Belly Fat… 5 Ways To Reduce It!

Excess belly fat is a major concern for a lot of women… myself included! As we age, belly fat can be harder and harder to shed as our core constitution changes. Decreasing metabolisms and fluctuating hormones definitely don’t help, but there are some practical changes we can make to our lifestyles that will help us get on top of our increasing belly size.

Before we dive in, stop beating yourself up! A little belly fat is completely normal. 

I’m so excited to share 5 factors that contribute to excess belly fat (and what you can do to counteract the effects). These factors are:

• exercise

• insulin

• stress

• protein

• menopause

Exercising Properly For Belly Fat Reduction

A big mistake I was making when trying to lose belly fat was exercising in the wrong way. It can be extremely frustrating when you are training hard and not seeing any results. I remember telling a classmate at the gym that it didn’t matter what I did, my marshmallow belly was here to stay. The logical leap I made was that by exercising hard and repetitively, I would see some drastic changes. I learned quickly this was not the case.

We can’t spot reduce fat; in that we can’t specifically target one area of our body for weight loss. The solution to this is to vary our exercise routines to include a combination of cardio to boost our metabolism and increase heart rate and strength training to build muscle.

One more important area to focus on is the core. Regardless of whether we can see it or not, it’s also vital to develop a strong core. The layer of fat that sits over our abdominal wall is held in place by our core, so a weaker core will make our stomachs droop lower than they need to be, making our bellies look bigger. A stronger core will also help to relieve back pain, improve balance and stability and pretty much allows the body to function properly.

Regulating Insulin

The second biggest mistake we can make that leads to increased belly fat is neglecting to regulate our insulin.

When we digest our food, our bodies turn that food into glucose. This glucose is then regulated with insulin (which we already have in our bodies) that helps turn the glucose into energy for our bodies to use. The problems start when there is an excess of glucose that can’t be used by our bodies and is stored as fat instead for later use. I will give you an analogy that helps put this into perspective.

Insulin is the “taxi,” glucose is the “passenger,” and your body’s cells are the “shops” the “passenger” wants to go to. The taxi (insulin) picks up the passenger (glucose) and drives it to the shop (cell), where it can then be used for energy immediately, or stocked on the shop shelves for later use.

The problem is that if you store too much of this extra energy and never burn it, you end up with larger and larger fat stores, sitting on the shelf for later use.

So, what’s the solution? Insulin reacts differently depending on the foods you choose to eat. Foods rich in refined carbohydrates and simple sugars, such as white bread, white rice, and sugary cereals, cause a rapid rise in blood sugar and insulin levels, leading to an increase in belly fat storage. As a rule, it’s best to avoid, reduce or eliminate these types of food.

On the other hand, foods high in protein, healthy fats, and fiber slow the breakdown of sugar into the bloodstream, helping blood sugar levels remain fairly consistent during the day and preventing spikes in insulin.

Minimizing Stress

I know that I have talked about this before, but stress is the number one “dot” that gets connected to most illnesses and is the prime contributor to belly fat. Eliminating stress from your life will help you feel better in so many ways and one of them is to reduce belly fat.

Our bodies natural stress response is to kick adrenaline production into high gear to help us navigate tricky situations. Adrenaline causes fatty acids to be rapidly released, which was helpful when we were hunter/gatherers and we really had to hightail it out of a situation.

Today’s stressors, however, require a little less physical exertion:

• work

• encroaching deadlines

• relationships

• quarantine (during the pandemic)

While stressful, these examples don’t really allow us to burn that new energy off, and as we know, energy not used is stored for later use as fat. It’s a vicious cycle.

To compound these effects, our adrenal glands release the hormone cortisol to help collect and store the unused fatty acids.

Sadly, cortisol loves your belly, so it tends to deposit fat there.

This is where exercise comes in. Exercise it the best way to de-stress along with meditation and creativity to reduce your cortisol levels.

Increase Protein Intake

Getting enough of the right types of food each day will help lead to a decreased intake of calories. Making sure protein-rich foods are chief among those will help you to feel full and satisfied for longer. This is supported by several studies which observed those who included protein in their diets and those who skimped. The results overwhelmingly pointed to the fact that high protein diets yielded less excess fat purely by virtue.

My goal is to consume 30g of protein 3 times a day. Here is an example: I use nuts, seeds, grass-fed beef, organic chicken, wild-caught fish, pasture raised eggs and collagen powder (you can add chicken, beef, fish). I eliminate white bread, rice, sugar, cookies, and cakes. In their place, I supplement with increased good fats and oils such as coconut and avocado. Coconut butter and also ghee are healthier fats that enhance food flavors.

Menopause… a.k.a Second Puberty

Just like during puberty, menopause causes massive fluctuations and imbalances with our hormones and storing fat is one of the side effects. Unlike puberty, where our hormones are signaling fat to be stored in our hips, menopausal hormones send the fat right to our abdomen. Thank you, Mother Nature… not!

This is a topic that needs its own blog post, but to help you regulate menopause symptoms, everything I have outlined above will make a huge difference. Exercise, eating right and de-stressing will help you start to see improvement.

And for those of you that are with me in the post-menopause category, the same steps will help you too!

Lifestyle Is Key!

There are no quick and easy fixes for belly fat reduction without going under the knife. This can be extremely frustrating, especially if you are trying everything you can to no avail.

If we can make some simple, though effective, adjustments to our lifestyle, we will be able to keep our belly size in check. I really hope this has helped improve your understanding of how and why we gain belly fat and how you can make some positive changes.