A pot belly... love handles... the spare tire... call it what you will. It seems to be the area of your body that you'd really like to do something about. Read on, and I'll explain why belly fat is so bad, and what you can do to get rid of it.
Not only is a firm, flat stomach the ultimate symbol of sex appeal, researchers have found that losing abdominal fat is one of the most important steps you can take to stay healthy for life. Most people realize that excess fat is unhealthy, but the key is where the fat is distributed. People with apple-shaped bodies (fattest in the abdomen) have a greater risk of heart disease and diabetes than those with pear shapes (fattest in the hips, buttocks, and thighs).
There are two main types of fat in the stomach area. Visceral (pronounced viss-er-al) fat is stored deep inside your body. It surrounds and protects your internal organs. Subcutaneous (pronounced sub-cue-tain-ee-us) fat, on the other hand, is stored just under your skin. It's the stuff that wobbles when you jump up and down.
What's the best way to lose belly fat?
It won't surprise you to learn that the best way to lose abdominal fat is to eat right and exercise regularly. And there's a growing body of research to show that the fastest way to burn off the fat from your belly is with a combination of weight training and aerobic exercise.
A good example comes from research published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism [4]. For the study, researchers compared the effectiveness of two exercise and diet programs. Subjects taking part in the study were assigned to one of two groups.
Group one followed a diet based on the traditional food guide pyramid (50-55% carbohydrate; 15-20% protein; less than 30% fat). They also did cardiovascular exercise 4-6 days per week at 50-75% of their maximal heart rate. Each workout lasted 30-60 minutes.
Group two followed a diet that was higher in protein and lower in carbohydrate and fat. Their exercise program consisted of alternating days of resistance and cardiovascular interval training six days per week.
Body composition was assessed by dual x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) before and after the 12-week training program. DEXA is an extremely accurate way to measure changes in body fat. It’s far more reliable than the skin fold calipers or body fat scales often used in health clubs.
And the result?
Subjects in group two (remember, these were the people who lifted weights, did more intense cardio, and ate more protein) lost more fat overall (-20.6%) than the normal group (-10.1%). They also gained 2 pounds of muscle (0.9 kilograms) while the cardio-only group, not surprisingly, lost muscle.
More interesting still, abdominal fat dropped by 26% in group two, but by just 13.5% in group one. In other words, subjects in group two lost almost twice as much belly fat as those in group one.
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