The Truth About Losing Belly Fat
Let’s set the record straight losing belly fat is one of the hardest parts of the body to bring under control. There’s two different kinds of fat that we house in our bodies. One is visible to the eye and the other one is not. Most people concentrate on the chubby belly than can see on the outside and totally forget what lies underneath. Out of sight fat in this case doesn’t mean it should be out of your mind if you expect to get rid of belly fat once and for all.
Without getting to technical here, there’s the visceral and the subcutaneous body fat. The subcutaneous fat is your gut, the part that you see. “Sub” means beneath while “cutaneous” refers to the skin. While you can find this type of fat anywhere, it most often congregates under your arms around your thighs and most noticeably around your belly. Subcutaneous fat also helps to absorb trauma and is used as a backup energy source.
We need this type of fat in our bodies because it helps to insulate the body in colder weather. However, too much of anything is not good for you and this is the case with subcutaneous fat. This is the type of belly fat that sits in places that’s difficult to hide. It’s the type of fat that is responsible for having to buy two seats on an airplane. However, with the proper chubby belly diet and exercise the subcutaneous fat can be reduced and even completely eliminated.
Visceral fat can be a lot more alarming and a lot more taxing to lose. “Viscera” refers to the abdominal area more specifically the internal organs. It’s immersed with the body and winds itself around your liver, heart and other primary organs. Visceral fat has little to do with whether you’re an Ectomorph, Mesomorph or Endomorph. In fact, you could be rail thin and still house to much visceral fat. Think of visceral fat like the part of the submarine that is hidden from view. It’s the hidden belly fat. Too much visceral fat can leave you looking old and literally suck years off your life.
Some symptoms associated with too much visceral fat are high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high insulin levels. It has also been closely link to being a catalyst with the following debilitating health conditions.
- Breast Cancer
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Stroke
- Heart Disease
- Dementia
There is enough scientific reasons to motivate you about losing belly fat for good. However, even if you manage to exercise regularly and manage your diet you can still have too much hidden fat. So what’s the answer?
You must learn to eat the right kinds of fat. There are a core group of healthy fats referred to as monounsaturated fats. Getting these types of fats into your body are the key to trimming off both subcutaneous and the deadly hidden visceral fat. Any diet where the focus is losing belly fat should contain these fats.
What Causes Belly Fat?
It’s no secret that obesity runs rampant in our society today. Of all the types of obesity, that spare tire around our waste seems to be a hands down winner. It’s just as common in women as it is in men. We’ve already discussed many of the health problems that a fat tummy can bring about but what are some of the real causes of belly fat and what is the fastest way to lose belly fat ?
I think it would be fair to say that we definitely know two of them without thinking to hard – lack of exercise and over eating. But did you know other causes are things such as your genetics, stress, menopause, slow metabolism and improper digestion? Let’s explore these in a little bit more depth.
Stress: Stress causes a hormone known as cortisol to be released into the bloodstream. Cortisol is responsible for stimulating excess fat around your belly. Haven’t you noticed that when you are stressed you often feel hungry and you tend to consume more food? Therefore being all stressed out helps you to gain excess weight.
Menopause: Menopause is one of the leading culprits for producing fat bellies in women. The hormonal changes that women experience after menopause helps to bring about a chubby belly.
Slow metabolism: A slow metabolism burns calories slower which causes an accumulation of fat. If you speed up your metabolic rate along with proper nutrition and exercise you can significantly reduce abdominal fat.
Improper digestion: Late night eating can prevent with the proper digestion of your food. Over-eating is just as unhealthy as under-eating that can lead to gastrointestinal problems. If you eat and then scurry off to bed then you will likely increase the fat storage around your abdominal area not to mention the increased chance of nightmares.
Also, a couple more lessor know contributors are alcohol consumption and bad posture. Alcohol decreases your metabolic rate which helps to store fat around the abdominal area. Bad posture can give you what is commonly referred to as a “pot belly” or “paunch” like a kangaroo.
If you really plan on trimming that fat belly then you’re going to have to get on a program that is specifically designed to isolate the chubby belly. You are mistaken if you believe that a regular weight loss program will fix the problem. Instead choose a very targeted program to lose your chubby belly such as a good abs diet that features lots of fibers, carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Also, lots of aerobics, running and jogging is quite beneficial. Aerobic exercises are one of the best fat burning exercises for losing belly fat and keeping it off.
No related posts.
Tagged with: belly fat • Chubby Belly • fastest way to lose belly fat • fat burning exercises • fat tummy • get rid of belly fat • losing belly fat • losing body fat


Great write up. I have found that since i started going through the menopause, my tummy fat has increased at a fast rate. Thanks for your tips on how to reduce this.
Oh boy, now I’m really looking forward to menopause! Thanks for your blog, very informative. Cutting out (or dramatically limiting) grains and sugar will work WONDERS! I agree with Dr. Wayne about sugar. The thing is, bread, grains, cereal all turn to sugar inside. Even good whole organic grains.
.-= Gg@Natural Food Cures´s last blog ..Healing Cancer Naturally – A Holistic Approach =-.