GET RID OF BELLY FAT

You may think belly fat is limited to things you can grab, but it’s the fat you can’t see that’s really a cause for concern. Visceral fat is found deep in the abdomen, surrounding the abdominal organs. Gaining this type of fat has been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other health problems.

Subcutaneous fat, located between the skin and the abdominal wall, is more visible but also less likely to be a health risk.

While a slower metabolism and less physical activity contribute to overall weight gain as you age, those factors don’t directly influence visceral fat accumulation. Heredity may be to blame: You may simply have inherited a tendency to gain weight in your midsection.

Are you an apple or a pear?

Most people agree that being overweight is bad for your health. But now researchers have shown that “how” it is stored in the body is the key link to the risk of future health problems.

Apple-shaped people store body fat around the abdomen and chest, which surrounds internal organs, such as the heart.

Pear-shaped people store fat in the hips and thighs, just below the skin’s surface.

The good news for pears is that the excess fat they store in their lower body isn’t necessarily a risk to their health. Apples, however, have a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, and gallbladder disease. Even when apples and pears have similar body weights, these diseases progress faster and more severely in apples than in pears.

Does your body shape change when you lose weight? It depends on whether you are an apple or a pear. When apples lose weight, they reduce fat in your upper body, so you look different (and reduce your risk of disease). Pears also tend to lose fat in their upper body, so even when they lose weight, their overall shape doesn’t change much. In short, a pear will always be a pear.

The midsection matters

Gaining weight in the abdomen does more harm than simply widening the waist. Too much abdominal fat increases the risk of:

Heart disease

breast cancer

Diabetes

metabolic syndrome

gallbladder problems

high blood pressure

colorectal cancer

Researchers have also discovered that abdominal fat cells aren’t just latent energy waiting to be burned. The cells are active, making hormones and other substances that can affect your health.

Since visceral fat is buried deep in your abdomen, it can seem like a difficult place to reduce fat. It turns out that visceral fat responds well to a regular exercise routine and a healthy diet. Abdominal exercises can help firm your abdominal muscles and flatten your belly.

Exercise, Diet and Whole Grains

* Add time to your workouts (duration): If you’re a beginner, focus on the length of your workouts. Work at a comfortable pace and increase your training time each week by 5 to 10 minutes.
* Increase the intensity – (how hard you train) Add short bursts of speed or resistance to your workouts or practice going faster than you normally do.
* Increase your frequency (how hard you train) – Add a day of cardio after you’ve been exercising for about 2-3 weeks.
* Don’t try to do everything in one day… splitting it up is fine

Changing unhealthy eating habits can help fight belly fat. Read nutrition labels and replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats. Increase your servings of complex carbohydrates like fruits and vegetables, and cut back on simple carbohydrates like white bread and refined pasta. If you need to lose weight, reduce your portion sizes and daily calorie intake.

Whole grains are a great source of fiber and have been shown to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. What makes them even better is that they can actually help reduce fat around the abdomen.

In one study, researchers followed a group of obese men and women. The men and women were randomly assigned to two groups: one was told to get all of their servings from whole grains and the other to avoid whole foods. The whole grain group lost more body fat around their abs than the other group. The USDA recommends that men and women consume a minimum of 3 to 4 ounces of whole grains daily. If you don’t have your handy food scale handy, here are some examples of whole grains that would meet the basic requirements:

5 whole grain crackers

1 package of instant oatmeal

3 cups popped popcorn

1/2 cup cooked brown rice

1/2 cup cooked whole wheat pasta

Research:

* Researchers followed a group of women who lifted weights three times a week for 16 weeks. At the end of that time, the women had significantly reduced abdominal fat (along with overall body fat) and also increased strength and muscle. It’s clear that strength training not only contributes to a slimmer body, but also a slimmer midsection.

*Another study in which obese participants were divided into two groups. One group dieted to lose weight, while the other group combined diet and exercise. At the end of the study, the diet-and-exercise group lost more belly fat than the other group.

alcoholic drinks

Moderate wine consumption has some health benefits, including increasing good cholesterol. Another possible benefit is a lower waist circumference.

In some studies, researchers found that moderate wine drinkers show the least accumulation of abdominal fat among heavy drinkers. If you don’t drink, that doesn’t mean you should start. Alcohol adds extra calories to your diet, so cutting it out can help you lose weight. Moderate to high alcohol and beer and spirits consumption were associated with later high waist circumference, while moderate to high wine consumption may have the opposite effect.

However, if you do drink, this is a good time to evaluate your habits and change them to be a little healthier. Drinking a glass or two of wine may serve you better than hard liquor, especially if you’re watching your weight. Remember to always drink responsibly.

high intensity interval training

A HIIT session consists of a period of warm-up exercise, followed by six to ten repetitions of high-intensity exercise, separated by medium-intensity exercise, and ending with a period of cool-down exercise. High-intensity exercise should be performed at close to maximal intensity. The average exercise should be about half the maximum intensity. The number of repetitions and the duration of each one depends on the exercise. The goal is to do at least six cycles and for the entire HIIT session to last at least fifteen minutes and no more than twenty.

HIIT is known not only to burn fat during training, but even up to 24 hours after training. Another added benefit is that the entire HIIT workout lasts only 15-30 minutes. So this means that you no longer have to take long walks on the treadmill if it was starting to bore you.

It is very important that warm-up and cool-down periods are added to every HIIT training program and due to the high level of intensity, 2 days a week is sufficient.

How to measure abdominal fat:

The easiest way to check for abdominal fat is by measuring your waist. Loop a tape measure around your torso at about the level of your right hipbone (where it intersects with a line falling vertically from the middle of your right armpit). Breathe minimally and make sure you don’t pull the tape measure so hard that it depresses the skin. In women with a BMI of 25 to 34.9, a waist circumference of more than 35 inches is considered high risk, although research suggests that there is an additional health risk at any size greater than 33 inches. A study in the September 2006 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that in women, a large waist was correlated with diabetes risk, even when BMI was in the normal range (18.5-24.9). Since abdominal fat can be a problem despite a normal BMI, health assessments should include both BMI and waist circumference. The relationship between waist circumference and health risk varies by ethnic group.

Body Mass Index (BMI): A ratio of weight in kilograms to the square of height in meters, BMI helps identify people whose weight increases the risk of several conditions, including heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. People with a BMI of 25-29.9 are considered overweight and those with a BMI of 30 or more are considered obese. However, some researchers think that BMI is not always a valid indication of obesity, because it gives misleading results in very muscular or very tall people.

To calculate your BMI, go to http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi

Waist-Hip Ratio: Divide your waist measurement at its narrowest point by your hip measurement at its widest point. As a marker of a person’s abdominal fat, this measurement beats BMI. For women, the risk of heart disease and stroke starts to increase at a ratio of about 0.8.

**inheritance

**hormonal changes

** Weight gain related to aging