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Home / Weight loss / Lose belly fat in 5 steps

READING ON WEIGHT LOSS

4 ways your body blocks weight loss

Lose belly fat in 5 steps

Natural weight loss tips

Is there one diet that works for all women?
Reading On Weight loss Show less
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LOSE BELLY FAT IN 5 STEPS

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Reviewed by Dr. Sarika Arora, MD

If you want to get rid of your belly fat, it’s important to know what’s causing
it first.

There’s much more to weight gain and belly fat than simply eating too much or
exercising too little. With a little detective work, you can discover the root
cause of your belly fat.

Not only does belly fat prevent you from looking and feeling your best, but it
can also contribute to heart issues, diabetes and depression. Belly fat is
persistent for many reasons. Examining the physiology that makes you prone to
extra padding around the waist can lead you to have a happier, healthier body.

BELLY FAT IS DIFFERENT THAN OTHER KINDS OF FAT

Belly fat can be difficult to get rid of because it’s made up of two kinds of
fat. Some of it is subcutaneous (under the skin) fat that behaves like other fat
in your body. It may be squishy and jiggly but in general, it’s not nearly as
dangerous as the other kind of belly fat: visceral fat.

Visceral fat packs itself in deeply around the internal organs and can end up
causing dysfunction. The cells of visceral fat are larger than regular fat cells
and are filled with excess triglycerides that funnel free fatty acids directly
into the liver.

Visceral fat can also build up in the pancreas, heart and other vital organs
that are not meant to store fat. This is problematic because it can contribute
to insulin resistance, blood sugar imbalance, high cholesterol and more. It is
stealthy as it accumulates, and can cause challenging health issues in women
regardless of their weight or size.

WHAT’S CAUSING YOUR BELLY FAT?

Research shows that four common physiologic causes are linked to stubborn belly
fat. All are imbalances that result in extra padding around the belly — though
for good reason. Once your specific physiologic block is removed, your body will
able to release the extra weight.

Insulin resistance. High-carb diets that include moderate-to-high amounts of
sugar and alcohol can overtime cause your cells to become resistant to insulin.
This means that the excess sugar you consume gets quickly converted to fat. If
your diet stays the same, this temporary fat storage becomes more permanent,
leading to abdominal obesity.

Adrenal imbalance. When your stress level is chronically high, you may find that
belly fat increases as well. Even in young girls, both kinds of belly fat —
subcutaneous and visceral — increase as a result of negative personal or family
events. Belly fat accumulation is linked to elevated cortisol levels which can
also cause elevated blood sugar. If your body senses you’re in an endless
emergency — even if you think you’re dealing well with stress — you’ll be
hungrier and have more intense cravings for the exact foods that build fat
stores especially around your belly.

Perimenopause/menopause hormone reductions. Lower levels of estrogen and
progesterone around menopause often force your body to shift fat storage to your
belly (menopause belly). As estrogen drops, it stirs up proteins that cause fat
cells to store even more fat. To make this extra fat problem even worse, these
cellular shifts also slow down the fat-burning process.

Estrogen dominance. Too much estrogen in relation to your other sex hormones can
cause “toxic weight gain,” especially around your abdomen. Estrogen levels can
be strongly influenced by hormones and antibiotics in conventionally-raised
meats, dairy products, poisonous chemicals, and hormone disruptors in the
environment. These estrogenic effects can dramatically disrupt metabolism.

If it seems as if your body is working against you when it comes to accumulating
extra belly fat, you’ll be glad to discover that there are solutions to
functionally reverse these metabolic challenges. Shedding belly fat can improve
your confidence and help you feel better physically. But even more important,
losing belly fat can reduce your risk for many serious health issues.

FIVE STEPS TO LOSE BELLY FAT

There are good, proven ways to reduce both kinds of belly fat that will work
best if you can zero in on what’s causing fat to accumulate around your waist,
and your organs.

1. Enjoy the right kinds of carbohydrates. When it comes to losing belly fat,
you want to get the most nutrition out of everything you eat. “White” foods,
breads and sugary sweets break down too quickly and lead to belly fat gain.
Build your meals around colorful vegetables and lean proteins, and choose
fruit for dessert. This step alone can improve insulin sensitivity almost
immediately. Bonus step: find exercise you like that builds muscle tissue.
Try weight training, yoga or interval training (going back and forth between
vigorous and less vigorous exercise in a single session)to add muscle. This
also helps insulin do its job better.
2. Practice stress management daily. Your level of stress has a large impact on
your body composition. Practicing meditation and yoga can help lower
cortisol levels, which will affect how fat is deposited in your body. Try
herbal adrenal support (astragalus root, eleuthero and rhodiola) to help
relieve symptoms and enhance your body’s resilience against stress. Bonus
step: set aside more time for sleeping and getting outside. Studies show
that getting 8 hours of sleep lowers stress and helps keep your hunger
levels and weight in check. Spending more time in nature has proven calming
and anti-stress benefits.
3. Optimize hormone balance. Ease the burden of estrogen changes and hormonal
fluctuation by supplementing with herbal extracts that support reproductive
hormones. Black cohosh, red clover and kudzu can help with estrogen
imbalance while passionflower, chasteberry and wild yam are helpful for
progesterone imbalance. These adaptogenic herbs are beneficial because your
body uses the ingredients only as needed. Bonus step: Supply your body with
the building blocks it needs to make hormones by consuming healthy fats from
foods like wild salmon, walnuts, extra virgin olive oil and avocados.
4. Maintain healthy gut flora every day. The bacteria in your gut play a large
role in your weight. The goal is to keep the right balance between the good
and the bad bugs in your digestive system. Eat fermented foods and
vegetables with lots of fiber to feed the good bacteria. Make sure to take a
high quality probiotic to continually populate your gut with the right flora
to help you digest and metabolize food. Bonus step: increase your intake of
fiber. Foods like asparagus, garlic, onions, lentils and squash provide the
“prebiotics” that feed the good bacteria. “Bad” bacteria thrive on refined
carbs like sugar.
5. Naturally boost your metabolism. You can raise your metabolism to burn more
calories by eating protein at every meal, getting enough calcium in your
diet, and consuming fatty fish like salmon and sardines. Try adding
plant-based supplements with ingredients like Indian sphaeranthus,
mangosteen and green tea to help regulate the accumulation of fat and
increase your body’s natural fat-burning process. Bonus step:
Strength-training is a powerful way to boost metabolism. Try using
inexpensive resistance bands 3-4 times per week.

Begin by implementing a couple of these ideas to start losing your belly fat and
see how you do for a month or so. Once your body is balanced and healthy, it
will be much better prepared to let go of excess belly fat.

References

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/abdominal-obesity-and-your-health

https://www.shape.com/blogs/weight-loss-coach/belly-fat-dangers-normal-weight-women

Hye-Ryun Hong, Jin-Ok Jeong, Ji-Young Kong, Sang-Hee Lee, Seung-Hun Yang,
Chang-Duk Ha, and Hyun-Sik Kang. Effect of walking exercise on abdominal fat,
insulin resistance and serum cytokines in obese women. J Exerc Nutrition
Biochem. 2014 Sep; 18(3): 277–285. Published online 2014 Sep 10. doi:
10.5717/jenb.2014.18.3.277.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4241903/. Accessed 11.02.17.

Carrie J. Donoho, Marc J. Weigensberg, B. Adar Emken, Ja-Wen Hsu,2 and Donna
Spruijt-Metz. Stress and abdominal Fat: Preliminary Evidence of Moderation by
the Cortisol awakening Response in Hispanic Peripubertal Girls. Obesity (Silver
Spring). 2011 May; 19(5): 946–952.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3107005/. Accessed 11.02.17

https://www.startribune.com/mayo-clinic-study-finds-explanation-for-postmenopausal-belly-fat/205701571/

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/natasha-turner-nd/estrogen-dominance-_b_2661444.html

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/boost-your-metabolism/slide/6

Last Updated: November 10, 2022

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