If You’re Looking For A Nonsurgical Option
“SculpSure, a noninvasive laser treatment, does an excellent job of permanently removing fluffy fat,” Chasin says. “SculpSure works by heating fat cells just beyond their limit, causing them to die and be permanently removed by the body’s natural metabolism.”
The American Board of Cosmetic Surgery states that SculpSure is cleared by the Food and Drug Administration to be used on the abdomen and flanks , but it can be used on other areas. Typically, results are noticeable after about six weeks, with end results arriving after 12 weeks.
Tactic #: Try Fasted Training
Fasted weight training and cardio is getting more and more popular.
Part of this is piggybacking on the growing popularity of intermittent fasting, but fasted training has benefits beyond just fasting itself.
You see, when youre in a fasted state , your insulin levels are lower than they are during periods where youve eaten more recently.
As we discussed before, stubborn fat is more insulin sensitive than regular fat, which means that having less insulin in your blood stream while training can improve the rate of both lipolysis and fat oxidization.
In addition to the impact of insulin, you also tend to get better blood flow to the abdominal region during fasted training, which can be helpful for specifically reducing lower stomach fat.
If youd like to read more about fasted training, you can take a look at my more detailed article here.
You Don’t Give Yourself Enough Tlc
Constantly reprimanding yourself about your diet and ripping yourself apart over one indulgence is only going to make things worse. A study in the Journal of Health Psychology has shown that people who suffer from depression are actually more at risk for obesity than those who do not. So, make sure you’re kind to yourself and cut yourself some slack.
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Tactic #: Supplement With Yohimbine
Finally, there are certain supplements that have been shown to help reduce fat from your lower stomach and other stubborn areas.
One of the most effective of these is yohimbine, which studies have shown is particularly effective at targeting stubborn fat.
However, in order for it to be effective, you need to take yohimbine in a fasted state. This is because insulin actually inhibits yohimbine from working properly.
Also, I should note that yohimbine has been shown to increase blood pressure, so if you suffer from high blood pressure then you should probably avoid taking it.
In terms of specific brands, I would recommend Primaforce Yohimbine,
Simple Ways You Can Blast Stubborn Belly Fat
Annoyingly, belly fat is harder to lose than any other area of fat.
And unfortunately banishing your mid section doesnt happen over night. Its down to the food you eat and the exercises you choose.
But the good news is, The Healthy Mummy is here to help you! Weve gathered all of our helpful belly-busting information for you. Heres how to tone your tummy
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The Risks Of Excess Abdominal Fat
“Women are more prone to gain weight around the hips and thighs, but women can also be prone to abdominal fat gain — as can men,” nutritionist Fiona Tuck told HuffPost Australia.
“When the waist thickens and begins to exceed hip girth, it can lead to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, raised triglycerides and high blood pressure.”
“In a way, it’s good that we naturally don’t want stomach fat to be there because carrying extra weight around our abdominal area is much less healthy for us,” accredited practising dietitian and sports dietitian Chloe McLeod said.
“This is where it’s called visceral fat, which is in and around our organs — whereas the fat present all over our body under our skin is subcutaneous fat. When there’s high amounts of visceral fat, it increases the risk of developing those diseases like metabolic syndrome and heart disease. Being aware of, and managing, this is incredibly important.”
So why is stomach fat so hard to get rid of for many people?
“Fat may gather here for a number of different reasons, such as high stress levels, hormonal imbalance, ageing and a poor diet high in alcohol, refined carbohydrates and saturated fats,” Tuck said.
You’re Doing The Wrong Exercises
Those sit-ups arent enough. You also need weight training to build muscle. More muscle means more calorie burning.
That said, if you can only do one exercise, choose aerobic exercise . It works best for burning fat. Make it a habit, and slowly ratchet up the intensity to get the results youre after.
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How Do You Get Rid Of Your Hard Beer Belly
Now that you know whats causing your hard stomach fatand the risks it posesits time to tell it to get lost, literally. One study in the journal Obesity found that when people with extra body fat but a normal Body Mass Index lost five percent of their body weight, visceral fat dropped by 11 percent. If you weigh 200 pounds, five percent of your body weight is only 10 pounds.
There are, as you no doubt know, many healthy ways to lose five percent of your body weight. Start with these easy tips for burning more fat, making eating easier by eating foods that are closer to nature, and by minding your microbiome, those all-important bacteria that help your body out in so many ways .
Emerging research also suggests that sodium-linked glucose transport inhibitors, which are used to treat people with diabetes, can reduce visceral fat and generally help you lose weight. “This does point to the possibility that there may be some physiological mechanisms that target visceral adiposity,” Dr. Barbara Kahn, the George Richards Minot Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, told Harvard Health Watch.
If do you have a hard beer belly, don’t panic. But you should take it as a sign that now is a good time to make a few changes to your lifestyle that will bring your belly back to where you and your health both want it.
If You’re Looking For A Targeted Workout
“While you can do all the sit-ups you want, the best bet to banish this fat is to do high-intensity interval trainingI love The Fhitting Room!to burn this subcutaneous fat,” says Brooke Alpert, MS, RD, CDN, a nationally recognized nutrition expert and founder of B Nutritious. Alpert adds that diet is key too. “Since this fat is associated with hormones, the best way to get rid of it is to cut down on sugar consumption. Specifically, liquid sugar in the form of soda, juice, and alcohol.”
“When it comes to exercise, remember that subcutaneous fat covers the muscle,” adds Parris. “As an example, abs are muscle. Spot exercises like crunches/sit-ups can tone and define the abdominal muscle, but in order to see the definition of these muscles, youll need to reduce subcutaneous fat in the spot area first. In short, a combination of aerobic and strength training is best.”
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You’re Eating Too Much Sugar Refined Carbohydrates And Salt
Even if you workout six days a week or control your calorie intake, if those calories are coming from junk foods, it can make overall weight and abdominal fat harder to shift. This is because not all calories are created equal.
“Eating a diet high in sugar, refined carbohydrates and alcohol may lead to a fatty liver and weight gain around the midsection,” Tuck said. “Cravings for high fat, high sugar foods can also be a result of high cortisol levels.”
Solution: reduce sugar and refined carbohydrate intake, and check your stress levels.
“Aim for a 12-hour fast at night after eating and before breakfast. So, if you eat at 7pm, eat breakfast no earlier than 7am. This helps give the digestive system a rest and may be beneficial to those with insulin resistance and high blood lipids,” Tuck said.
“Increase green leafy veggies to increase magnesium in the diet as this can help with stress and blood sugar balance.
“Eat three regular meals and include protein, complex carbs and healthy fats to increase satiety and reduce the risk of snacking or overeating.”
Combine Exercise And Diet Change To Make A Bigger Impact
“Combining diet and exercise helps with your efforts exponentially when it comes to visceral body fat. Low-carb diets have been shown to be particularly effective, but you’ll want to talk to your doctor before you take on a new fitness routine,” Chasin recommends. Alpert agrees: “Add green tea to your diet, as the antioxidants are known to promote belly fat loss.”
A 2020 study examined the effectiveness of exercise on reducing accumulated fat. The results showed that participating in moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise four times per week, 50 minutes per session, for 22 weeks had a positive effect on the reduction of weight as well as the accumulation of subcutaneous and visceral fat.
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How Does Belly Fat Accumulate
Were still learning about the exact mechanisms behind how we accumulate stomach fat, especially visceral fat, but we do know that stress and the hormone cortisol plays an important role, regardless of our age or life stage. In addition to this, a poor diet which is high in fast-releasing carbs and low in protein, combined with alcohol consumption, a lack of exercise and disturbed sleep will all influence our girth.
Another factor is our genetic make-up, researchers believe our genes influence how effectively we burn energy, our behaviour and our risk of developing obesity and associated diseases.
It’s Not Because Your Body Just Doesn’t Want To Grow Out Of That Cummerbund
Voyagerix/ShutterstockFor your health and for your wallet, losing weight is always a good choice. But even after months at the gym and plenty of progress, there always seems to be something amiss, an anatomical anomaly which fails to reflect all the hard work that you put in. This, of course, is your gut. Why is it that stomach fat is always so hard to lose?
Cosmopolitanspoke to an expert on the topic, Dr. Luke James, a staffed specialist from the U.K. health insurance companyBupa. Ultimately, a lot of it comes down to the specific type of fat which tends to congregate around your navel, a body fat which is tough to melt away.
To put it simply: its more difficult to shift belly fat because it has a higher amount of fat cells that dont respond as easily to the fat-breakdown process , says James.
When it comes to fat, the human body has two types: alpha and beta cells. These two breeds handle your latest workout routine differently due to their designed purpose alpha cells are designed to restrict blood flow to cells and stymy the fat-burning process, while beta cells increase blood flow and stimulate the fat-burning process.
Someones concentration of alpha versus beta cells comes down to genetics, so some people may be more predisposed to weight loss than others. This is by evolutionary design, but when it comes to dropping weight, it can make certain areas slim down quicker than others.
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You’re Just Too Into Food
That under-skin belly fat and the fat under your abdominal muscles and around vital organs need to go. Visceral fat makes cardiovascular disease and diabetes more likely. It can also lead to high blood pressure and more. Eating too much is at least partly to blame for that flab. Limiting your portions can keep visceral fat down.
How To Burn Belly Fat
Youve probably seen a ton of trendy diets and food ads that supposedly turn you into a fat-burning machine! But burning fat and losing fat aren’t quite the same thing. Burning fat is simply using fat as a source of fuel. This doesn’t mean that you are dropping weight though. Your body is always burning a little bit of fat, even at rest. And oftentimes you replace this fat with the calories you eat – causing no loss in overall fat mass.
Fat loss on the other hand is the result of cutting calories. If you eat less than you burn, your body fat stores do not get replaced and this results in overall weight loss/decreases in fat mass. But this is not always a perfect science of calories in vs. calories out. When it comes to body composition , it gets a little more complicated. The type of workout you are doing, your diet, and lifestyle factors can all affect how successful you are at losing fatty tissue.
And to make things harder, you cannot spot reduce fat – meaning when you do lose body fat it tends to come from all over, not just your belly fat. This can make the process feel like it takes even longer since small reductions in fat throughout your body are much harder to visually see than the fat loss from one specific area.
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You’re Eating Too Few Calories
Years of yo yo dieting can take its toll. “It plummets the metabolic rate and means, when you do eat a normally amount of calories again, that your baseline is lower,” Claire explains. Which means? Your metabolism will be slower, youll be less efficient at burning the calories you consume and more likely to hold onto to body fat. Thats why fad diets should be avoided.
Nutritionist Lisa Borg, agrees, adding that it’s harder to shed pockets of fat that result from chronic intake of excess calories. “For those yo-yo dieters, fat tends to be held onto more readily because the body has experienced ‘famine’ too many times, and sparing these deposits is therefore pro-survival.”
How To Lose Inner Thigh Fat
How do you get rid of the inner thigh fat that stubborn little area that seems to stick no matter what you do?
I know that the inner thighs are a problem area for many women and a very challenging part to slim down, which is why Ive decided to do a separate post on it.
A lot of you have told me that workouts that youve previously done only made things worse and caused your thighs to get bigger instead of making them smaller.
The truth is, there is a lot of misinformation about the right way to lose inner thigh fat, including doing gym machine exercises, as the best workouts for inner thighs.
Unfortunately, those exercises do not really work, as you cannot spot reduce fat.
It took me a couple of years to figure out the best ways to slim down legs and especially how to get rid of inner thigh fat.
In this blog post, Ill explain how to lose slim inner thighs and get leaner and what are the most common mistakes you should avoid making when trying to get rid of inner thigh fat.
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You Consume Sugary Foods And Drinks
A ten-week study was done on overweight and obese people who consumed 25% of their calories as fructose-sweetened beverages . The study aimed to assess the relative effects of dietary sugars during sustained consumption in human beings. The people experienced a decrease in insulin sensitivity, as well as an increase in belly fat .
The reason for the increase in belly fat is that taking fructose in high amounts can reduce fat-burning properties in people and your metabolism. Reduced-fat burning properties and metabolism will result in your body not being able to burn most of the calories you consume, and as a result, the extra calories are stored in the stomach leading to lower belly fat.
Visceral Fat More Of A Health Concern Than Subcutaneous Fat
Though the term might sound dated, “middle-age spread” is a greater concern than ever. As people go through their middle years, their proportion of fat to body weight tends to increase more so in women than men. Extra pounds tend to park themselves around the midsection.
At one time, we might have accepted these changes as an inevitable fact of aging. But we’ve now been put on notice that as our waistlines grow, so do our health risks. Abdominal, or visceral, fat is of particular concern because it’s a key player in a variety of health problems much more so than subcutaneous fat, the kind you can grasp with your hand. Visceral fat, on the other hand, lies out of reach, deep within the abdominal cavity, where it pads the spaces between our abdominal organs.
Visceral fat has been linked to metabolic disturbances and increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. In women, it is also associated with breast cancer and the need for gallbladder surgery.
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You’re Not Sleeping Enough
Sleep duration is associated with elevated levels of the hormone ghrelin and reduced circulating levels of leptin, the hormone that supresses our appetite. Because of this, not sleeping can lead to increased levels of appetite and hunger and an expanding portion of belly fat.
By getting enough sleep your body will reset its hormones and youll make better food choices, confirms Dr Michael Mosley. Easier said than done, we know!
If youre struggling to get some shut eye, get to the root of whats causing your insomnia and learn how to help yourself nod off using expert wellbeing techniques. If youre in the following situation, however, youll be in no doubt as to whats causing your sleeplessness