs. Additionally, quitting smoking, getting more than 5 hours of sleep per night, and managing mental stress have all been proven to reduce the accumulation of belly fat in men.

Dietary Reasons For Belly Fat

Belly fat can accumulate at any age, though, especially if you make poor dietary choices. Too many calories from anything can cause your middle to expand. Too much saturated fat, found in full-fat dairy and fatty cuts of meat, and trans fats, found in some processed foods, can contribute to visceral fat development.

A diet heavy in refined sugar and grains often correlates with a larger waist size. A study published in a 2009 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation found that people who consumed fructose-sweetened soft drinks were more likely to have visceral belly fat. Even diet soda drinkers could be at risk. A study published in a 2015 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society detected an association between consuming diet soda daily and increased abdominal girth.

Refined grains, such as white bread and pasta, can also contribute to belly fat. A study in a 2010 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed a correlation between increased refined grain intake and the development of belly fat. Choose whole grains, such as brown rice or barley, instead, to help keep your visceral fat growth at bay.

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More Around The Middle

Belly fat is a problem, and not just because of how it looks. The type of fat that collects in your belly is called visceral fat. It surrounds your organs and raises your risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. To find out if you have excess fat in this area, put a tape measure around your midsection at bellybutton-level. More than 35 inches in women and 40 inches in men is too much. Here are a few reasons why belly fat forms and how to lose it.

Stubborn Fat Is More Insulin Sensitive

Insulin plays a major role in how the cells in your body store fat.

Primarily, it does this by increasing the activity of LSL , and decreasing the activity of HSL .

And since stubborn fat cells are typically more insulin sensitive, meaning that they react more strongly to insulin, this means that they tend to store more fat and release less fat than regular fat cells.

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Hormones And Belly Fat In Men

In men, adequate levels of testosterone are necessary to maintain a healthy fat distribution. However, research has shown that the presence of visceral fat can interfere with testosterone production, further exacerbating the storage of fat in the belly. Excess abdominal fat not only reduces testosterone production, but is also associated with a rise in the female hormone estradiol in men. It is unclear if testosterone decline associated with aging disrupts the production of testosterone, or if the accumulation of fat via weight gain leads to lower levels of testosterone. Either way, the reduction of visceral fat via lifestyle changes is beneficial for overall health in men.

Tips And Recommendations To Promote Fat Burning

Besides general dietary and training advice, there are some tips that may add to the whole fat-melting process and help you achieve your goal faster. The following recommendations do not require any critical lifestyle changes and helping you get rid of the protruded stomach, they can also significantly improve your health and wellness.

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Why Are My Legs Fat But I Am Skinny

Seems like you have done all the exercises in the world squats, lunges, leg curls, glute bridges

But that stubborn fat on your legs seems to never go away.

Sounds familiar, right?

Over the past 9 years, working as a personal trainer, I always witnessed this: The fat from the upper body goes away just like that.

Easily.

But then you get to hips, thighs, and belly. Thats when the problems start to arise.

In this article you will learn:

• Why our bodies store more fat on hips, thighs, and belly
• How to get skinny legs
• Effective exercises to lose leg fat

Oh make sure to sign up for my FREE 14-DAY FAT LOSS FOR LIFE COURSE. In this fat loss course, I send you daily emails for 14 days that cover the best nutrition and exercise strategies I know of for losing fat and staying lean for life!

All you need to do is check at the end of the article or on your right

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Is Belly Fat Dangerous

If you carry excess fat around your waist, you are more likely to develop health problems than if you carry fat mainly in your hips and thighs. Belly fat, specifically visceral fat, can significantly increase your chances of developing several serious health issues, including:

• All-cause mortality
• Sleep apnea
• Type 2 diabetes

Understanding the importance of belly fat and the risks associated with a bigger midsection may help you start a program to reduce your belly fat and improve your health.

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Lifestyle Encourages A Fat Belly

According to the Rush University Medical Center, a lack of physical activity encourages the buildup of belly fat. Be more active regularly, by choosing the stairs over the elevator or parking farther out in the lot, but also by consciously exercising most days. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends you exercise at least 150 minutes per week at a moderate intensity. Increase that level of exercise to experience more benefits, which include reduced accumulation of belly fat and disease risk.

Getting too little or too much sleep, less than 5 hours or more than 8 hours per night, also correlates with extra belly fat. Being under too much stress, whether it’s from bills or strict work deadlines, causes your body to pump out more of the hormone cortisol. Cortisol has an effect on where you store your fat and, in many people, it leads to the development of visceral fat.

You’re Feeling Stressed Or Anxious

Feeling stressed can wreak havoc on your body, according to Dr Luke. “It can cause our body to produce the steroid hormone cortisol, which can make you crave sugary foods that provide instant energy and pleasure. Short-term bursts of cortisol are necessary to help us cope with immediate danger, but our body will also release this hormone if we’re feeling stressed or anxious. When our cortisol levels are high for a long amount of time, it can increase the amount of fat you hold in your belly,” explains Dr Luke.

So, what does Clarissa think? She agrees, adding that by calming your stress levels, you are much less likely to crave energy dense foods.

“Try and notice if you reach for foods when you are stressed,” she advises. “Spot this habit and ask yourself, ‘Am I actually hungry, or am I eating for another reason, like stress, boredom or excitement?'”. If your answer is the latter, try a non-food related habit, instead. Why not go for a walk, call a friend or make a cup of tea? Simple.

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You Cant Stay Away From Carbonated Drinks

Shutterstock

A flat stomach with visible abs cannot be achieved if poor eating habits are in place, Gonzalez says. Anything carbonated will produce unwanted bloat. In a study conducted by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, people who drank two or more diet sodas a day had waist sizes that were six times bigger than those who didnt drink diet soda .

You’re Not Exercising Enough

Nobody said shedding belly fat was going to be easy. If your gut is stretching the tape measure too much — for men, that’s more than 40 inches around the waist, and women, more than 35 — you need moderate physical activity for at least 150 minutes a week, or vigorous for 75, and strength training at least twice a week. Check with your doctor first before starting any exercise program.

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You’re Expecting A Quick Fix

Dr Luke explains that it’s easy to become impatient and frustrated when you’re trying to lose weight and haven’t seen the results yet. “But be realistic,” he encourages. “You won’t see results overnight. Your brain’s wiring plays a huge part in resisting changes in lifestyle, and it takes time to establish new habits up to 12 weeks. Stick with it for at least eight weeks and you should notice a change.”

Emily agrees, further emphasising that progress takes time. Disappointed that your progress looks a little different to someone else’s? Remember, one of the biggest misconceptions when trying to lose lower stomach fat is that a flat stomach, or ab definition of any kind, looks the same on everyone.

“Major spoiler they don’t! Id try to avoid chasing the perfect set of abs and instead focus on striving towards a strong core whatever that looks and feels like for you. Remember, even if we all trained the same, we wouldnt all look the same,” she points out.

What Is Belly Fat Anyway

The definition of belly fat might sound obviousit’s clearly the fat that sits around your middle, right? Well, not quite. While belly fat does indeed reside around your midsection, it goes deeper than just below the skin, padding your intestines and other vital organs, Lawrence Cheskin, MD, professor and chair of the department of nutrition and food studies at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, tells Health.

“The reason it’s different than other forms of fat is because it’s more metabolically activeit gets into the bloodstream faster than the stuff under your skin,” Dr. Cheskin explains. “Belly fat has a bad influence on blood cholesterol and blood sugar, and all the metabolic diseases.” So with belly fat also comes a heightened risk of those metabolic diseases, like diabetes.

Belly fat can also be independent from overall body fat, meaning someone who’s not overweight could still have a lot of excess fat around his or her waist. The good news: For most people, when they lose weight, it tends to come off the middle, says Dr. Cheskin. People also tend to shed belly fat a little quicker than other areas, because the tummy is just a temporary holding zone for fat, he adds.

Something to keep in mind: It’s normal to carry some weight around your middle. Dr. Cheskin says a normal waist circumference is less than 40 inches for men and 36 inches for womenbut if you want to trim it down, here are a few things you can do.

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Keep Your Stress Situation In Check

Stress, like that which happens as a result of sleep deprivation, might mess with your weight. Unchecked tension or anxiety can drive you to eat more, especially when it comes to high calorie comfort foods.

Research also shows that high levels of the stress hormone cortisol may encourage your body to store fat around your middle. Warne JP. . Shaping the stress response: Interplay of palatable food choices, glucocorticoids, insulin and abdominal obesity.

Your plan: Seek out stress management techniques that work for your lifestyle.

If you dont have an hour to meditate or do yoga, thats totally fine. There are plenty of short-term, effective strategies for feeling calmer, such as journaling, connecting with friends, or just watching a funny YouTube video.

Excess Sugar Quickly Leads To Fat Gain

Shapiro explained that when our cortisol levels are elevated, we tend to crave sugar because our body wants quick energy in case of an emergency. This added sugar, however, could increase central weight gain.

“So, we get stressed, release cortisol, gain weight in our abdomen and crave more sugar, eat more sugar, and gain more weight,” she said. Her suggestion? Get adequate sleep, eliminate foods that you may be intolerant to , manage stress through mindfulness and meditation, and turn to something besides sugar when you’re feeling stressed or emotional.

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Weight Loss Vs Fat Loss

What has worked for you up until this point, may not be the solution you need anymore. It might be time to shake it up and give your metabolism a little kick in the butt. And it could be that you don’t need to lose weight, you really just need to change your body composition – there’s a difference! Getting a six-pack often requires a more strategic approach in fitness and tightly controlled nutrition to drive results.

Weight loss can be a decrease in either muscle, body, or usually a combination of the two. Whereas changing your body composition is focused primarily on increasing lean mass and decreasing body fat. This could mean the number on the scale goes up or stays the same, even though you are losing body fat!

So throw out your scale and grab your measuring tape, or get your body fat percentage analyzed, and track your progress using a different metric. Your ideal body fat percentage depends on age and genetics, but should fall somewhere around one of the following:

If your current percentage falls below the athlete range, you probably do not need to lose any more weight. But if you are at a higher range and looking to decrease, there are a few things you can try.

Burn fat and get shredded in 90 days! Download our FREE 12 Week Fat Loss Workout Plan and jumpstart your transformation today.

Abdominal Visceral Fat Is Associated Strongly With Metabolic Abnormalities

Although the abdominal subcutaneous fat and the intrahepatocellular fat are associated with a higher risk of mortality in men, only the abdominal visceral fat is a strong independent predictor of mortality in men . The association of abdominal visceral fat with mortality is not unique to men as abdominal visceral fat is also a strong predictor of mortality in obese women . Consequently, it is important to understand the pathogenesis of abdominal visceral fat and its association with metabolic complications.

We have previously described how android obesity may lead to insulin resistance . As the abdominal visceral fat accumulates, macrophages infiltration increases . The infiltrating macrophages are known to release inflammatory cytokines. These cytokines, which include TNF, are capable of causing the surrounding abdominal visceral adipocytes to become insulin resistant and liberate their fatty acids . This flux of fatty acids is detrimental to the liver and pancreas . Note that the flux of fatty acids to the liver also occurs after a bolus feeding of triglycerides. Bolus feeding of fat has been shown to increase unesterified fatty acid concentration in the portal vein . Therefore, it is possible that both the abdominal visceral fat and the frequent consumption of high-fat diet contribute to the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome through the increased flux of fatty acids to the portal venous circulation.

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Cut Back On Carbs Especially Refined

Not all carbohydrates are bad, and you need to keep this in mind when putting together your diet plan. Oftentimes people try to completely eliminate carbohydrates from their diet, but this is not exactly the right approach. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for your body. Weight gain, which is often blamed on carbohydrates, is not due to carbohydrates per se, but due to their excessive content in modern foods.

A distinction is often made between good and bad carbohydrates. Carbs found in sugary drinks and foods, refined grains, white bread, and others are high in calories but low in nutritional value. These refined and simple carbs have been linked to abdominal fat deposition and should be avoided.

Simple carbohydrates trigger a rapid rise in blood sugar levels, often referred to as the blood sugar rollercoaster. This activates insulin, which quickly lowers glucose levels, converting it to fat. This leads to the so-called sugar crash, which aside from weight gain, makes you tired, worsens your mood, and increases your appetite. Not all carbs are simple and refined though. It is recommended to substitute them with complex carbs, which occur in fruits and vegetables, and whole-grain products. Those complex carbs often contain fiber as well, which is helpful for weight loss.