Consistency over time, not perfection at every meal
After losing weight, I was frustrated that I couldn't get rid of that last little ring around my stomach 😊, the last bit of stored fat. So I decided to explore the challenge of getting my body to burn fat better. Here's what I've learned and what I'm seeing has helped me get on track.
Lifestyle blogger
After losing weight, I was frustrated that I couldn't get rid of that last little ring around my stomach, that last bit of stored fat, my belly fat. So I decided to explore the challenge of getting my body to burn belly fat better.
Some fact about belly fat and key reasons belly fat remains:
Here's what I've learned and what I'm seeing has helped me get on track.
The challenge is that when we eat more than we need, the
body likes to store this around the waist, near the liver, where it can quickly get extra energy when it needs it. The disadvantage of this is that a large fat layer around the waist is directly related to both diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We also cannot ignore the fact that few of us enjoy this extra layer, which we strictly do not need.
Scientifically speaking, the fat layer around the waist is as easy to get rid of as it is to gain..., claim the wise..., but why don't we experience it that way?
People who are on a diet to lose weight often focus on eating foods with less fat, eating very lean meat, chicken fillet, turkey fillet for example and so far so good, but we tend to forget that our body needs fat to burn fat, so yes, you have to eat fat, the right fat.
People who are on a diet to lose weight often focus on eating foods with less fat, eating very lean meat, chicken fillet, turkey fillet for example and so far so good, but we tend to forget that our body needs fat to burn fat, so yes, you have to eat fat, the right fat. So make it a rule to include some fat in each of the day's main meals.
Fat from fish and plants is preferable. For example:
We talk a lot about vitamins, but we often forget about
minerals.
Magnesium is essential for more than 300 processes in the body, and research shows that people who eat more than the recommended daily dose of magnesium have lower blood sugar and insulin levels. Women should get 280 mg daily, men need 350 mg.
Eat more greens, leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach and lettuce, add some fish and good sources of fat, then you are not only assured of good fuel for fat burning, you also cover a large part of your mineral needs.
Insulin is the hormone in the body that stores fat, especially belly fat, so keep your blood sugar under control, don't eat too much sugar, eat food with lots of magnesium.
Calcium is important as it reduces fat absorption in the intestine, and stimulates fat cells to release more fat for fat burning, remember the body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium.
The Norwegian Directorate of Health recommends that both women and men over the age of 20 get 800 mg of calcium daily.
To get rid of belly fat, it is primarily the diet that needs to be changed. Exercise will provide many other health benefits and is certainly part of giving the body a boost. But exercise alone is very rarely enough.
If you train a couple of times a week with the aim of helping
your body get rid of the car ring, it may be nice to know that short, intensive sessions have shown a very good effect on this particular fat layer! Walking is often recommended for this purpose, no reason to exhaust yourself in the gym for hours if you don't enjoy it.
You can train too much. Too little recovery, physical and mental stress means that the body holds on to fat reserves. It's about looking at the total load of life. How are you feeling? (Mental training), Are you tired a lot? Do you feel like you have little energy? Are the training sessions hard? (Mental training) Do you feel that the results are not coming? Do you sleep poorly? If you can answer yes to several of these questions, it's time to think about your training program, here there may also be a mental challenge that you should work on.
My struggle is processed food.
One of the big problems in today's society is the abundance of semi-processed and processed foods that we encounter in stores. They appear as "easy" alternatives to cooking your own food, but no one will tell you the disadvantages or the negative effect it has on your health.
Processed foods are often sugar, e-foods, and unhealthy fats in disguise. I'm not saying you need to eliminate everything, or avoid it completely. Who doesn't love frozen pizza or hamburgers? But not everyday. Reduce it minimally, and the idea is to use it to reward yourself from time to time.
Yes I know, it is difficult to cut out these products completely, so think about what you can add to increase the nutritional content and create a balanced meal. Add extra vegetables, salad, more protein, etc., etc. you will soon see the positive effects.
Protein is the body's building block and again important for the body to function properly, in addition, it provides stable blood sugar (which results in less fat storage around the waist) and keeps you full for a long time.
Make sure to get plenty of protein in at least 3 meals a day.
To give your body the best possible foundation for burning fat, there are a few things that are important to keep in mind in your daily diet.
Too little sleep, too much, bad sleep?
Sleep is often something most of us tend to neglect as important. Everyone sleep..., or do they? When it comes to living a healthy life, sleep is as important as everything else, when we sleep badly or to littel, or to much, the body starts to stress, stress releases stress hormones that promote fat storage around the waist.
When you start the day with a bad night behind you, it's much easier to fall back into bad eating habits. When you're a little more tired, your body tends to crave sugar, you often feel more "hungry" when you're tired, and suddenly you find yourself stress eating. Stress eating is often Burger King, frozen pizza, all types of fast food. Yes, exactly, foods with belly fat.
So it's really important to focus on finding the right sleep balance for you. As a rule of thumb, most people need between 7 and 8 hours of good sleep per night. But there's no rule, everyone is different, so you have to listen to your body and find out what's right for you.
I'll leave you with this: Your body is a complex tool that you depend on every day. Do you treat it the same way you would treat a brand new car? Do you follow the service intervals, wash it once a week, polish it, talk to it nicely, because you need it. You depend on it to drive you safely every day... or not, remember that you can buy a new car, your body needs to last a lifetime.
