The battle of the bulge. One reason belly fat is so hard to lose is that it's considered an “active fat.” Unlike some fatty tissue that simply sits “dormant,” belly fat releases hormones that can have an impact on your health — and your ability to lose weight, especially in the waist and abdomen areas.
This is because when you are stressed, cortisol levels in the body rise, resulting in storage of fat around the belly area. Another reason responsible for a stubborn belly fat is genetics. It has been noticed that if your parents have belly fat, you might also have the same body type.
Y'all also know of the common causes of excessive fat around your belly such as eating more calories than you burn, consuming excessive sugar, refined carbohydrates, and packaged foods, and finally—living a sedentary lifestyle that involves no physical activity.
The American Council on Exercise says a 1 percent body fat loss per month is safe and achievable. Given that math, it could take a woman with average body fat about 20 to 26 months to achieve the appropriate amount of fat loss for six-pack abs. The average man would need about 15 to 21 months.
Your Metabolism Will Slow Down to Store Fat
The more you work out or manage your calorie intake to lose weight, the more your metabolism wants to compensate by slowing down to maintain your current weight, this is called metabolic compensation. It kicks in to preserve and store fat for future energy.
Your genetics prefer storing fat in your stomach area
Visceral fat—the type of fat the body stores in your abdomen and around your intestines and is mostly responsible for keeping people from a flat belly—can be partly determined by genetics.
Well, you may feel bloated after a workout if you've been breathing hard or gulping too much water, which may cause you to swallow air. You may experience abdominal dissension if you overhydrate or drink too little, and physical exertion can cause bloating in and of itself.
Mostly, losing weight is an internal process. You will first lose hard fat that surrounds your organs like liver, kidneys and then you will start to lose soft fat like waistline and thigh fat. The fat loss from around the organs makes you leaner and stronger.
Sometimes, excess fat around the belly is due to hormones. Hormones help regulate many bodily functions, including metabolism, stress, hunger, and sex drive. If a person has a deficiency in certain hormones, it may result in weight gain around the abdomen, which is known as a hormonal belly.
Having too much of it is linked to an increased risk of certain health conditions. Most people can reduce fat in the abdomen by taking on key lifestyle changes, such as eating a healthy diet packed with lean protein, vegetables and fruit, and legumes, and exercising regularly.
fat: It is unrealistic to expect that you can have a flat stomach 24/7. Even if you lose a lot of fat from your abdominal area, you will still notice daily fluctuations from bloating. A completely flat stomach is not a “natural state” for your body.
Common reasons for someone to have belly fat even when they're skinny is: Being too sedentary (inactive), which builds visceral fat around the organs and abdominal fat. Eating too many processed foods, which stores at the belly.
The first and most important reason why you are not burning fat is because you are eating too many calories. Plain and simple the only way to lose body fat is to be in a caloric deficit. You need to be expending more calories than you take in. A lot of this has to do with calories that you don't notice.
Muscle is denser than fat.
While one pound of fat weighs the same as one pound of muscle, muscle occupies about 18 percent less space. In addition, muscle burns calories while fat stores them. So, if your weight isn't decreasing but your clothes are starting to fit more loosely, you may be building muscle.
If you want to see results then you're going to need to be disciplined and put in the hard yards. To shed that stubborn belly fat, you should work your way up to 30 to 60 minutes of moderate-intensity activity four to five times a week.
B-complex vitamins: These help metabolize carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, activating stored energy instead of letting it turn to fat. Niacin, vitamin B-6, and iron: This impressive trio increases your body's production of the amino acid L-carnitine to help burn fat.