Can'T Lose Weight In Belly

About two years ago, I was in the store with my two kids and someone asked me when I was due. I looked down at my belly and said, I'm not. This was the second time I'd been asked about my baby; the first time was in college after gaining 40 pounds. I felt pretty defeated. My entire life, I've always had a little belly and have always felt self-conscious. I exercise regularly and eat healthy, but came to accept that this is how my body is meant to look. Or is it?

In college, I started running and doing a ton of yoga. I cleaned up my junk food vegan diet and ended up losing the weight, but still had belly fat. I got married, had two children, gained and lost about 45 to 50 pounds each time, and by then, my belly was still squishy (my son's loving words).

By 2016, I was about to turn 40 and was done having kids. I was ready to go all in and pursue my goal of losing my belly fat. I wanted to see what would happen if I put in 110 percent effort with exercise and diet, so in July 2016, I decided to give CrossFit a try. After eight months, I actually gained weight. Some of it was muscle, which I was so psyched about, but some of it was body fat because CrossFit made me so hungry that I just wanted to eat all day.

Mistakes People Make When Trying To Lose Belly Fat

I didn't want to give up CrossFit because I loved the strength and confidence I had gained, but it was clear that I needed to change something. In February 2017, I came across videos about intermittent fasting (IF). I learned about all the benefits of IF — disease prevention, improved digestion and decreased bloating, more mental clarity, and weight loss. Intermittent fasting isn't a diet; it's a lifestyle. You choose a period of time during the day to eat (eating window) and a period of time to not eat (fasting window). I chose the 16:8 plan, where you fast for 16 hours, and eat for eight — it made the most sense for my schedule.

I was shocked that just by skipping breakfast and eating from noon until 8 p.m., after just one month, I looked slimmer. I kept going. After three months, I looked even leaner, and by month six of IF, I'll never forget looking in the mirror and seeing my body change even more. This was something I was able to maintain because by one year of intermittent fasting, I was able to keep the belly fat off.

Now for the science talk. Why has intermittent fasting been so successful for me when everything else I've tried has failed me? Aside from this being a sustainable lifestyle, certified dietitian Leslie Langevin, MS, RD, CD, of Whole Health Nutrition says that intermittent fasting gets your body out of 'storage mode' and mobilizes fat stores for energy. This means that without having a constant food source, your body will dip into the fat it already has stored as its energy source, and in my case, that fat was in my belly.

Learn How To Lose Belly Fat In 3 Steps!

Dr. Daryl Gioffre, a celebrity nutritionist and longevity expert who specializes in the alkaline diet, adds that when you fast for 16 hours, Your blood sugar and insulin levels lower, and the human growth hormone increases. He says this increases your metabolic rate (by up to 14 percent in some people), and when this happens, your body has no other choice but to start burning your body's stored fat for energy.

He goes on to say that belly fat can be stubborn to lose because the abdominal area contains more alpha-2 receptors that slow down your ability to burn fat, compared to beta-2 receptors that increase your fat burning potential. IF is powerful because lower insulin levels activate your b-2 receptors and shut down your a-2 receptors, allowing you to burn targeted fat in your belly area.

Stephanie Ferrari, MS, RDN, a registered dietitian with Fresh Communications shares that in a 2014 scientific review on intermittent fasting, the study participants lost four to seven percent of their waist circumference. Stephanie says, This means they lost a lot of belly fat, which is the harmful fat in the abdominal cavity that can lead to disease. While neither Dr. Gioffre and Ferrari would recommend IF for pregnant or nursing women or for people with a history of eating disorders, IF can be a powerful weight-loss tool for many individuals.

How To Lose Stubborn Belly Fat (the Truth

My husband, four CrossFit buddies, and two neighbors saw my success and decided to give it a try, too — they've all experienced weight loss, plus the other benefits including improved digestion, decreased bloating, more energy, and mental clarity. If you've tried just about everything to lose weight and you're sick of dieting and crazy-intense exercise programs you can't sustain, this lifestyle change could be the key to your success and happiness. Check out the info below on IF to learn more about it. If you're considering intermittent fasting, check with your doctor first.

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Now we’ve stressed that, if you do want to lose weight (we hope for the right reasons, such as for better health and reducing the risk of developing certain conditions), then it's always best to come at it from an empowered, positive place.

So, back to that stubborn stomach fat - which sadly, we have to tell you - has been scientifically proven to be harder to shift than fat in other areas of your body. But aside from any aesthetic motivations you have for wanting to lose stomach fat, we must also note that carrying excess weight around your abdomen can impact your long-term health – putting you at a greater risk of developing conditions like heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Reasons You're Not Losing Belly Fat

You get excess stomach fat, essentially, fat around the belly occurs because of the same reason you get fat build-up anywhere on your body: when you’re consuming more energy than the body is using. Excess energy = more fat stores.

Fun fact: on average, women have 6 to 11% more body fat than men. Studies show oestrogen reduces a woman's ability to burn energy after eating, resulting in more fat being stored around the body. The most historical - and likely - reason for this, say our experts, is to prime women for childbearing.

Curious as to why it's so difficult to lose weight around our abdomens then? We asked Dr Luke James from Bupa UK, nutritionist Lisa Borg of Nutritional Essence and personal trainers Claire and James Davis of The Midlife Mentors to explain why it's such a struggle. Honestly, these nine reasons clear up *so* much…

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Dr James explains that we all carry two fat cells in our body: alpha and beta, ” and that they react differently to lipolysis (the breaking down of fat).

Alpha cells respond better and accelerate the process, whereas beta cells don’t respond as favourably and make it harder to lose the fat, he notes.

Because different areas of the body have different amounts of each of these cells - with some parts having a higher amount of alpha cells than beta, and vice versa - the areas with more beta fat cells will inevitably be more difficult to shed excess fat.

Ways To Lose Lower Belly Fat Once And For All

When you’re actively trying to lose fat, you may see changes on your legs, face and arms first because these areas have more alpha cells, says Dr James. Conversely, he pointed to areas like the hips, thighs and belly as having more beta cells, therefore making them harder to lose weight from.

To put it simply: it’s more difficult to shift belly fat because it has a higher amount of fat cells that don’t respond as easily to the fat-breakdown process.

The Davis’ say that the majority of the population is consuming too much sugar. They explain how studies have suggested that “there’s a link between high sugar intake and holding onto belly fat in particular.”

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Plus, as women age, they become more insulin-resistant, making it harder to process these sugars. That's why you become even more prone to store it down as belly fat, Claire Davis adds.

Science lesson pt 2: some studies show the hormone leptin - which signals to your brain that you’re full - decreases as women age. Therefore, many women find they’re hungrier, more frequently, ” shares James Davis.

Let’s be real for

How To Lose 5 Pounds Of Belly Fat In 30 Days