The Real Reason You’re Not Burning Belly Fat (It’s Not What You Think)

It’s a common story for many adults: you hit it hard at the gym, eat foods you have heard you’re supposed to, and you follow common dietary suggestions, but the belly fat just isn’t going away. What gives? 

The real reason you’re not burning belly fat may be a combination of lifestyle and your habits Belly fat is a common trouble area for adults and it includes a combination of subcutaneous and adipose tissues. Both types of fat are necessary and unavoidable, but the amount by which it accumulates in the body is multi-faceted. 

Let’s take a closer look into the real reason you’re not burning belly fat and how you can change your lifestyle to achieve results. While achieving weight loss goals can come at varying intervals for each individual, adjusting your lifestyle to set your body up for success is within reach.

3 Common Ways to Lose Fat

When it comes to weight loss and specifically losing fat, there are a few methods people gravitate towards to get it done. With a combination of diet and exercise leading the charge in this type of lifestyle, adults can certainly achieve results. Let’s peek at how people frequently look to lose fat and dive a bit into the efficiency of some of these methods. 

1. Low Intensity Long Duration – This type of physical activity has long been the primary way that people have used to lose fat for the past decades.  At low Intensity and long duration such as taking a modest walk on a treadmill, the body can keep up with energy production and use fat as its main source of energy; at least that’s the theory. 
2. Low Fat Dieting – A low fat diet is indeed a great option for fat loss and will continue to be a dietary standard by which adults should lose fat. With less fat entering the body, there is less that can accumulate.  Less fat entering the body means less is stored, which allows for better chances at fat loss.
3. Fad Diets – While fad diets are not usually not long-term the best options, many people still try them. Some diets encourage severe restrictions of food groups, a reduction of daily calories, or long fasting durations. While these trends can initially lead to some fat loss, the overall issue is that people tend to be unsustainable in the long-term.  

How is Belly Fat Stored?

Aside from the physiological processes by which the body stores fat, the body tacks on additional layers to the midsection for a few reasons. For one, visceral fat is an unstoppable storage area for nutrients that are consumed in excess. Next, some people are just genetically prone to storing more fat in this area. Third, the foods you eat determine how the body stores this fat. Here are some foods or dietary habits that are known to increase belly fat. 

• Diets high in saturated fats can contribute to abdominal fat. Saturated fats are particularly concerning because the body can store boundless amounts of these in the visceral abdomen.
• Overconsumption of carbohydrates converts the excess carbs to fats and contributes to abdominal girth. 
• Large meals can be a major factor of the storage of abdominal fat. Overeating at any meal regardless of how many calories you’ve had in the day, can contribute to the body storing more fat in the midsection. 
• The consumption of alcohol contributes to abdominal fat and can affect how the body stores this macronutrient.  Regardless if it is beer, wine, or liquor, alcohol contributes to the body’s fat storage process and can be a major contributor to a bigger midsection. 

Is Exercise the Real Reason You’re Not Burning Belly Fat

If you have ever seen an advertisement at the beginning of every year, you likely have seen the various products and programs that are designed to burn belly fat.  If burning belly fat was easy, this wouldn’t be a topic of interest for millions of adults.

However, burning belly fat is so tough that even today, in the age of technology, people still desire to make improvements in the midsection by purchasing gimmicky products, supplements, and equipment. Let’s look closer as to what exercise can do or not do for belly fat. 

• Spot reduction – This technique involves working a specific area to make it smaller. Most commonly, people endlessly perform sit-ups or crunches in hopes of burning belly fat. Spot reduction, while in theory sounds great, does not specifically burn fat at the belly and only works the abdominal muscles. 
• HIIT training – Perhaps you have heard a bit about high intensity interval training (HIIT) over the last decade plus years, but HIIT is extraordinary in what it offers to health and wellness. When it comes to belly fat, HIIT can wreak havoc on the abdominal area since the high intensity and sweating during this type of exercise is sufficient to break the fat bonds. 
• Long distance running or cycling – Endurance exercise, when combined with a sound diet, can help to reduce belly fat. Running is one of the most difficult types of exercises that can help to reduce belly fat (long-term), while cycling (or spinning) can help to raise the heart rate high enough to attack the midsection. 

What is the Real Reason You’re Not Burning Belly Fat? 

The answer to this is multi-faceted: your diet does not allow for success and your exercise is not hitting the mark. If burning belly fat is really your goal and you are interested in making gains, consider a diet that is modest in calories, low in saturated fats, is sufficient to meet your needs, and without alcohol.

Also, while any type of exercise can aid in reducing belly fat, it seems HIIT training is something you should consider. If HIIT workouts are beyond your capabilities, consider lower intensity exercises for longer durations to accommodate your body’s needs. With these two aspects of wellness combined and adhered to, belly fat has no chance and a slimmer and more energized you can be in the future. 

References

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.960922/fullhttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6906176