Belly Fat Busters 101: Demystifying Visceral Adipose Tissue

This may be a sensitive subject, but we need to get to the gut of it!

Why?

Because you need to know what belly fat is all about so that you can get rid of it. The first thing that you need to know (about fat in general) is that it isn’t only stored beneath the skin. It is also stored deeper inside, where it surrounds your vital organs. This is the more dangerous sort because of its link with cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, stroke, and even cancer. Fat is necessary for the healthy functioning of the body, but as the saying goes, too much of anything is bad!

We gain weight when we consume too much calories and we do not do enough physical activity to compensate for it, causing an energy imbalance. This energy gets stored as fat. Men and women tend to have different fat patterns. Women generally carry more fat around the lower half of their bodies (pear-shaped), while men store more fat in the waist area (apple-shaped). Having an apple-shape means that you have more visceral adipose tissue. It is actually safer to be pear-shaped. Go ladies!

Enough about storing it. Let’s talk about how to get rid of it!

The first thing you need to know is that you can’t just lose belly fat. Putting yourself on the roughest, toughest ab workout regimen will not flatten your belly and give you a 6-pack. You can’t just lose fat in one area. In order to lose fat around your midsection, you must work out your entire body. The best way to do this is through vigorous cardiovascular exercise. Wait. What? Basically, you should be pushing your bodies’ limits and really challenging yourself. Try jogging, swimming, boot camp, Zumba, biking, jumping rope, or running stairs! Anything that gets your heart pumping for at least 30 minutes 5x a week will do.

The journey to a flat stomach begins with overall fat loss and exercise isn’t your only companion. You need to put yourself on a healthy diet with reasonable portions. Eliminate foods that are fatty or fried and stick to lean protein and fruits & vegetables. Maybe even challenge yourself and explore a vegetarian diet. Limit sugary drinks and alcohol (huge source of calories!) and just drink water. Fad diets and weight loss pills are a joke. You might lose weight quickly, but it will be an unhealthy way to go about it. The weight will not stay off and chances are that you will gain it all back and then some. The best way to go about weight loss is slowly. Aim to lose 1-2 pounds (3500-7000 calorie deficit) a week at most and the weight will stay off.

Though the changes to your diet and the additional physical activity will be hard to adjust to at first, you will soon realize how much better you feel. You will have more energy and when you begin to see the changes, it will be encouragement to continue on your path. The truth is that it will not be easy, not by a long stretch of the imagination. It will be difficult, but it will be worth every drop of sweat and sore muscle to be able to look in the mirror and be happy with what you see.