23 May Why Belly Fat is a Health Risk and How to Lose It

Myth #1 – To lose belly fat you must exercise the abdominal muscles.

Patients still proudly tell me they do crunches to lose belly fat.  Exercising the abdominal muscles with crunches, sit ups, and oblique twists does not target belly fat.

Myth #2 – Only obese people have belly fat.

Everybody has belly fat.  Even some thin people have too much belly fat.  This is called the “skinny-fat syndrome.”

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The fat we see, otherwise known as subcutaneous fat, is not the real problem.  The major health risk is fat in the internal organs such as the liver and pancreas.  This type of fat is referred to as Visceral fat.  Visceral fat is associated with Hypertension, Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease, Breast Cancer, and Colon Cancer.

Refer to this article for more information on Obesity risks.   http://www.nuvitalityhealth.com/obesity-just-the-facts/

During my residency my health was not a priority.  Ironic isn’t it.  I slept occasionally , never exercised, and ate mostly quick junk food.  My body and health paid the price.  I was “skinny fat.”  My frame is small and I did not have much muscle.  It was easy to hide my fat because I did not look big.  My belly and internal organs told a different story, however.  After finishing my residency I struggled to eat healthy and exercise consistently.  Old habits are difficult to change.  The 8 steps below transformed my life.

Easy ways to measure belly fat.

1.  Waist circumference – Women should maintain a waist of < 35” and men < 40”

2.  Hip-to-waist ratio – Women should maintain < 0.8 and men < 0.9
http://www.nuvitalityhealth.com/whr-vs-bmi-for-cardiovascular-risk-prediction/

Strategies to lose belly fat

1. Calories reduction – Calorie deficits cause belly fat loss.  Belly fat is lost as the result of fat loss over the entire body.  How quickly you lose belly fat depends on calorie restriction, exercise time, exercise intensity, and genetics.
   http://www.nuvitalityhealth.com/2-step-simple-healthy-diet/
   http://www.nuvitalityhealth.com/efficacy-of-the-6-major-weight-loss-diet-types/
2. Increase dietary fiber to approximately 20 gm fiber/day with fruits ,vegetables, and whole grains.
3. Avoid trans-fatty acids and limit animal sources of saturated fats.  Eat foods rich in good fats like that found in Tuna, Salmon, Avocados, nuts, soybeans, and even limited amounts of dark chocolate.
4. Exercise most days of the week.  Your goal is 45 minutes, 5 days a week, but anything is better that nothing.  Start with an activity you are 90% sure you can do most days of the week.  It may be 3 minutes of walking a day.  The important point is to start.  Once you develop the habit, it will be much easier to add time.
5. Increase your water intake, especially ice water.  Your body must burn calories to maintain your core body temperature.
6. Get adequate sleep.  One study found that individuals that slept 6-7 hours a night over a 5 year period lost more visceral fat than those that slept only 5 hours.
   http://www.nuvitalityhealth.com/how-much-sleep-should-we-be-getting/
   http://www.nuvitalityhealth.com/which-is-worse-one-night-of-no-sleep-or-6-months-of-a-high-fat-diet/
7. Stress reduction – Exercising, meditation, relaxing with friends all help.  The real issue is not that you have stress.  We all have stress.  The real issue is what you do with your stress.  Do you use it to motivate yourself to make positive change or do you allow it to stifle you?
8. Enroll the help of an accountability partner.  Get a friend to exercise with you.  Set goals and share them with your accountability partner.  Give your partner permission to do what it takes to help you.