North Americans have a problem with excess abdominal fat. I doubt that’s big news for you!
Even with an increasing number of weight loss “experts,” celebrity diets, and self-help books, we still have a growing problem with belly fat, affectionately known as “muffin tops,” “love tires.” “beer bellies,” and that extra inch we’d rather not pinch.
Whether you have just a few extra inches or many more, the increase in belly fat is not only unsightly and annoying, it directly increases our risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and every other chronic disease of our modern times. Being overweight, especially if you carry that excess weight around your waist, can shorten your life.
Unfortunately, being overweight can also prevent us from fully “living” life and truly enjoying it. It sets limits on us, emotionally and mentally, as well as physically.
Unfortunately, with all the diets, devices, pills, and potions out there to help you lose belly fat fast, there really are no magic pills. There are no quick fixes. We are talking about a health problem, not a cosmetic one.
It’s also almost impossible to focus exclusively on the abdominal area – you have to eliminate overall fat to see results in your midsection. It’s too bad, I know, because all those abs gadgets on the infomercials look like so much fun!
Always remember that the more toxicity you consume and are exposed to, and the more you accumulate, the bigger your fat cells will become. Fat cells harbor toxins as a highly intelligent protection mechanism of the body.
Do you want to lose fat in general? Stop ingesting so much toxicity and do regular cellular detoxification protocols to reduce buildup.
Here are more things you can do to help lose excess belly fat:
Eat a healthy diet, of course. Eat more nutrient-dense foods like vegetables and real whole foods.
Don’t wait too long between refills, don’t go on an ultra-low calorie diet, and don’t skip meals as general fat loss strategies. In the short term, some of these strategies may be successful. However, as a long-term strategy, your body may inadvertently think you’re starving yourself and try to do you a favor by holding onto the fat for you.
Full drink of pure water. Well-hydrated cells function more efficiently and make you less likely to accumulate toxins and metabolic byproducts.
No rocket science here: you have to eat fewer calories than you burn each day, plain and simple. Be aware of what you are consuming versus what you are spending.
Eliminate or reduce refined sugars, artificial sweeteners, trans/hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats, artificial colors and flavors, and all processed junk from your diet. All of these are toxic. More toxicity means bigger fat cells. I’m not talking about the “once in a while” stuff here, I’m talking about the stuff you eat on a more consistent basis.
Skip the unhealthy fats and oils, like polyunsaturated vegetable oils, and switch to healthy fats like grass-fed butter and extra-virgin coconut oil and extra-virgin olive oil. The conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in the fats of grass-fed cattle helps you lose fat and improve your metabolism. Coconut oil is also known for its positive metabolic effects.
Add broad-spectrum probiotics and traditionally fermented, cultured, and sprouted foods to your diet. These help restore gut health which is related to proper absorption and elimination of nutrients, reduces cellular inflammation, and much more.
Control your fruit intake. It’s not everyone’s game with fruit! (Keep this in mind with your children, too.) Although fruit contains “natural” sugars, it does contain a significant amount of sugar. Yes, it’s better than sugary toxic junk food, but you just need to be mindful of your intake, especially if you have insulin resistance issues.
Investigate intestinal permeability and food sensitivities. If your intestinal lining has become too permeable due to chronic lifestyle “abuse,” it will allow large food molecules to get past this important barrier. This creates chronic inflammation, decreased nutrient absorption, and a chronic immune response that can end up being labeled an autoimmune condition. I recommend taking the proper steps to assess the integrity of your gut, take the necessary steps to heal your gut, and identify the foods you are truly reactive to so you can avoid them.
One of those reactive foods is commonly gluten. Even if you haven’t been officially labeled a carrier of celiac disease or “allergic” to gluten, more and more people are reacting to wheat gluten and common foods that cross-react with gluten. Compared to foods from just a few generations ago, our modern food supply has an excess of gluten. By avoiding foods with gluten (commonly found in wheat, rye, barley, and malt), you’ll most likely see improvement in digestive issues, skin issues, and even bloating.
Reduce your intake of “starchy” carbohydrates. These are converted to sugar very quickly in the body. Increased sugar means increased toxicity and inflammation, and you know how that works! Especially if you have blood sugar issues, insulin resistance, or resistance to weight loss, it’s best to avoid these starchy carbs. Give up bread, cereal, pasta, crackers, pretzels, tortillas, pizza, donuts, muffins, bagels, pancakes, cakes, and white rice for at least a few weeks to see how you do. Load up on “fresh fiber” from vegetables, as well as healthy fats, like avocado.
Be sure to eat “clean” protein and fat with your meals and snacks. “Clean” is more important than “lean”, it means as little toxic as possible. Do not consume protein sources that have been loaded with drugs, hormones, steroids, antibiotics, etc. It doesn’t magically evaporate before you eat it! Protein and healthy fats fill you up, help you feel full, and burn slowly in the body so you don’t feel as hungry between meals. Choose clean sources like grass-fed beef and bison, pastured poultry and eggs, wild game, and wild-caught cold-water fish.
It could be your hormones. If you’re doing “everything right” but still aren’t losing weight, the problem could be with your hormonal communication system. While it could be a problem with the level of the hormones themselves (such as thyroid hormones), often the real cause is a problem in the cell membrane where the hormones try to send their messages to the cells’ inner ‘brains’. When chronic toxicity and inflammation have reached their tipping point, critical hormone receptors in the cell membrane can become dysfunctional. The result is skewed hormone function and skewed test results. Address the cause and get a proper recovery protocol to finally see the results you’ve been looking for, as well as correct a host of health issues that may have been brewing. Don’t assume you need “hormone therapy” if you haven’t already addressed toxicity and inflammation.
Get full body exercise and include high intensity burst training. Target training or spot reduction for abs is not going to cut it. It’s useful, but it’s not the answer. High-intensity, full-body exercise will maximize your resting metabolic rate so you can burn more fat 24/7.
follow it. When you do things “right” often enough, for long enough, the end results become more predictable. Try not to compare yourself to others. Keep making healthy choices and don’t give up. Sometimes belly fat is the last fat to go, especially if you’ve been intoxicated for a long time. Just be patient and confident that you are making decisions that will help you lose belly fat and contribute to your future health.
Start implementing some of these tips and strategies right away and you’ll start noticing improvements in no time. Save a few pennies too. You’ll have to buy some new jeans!
