Before coming on to this page, didn’t you come across thousands of web pages and even websites dedicated to losing that belly fat? Among these, there are some which sell you the miracle pill that burns fat and sauna belts that get rid of fat, even when you are relaxing! Some may say that a particular type of diet will help you to lose that belly fat while others profess a ‘crunches routine’.
But try as we might, these tricks and pills don’t work; the stubborn fat on the belly refuses to budge! The solution to the fat belly thus, does not lie in quick fixes but deeper in what we eat and how we behave. Here is our effort in giving you the complete truth about Belly Fat.
Why is my Pot belly, bad?
A Pot belly has always been seen as a sign of prosperity in India, even our gods like Ganesha prove as an example. In fact, having a pot belly made one look respectable and as a person of wealth, however with more consciousness about Health and Fitness in India and the entry of the enviable ‘six pack abs’, the fat tummy is losing its takers and all us Indians want a flatter abdomen.
Not only aesthetically, a fat belly had tremendous harmful effects on the body. The fat in the belly is linked to increasing inflammation, hardening of arteries, causing high levels of triglycerides, Diabetes, Stroke and sleep apnea.
But, how did you get that Pot belly?
From the hey days of having plenty of muscles to go bare chested, how did you end up with a belly fat enough to hide your own shoes? We give you some of the common causes of fat belly.
The main Culprits
Basically those with Fat bellies have thin legs and hands, showing an unequal distribution of fat. To understand why we store fat in our bellies, we need to find why we store fat, at all.
Fats, unlike what your latest fad diet told you are not all bad. Fats are mainly concerned with regulating the body temperature, protecting our bones and vital organs and at times of starvation, as a primary source of energy. So, Fats are quite noble that way, but when you eat too much of fats (fried chips, butter and cheese), your body stores these, in the body under the skin as subcutaneous fat or as visceral fat which is deep inside our body around the vital organs, to be used when required.
Further, even carbohydrates when not required by the body are stored as fats in the body. Thus consuming more calories than you can burn, makes you gain weight especially around the middle.
What really causes that Fat Belly is your inactive lifestyle. Too much consumption of fats along with a lifestyle which requires lot of sitting (read in the office, in front of the TV, in the Car and even on the commode) and very little of moving, makes the extra tyre on your belly get more fatter.
Other than diet and activity, Age has also a lot to do with the ‘love handle’ or fat belly as it is fondly known. In women, estrogen, the female sex hormone, ensures that fat is deposited on the hips and thighs, which also explains why more men than women get the fat belly. But with menopause, the lowering of estrogen causes deposition of fat along the abdomen in women too. In men, testosterone levels help in the equal distribution of fat that is found along the legs and hands but with age, even testosterone levels drops and you develop your centre of gravity towards the middle.
What about Stress? Does it have a role too?
Stress has an important role to play in getting you that belly. A study by researchers in Yale University, found that the stress hormone cortisol had a greater effect on women with excess belly fat but who were otherwise lean than those who had more fat deposition on their hips. They found that these women had more incidences of bad moods and felt higher levels of stress. The study concluded that long term exposure to stress had made these women more prone to stress and thus react negatively to normal stressors. Exposure to stress also may lead to fat deposition in their abdominal area.
Another reason why Stress is bad for you, is Cortisol affects the distribution of fat around the internal organs, too much of fat around the organs leads to insulin resistance (which increases your chance of being a diabetic and having obesity), reduced kidney function, suppressed immune function (making you fall sick often) and low secretion of growth hormone (which regulates muscle growth).
Long term effects of stress affect your body’s mechanism of storing fat, makes you overeat and finally making you gain that ugly looking paunch.
Has Beer got anything to do with it?
Yes and No. Beer by itself, is not the sole cause of fat belly. That explains why some non drinkers have a fat belly and some moderate drinkers who don’t.
As mentioned earlier, extra calories are the root cause behind fat bellies and since beer or alcohol in general, is high in calories, (160 ml of wine contains 150 calories, while beer contains 75 calories and vodka 360 calories) they contribute to the bulging belly. It is estimated that an adult drinker gets 10% of total calories through alcohol each day. Thus overeating plus over consumption of alcohol are the causes of fat belly. Not only this, how much you drink in a day also determines whether you will store it as fat.
A Danish study which shows that drinking excessively in one sitting contributed to weight gain compared to drinking over time. For men drinking more than 8 units of alcohol in a day is considered to be binge or excessive drinking while it is 6 units for women.
Make sure you drink within this limit to prevent the ‘beer belly’.
Will crunches help?
We have been forever hearing that sit-ups and crunches are the way to lose that protruding belly. However as many of us discover, doing hundreds of crunches isn’t the answer. This is because the abdominal muscles that are being strengthened by the exercise are the cause for the bulge; it is the Fat i.e. visceral and subcutaneous, that is to blame.
However, crunches do help to keep your abdominal muscles toned, which gives your abdomen a flatter look. The truth however is that spot training which focuses only on certain areas that you want to lose weight, does not work!
So, what works?
Overall Exercise, works. A moderate exercise like walking or jogging done for about 30 minutes is known to make a difference. Experts say that even though spot training doesn’t work, belly fat is the first fat you lose once you start exercising. This is because visceral fat is more metabolically active thus more sensitive to benefits of exercise. Aerobic exercise that includes walking, running, swimming, cycling, is most effective against belly fat. Remember to include strength training with aerobic exercise to build more muscle and strengthen your core.
The other key is Diet. One sure way to lose weight is burn more calories that you eat, thus you must increase your activity and control your diet to see results. Just by paying more attention to what you eat and asking yourself whether you are actually hungry will act as a starting point.
Remember you need to reduce simple carbohydrates like candies, cookies, soft drinks, sweets and eat more complex carbohydrates like vegetables, whole grain cereals, legumes, fruits. Also Mono saturated fats in avocados, olives, nuts like cashew peanut and dark chocolate, are good for getting rid of the belly fat, but remember to have them in small portions as they are high in calories.
What’s too big?
A measurement of your belly through a tape, gives you an accurate reading of whether you are fit or not. In order to measure yourself, lie down and take your abdominal measurement by holding the tape around your belly button and hips area. Do not hold your breath in or out. A reading of more than 40 inches for men and more than 35 inches for women means you have at risk and you need to lose weight.
General tips
Other than diet and exercise, here is what you need to remember,
Posture: It’s not just the fat on your belly that makes you look fat; a pot belly is also accentuated by an equally bad posture. Just by correcting your posture you can reduce how big your belly looks. So remember to stand upright with your shoulder pressed back and your neck upright. Also while sitting remember to sit upright with your back straight and don’t slouch.
Tuck it in: Not just before going on a date or an interview, tucking your stomach in by taking in breaths is a good way of toning your muscles. This along with good posture will largely improve how your belly looks.
No nightly binging: Eating late at night is one way of increasing your belly fat, since very less of the calories you eat at night will be burned, most of them are stored as fat, moreover eating late at night is bad for your digestion. So remember to eat your dinner early and if you feel hungry at night, take a glass of milk, nuts but not junk food.
Go low on sugar: Most of the sweet stuff we eat does little good. The sugar in these foods creates a glucose rush in the blood followed by a large fall. Eating too many sweet foods and foods with simple carbohydrate will make your body store them as fat and create insulin resistance.
So now you know that losing the belly fat is more about eating right, healthier habits and losing weight throughout the body. Once you adopt this holistic approach, losing the extra tyre will be simple and easy!
