Why does fat go my stomach?
There are two types of fat inhabiting your stomach, Visceral and Subcutaneous Fat. Visceral Fat is the fat that gets packed around your organs and Subcutaneous Fat sits just below your skin. It’s what causes you to jiggle.
Stress, overeating, slow metabolism, aging and genetics can cause you to gain fat. There are only so many places that fat can be stored. Since the majority of your organs are in your stomach area, the majority of Visceral Fat will be taking up residence in your tummy.
Couple that with Subcutaneous Fat also being stored under the skin of your stomach and I’m pretty sure you can see why your stomach can get bigger than other areas on your body. There are more opportunities to gain weight in your stomach than other areas of your body!
If you add in a genetic predisposition to gaining stomach fat, you can start to see how easy it is for the weight to be added to your middle. But how do you lose your stomach fat?
Are there specific exercises to remove stomach fat or is that a myth?
According to Michael Jensen, a Mayo Clinic endocrinology specialist and obesity researcher, “There is no magic bullet, diet plan, specific food, or type of exercise that specifically targets belly fat. But the good news is belly fat is the first kind of fat you tend to lose when you lose weight.”
If you have excess fat in your belly that is where you will lose the most fat when you start to lose weight. The vast majority of people, 99% according to Jensen, will lose weight in the abdominal area first and the reason why is because of the type of fat that resides in your stomach. It’s called Visceral Fat.
Visceral Fat is the fat that surrounds your organs. It is easier to lose because it is more metabolically active than Subcutaneous Fat.
“Visceral fat, the kind tucked deep inside your waistline, is more metabolically active and easier to lose than subcutaneous fat under the skin, especially if you have plenty of it.“ Penny Kris-Etherton, PhD, RD
And that is good news! It means that as long as you are following a healthy diet, not overeating and getting enough exercise, your chances of shrinking your tummy are pretty darn good.
Sources: WebMD, Berkeley Science Review
Is stomach fat an indicator of other medial problems?
In short, YES! You have an increased risk of Heart Disease, Stroke, (some) Cancer, Type 2 Diabetes, Insulin Resistance, High Triglycerides, Low HDL, Metabolic Syndrome and Sleep Apnea.
The culprit of these increased risks is the fat around your organs, the Visceral Fat. Visceral Fat is metabolically active which means that the fat will break down and is resynthesized 4 to 5 times faster than other fats. So what’s the problem?
“The basic principle seems to be that when fat builds up in certain cells such as in your muscle, your liver, your pancreas, it is not a good thing. It interferes with the use of glucose—a basic sugar that your body uses as a fuel—and it also interferes with signaling pathways.” Dr. Marc Hellerstein, a professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology at Berkeley
Sources: Mayo Clinic, Berkeley Science Review
Well what programs have others had success losing belly fat with?
I’ve found one program that I’ve seen consistently mentioned that is supposed to work very well. The program is called The Truth About Six Pack Abs by Mike Geary.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to buy a product to lose your stomach fat. You could come up with your own diet and exercise regime like I did. It takes discipline and time to do it this way and also requires that you actively monitor the system you develop to make sure that it is is working for you.
Going it on my own worked well for me but I only had 5 to 10 pounds that I wanted to get rid of. More accurately I should say I wanted to get rid of about an inch of stomach fat. Everything I tried is chronicled on this site so feel free to browse around and see what worked for me and use it for yourself!
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Losing weight is hard. I’ve been trying to do it for a while now and I only have lost a few pounds. keeping track of everything is the worst part. Thanks Jhet.
Man, there is a great deal of wonderful information in here. The main thing to do is to not give up. Your health will benefit from it.
I tried doing it without any help in the past. I gave up. It was just too hard with the hours I work. Buying fast food is the only thing I can do for lunch.
I was surprised to read that the belly fat tends to be the first to go…that hasn’t been my experience. I’ve been losing my thighs, arms and butt, but that stubborn belly is STILL there. All I can hope is that eventually, once everything else is gone, that will have to go too!
I tend to lose it in stomach first but then again I don’t have fat anywhere else really. I think what makes it harder is if you have a majority of subcutaneous fat in the stomach.
.It is easier to lose because it is more metabolically active than the fat that is near your skin (Subcutaneous Fat)?
That sentence may have been worded a little oddly. I reworded it to this:
“It is easier to lose because it is more metabolically active than Subcutaneous Fat.”
Hi, Rick. Thanks for the great post. I wanted to ask if you’d post about a study I’m doing. While it’s hard losing weight on your own, it’s not necessarily easier with a spouse or partner. Sometimes partners/spouses undermine weight loss through acts like complaining about healthier food, gifting high-caloric foods, or even through abusive language/acts. I’m creating an anonymous, online survey to assess for partner undermining and to learn more from those who experience it. To be eligible to take the survey, participants need to have experienced this in their current relationship (of at least the past 2 years), and have been participating in a weight loss program for the past 5 consecutive weeks. Fore more info, see http://tinyurl.com/Clark-Study
Hi Amanda, I’m sending you an email. A post about your study would be great!
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