This seems to be the focus of many of the people I work with. It seems many people are not happy with their waistline and when asked if they could change any one part of their body, most focus on this area as their main concern. Having a trim and toned middle section is the idealized image of the fit and healthy individual. So, it is not surprising that many people strive for this. If you open any fitness magazine I am willing to bet that there is at least one article addressing this very concern. There are many different theories, diets and exercises designed to shrink your waistline and tone your abs.
Health Risks Associated with an Increased Waistline
Having a smaller waist is not just about improving your image. There are also some medical reasons why improving in this area can be beneficial to you health. Even at a healthy weight, excess fat carried around the waist can increase your risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, type-2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, pulmonary disease, and even dementia .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that exceeding the following waist circumference can increase your risk of developing obesity-related conditions:
- Men: 40 inches
- Non-pregnant women: 35 inches
Your Waist to Hip Ratio WHR is another important measurement to keep in mind. The WHR helps differentiate android (apple-shaped) individuals from gynoid (pear-shaped) individuals. Android individuals tend to carry excess weight in their abdominal areas while gynoid individuals carry excess weight in their hips and thighs. Although having any extra fat can be detrimental to your health, carrying the extra fat in your abdomen seems to bring the greatest risk. Anything higher than 0.85 for women and 0.95 for men could mean your health is at risk.
For every 1-inch increase in waist circumference in men…
– Blood Pressure increases by 10%
-Blood Cholesterol Level increase by 8%
High-density Lipoprotein HDL (good cholesterol) decreases by 15%
Triglycerides increases by 18%
Metabolic syndrome risk increases by 18%
Data taken from the 5th edition of american council on exercise personal trainer manual
Causes of a High Waist Circumference
The amount of extra weight you carry carry is determined by the amount of extra calories that are consumed. Fat is stored when more calories are consumed than are utilized and fat is burned when your body needs more calories than you are consuming. So the ONLY way to get rid of fat is to either limit the amount of calories you are consuming “diet” or increase the amount of calories you are using “exercise”.
Your body is designed to store these extra calories as fat in your body in specific areas. Your body has an area ( for most of us our stomach) where it stores the fat first. This area is your primary storage site. So when you consume extra calories your body will store the fat there first. Eventually if you continue to consume more calories than you are utilizing your body will start storing fat in other areas as well. The really bad news is, that this primary storage site is not only the first place that fat is stored but is also the last place that fat is utilized. So once you start limiting your calories or utilizing more of them, “dieting or exercising” you will see improvements in all of your other areas of your body before your body lets go of fat in that stubborn storage site.
Visceral Fat
However, abdominal fat can be more dangerous, a little more complicated and much more tricky to remove. A larger waist circumference is often caused by intra-abdominal visceral fat. Visceral fat is fat that develops between and around internal organs. This type of fat differs from “regular” fat that sits just beneath the skin and can be pinched. This type of fat is deep within the abdomen and is considered to have very high inflammatory activity.
Diet and exercise are not the only factors to consider when trying to reduce your waistline. Stress can also play a role in storing excess visceral fat. This is because when someone is stressed, their body releases a hormone called cortisol, which increases how much visceral fat a person’s body stores. Reducing your stress level and living a balanced life can make a huge difference when trying to reduce your excess visceral fat.
How to Remove Excess Visceral Fat
Diet
Exercise
Lifestyle Changes
There are three strategies to keep in mind when trying to remove your excess abdominal visceral fat.
DIET
- Reduce or eliminate the amount of highly processed foods you are consuming. These foods tend to have a higher amount of added sugars, sodium and trans fats along with a reduced amount of nutrients. Eat food that naturally occurs in nature whenever possible such as; lean proteins, vegetables and complex carbs such as whole grains, sweet potatoes, beans and lentils. A good rule to consider; is that the more packaging a food contains the more highly processed it most likely is. Try to shop the parameters of your grocery store or even better shop at a farm stand or farmer’s market to limit the amount of highly processed foods you are coming in contact with.
- Eat plenty of soluble fiber. Soluble fiber absorbs water and forms a gel that helps slow down food as it passes through your digestive system. This type of fiber promotes weight loss by helping you feel full, so you naturally eat less. It may also decrease the number of calories your body absorbs from food. Some good sources of soluble fiber include; beans, Brussel sprouts, avocados, sweet potatoes, broccoli, turnips, apples, flax seed, oats, barley, and carrots.
- Limit the amount of alcohol you consume. When alcohol is consumed it gets converted to acetate which your body gives top priority to for its energy needs. Your body will use its energy to burn the alcohol before anything else, including fat and sugar. This means that everything else you have consumed just waits around to be used for energy and if it is not needed will be turned into fat. Alcohol spikes cortisol levels in your body, which we saw above increases the amount of visceral fat stored in your body. Alcohol also lowers your testosterone levels which greatly slows your body’s ability to burn fat while at rest, further contributing to weight gain.
- Eat a high protein diet. High protein intake increases the release of the fullness hormone PYY, which decreases appetite and promotes fullness. Protein also raises your metabolic rate and helps you to retain muscle mass during weight loss.
- Eat fatty fish or take omega-3 supplements. Fatty fish is rich in high quality protein and some evidence suggests that these omega-3 fats may also help reduce visceral fat.
- Stop drinking your calories. Drink water whenever you can. Soda, sport drinks and juice contain a large amount of calories and sugar that are easy to consume without you being aware of them.
- Eat probiotic foods or take a probiotic supplement. Probiotics are bacteria found in some foods and supplements. They have many health benefits, including helping improve gut health, enhancing immune function and reducing belly fat. Some examples of probiotic foods are yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, and pickles.
Exercise
- Do aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise also referred to as cardio has been determined to be the most efficient and effective way to lose belly fat. This is because aerobic exercise burns the most amount of calories compared to other types of exercise. You should aim for a minimum of 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity each week. Although these are the minimum guidelines, any amount of aerobic exercise is better than none. The type and duration of exercise does not seem as important as the amount of exercise, so find a type you prefer and a duration that you can handle to begin. Perhaps you start with a brisk walk for 10 minutes 3 times a day, 5 days a week and go from there.
- Begin strength or resistance training. Strength training builds muscle. Muscle has a higher metabolic rate than fat, so having more muscle raises your resting metabolic rate ( the amount of energy/ calories you burn at rest) compared to having more body fat. Strength training sessions also create an post exercise effect on your metabolism known as the afterburn. The afterburn is the amount of energy you use after you stop exercising. This is another way of saying your metabolism increases for several hours or longer after an exercise session. Exercise scientists call this afterburn effect “excess post-exercise oxygen consumption,” or EPOC.
Lifestyle Changes
- Reduce your stress levels. Stress causes your body to release cortisol, which increases how much visceral fat your body stores. Stress can also cause you to make unhealthy choices in your diet leading to higher calorie and lower nutrient dense foods. Find an activity that you enjoy to help you reduce your stress levels. Some ideas for stress reducing activities are…
- Spend time in nature
- Spend time with your pets
- Meditate or practice yoga
- Listen to music you enjoy
- Read a good book
- Get a massage
- Get enough sleep. Most people need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night for their bodies to function properly. Many studies have shown that sleep deprivation commonly leads to metabolic dysregulation. Poor sleep is associated with increased oxidative stress, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance. Sleep deprivation can also raise your cortisol levels, make you more likely to make unhealthy diet choices and more likely to skip your workout because you are too tired. Be sure to read the article on sleep https://vitalitytransformations.com/get-a-good-nights-sleep/ for more information and some great strategies on how to improve your night’s rest.
