You have probably heard the question ‘Can you pinch an inch?’ well this post is all about belly fat and what causes it and how to measure it.

The first thing to understand is that there are two very different types of fat around the stomach – visceral fat and subcutaneous fat. Subcutaneous fat is what you can normally see, it sits in front of the abdominals and just under the skin. If you can pinch an inch that is the subcutaneous fat. The visceral fat is held around the organs and even with good set of ab’s they will still protrude if the visceral fat levels are high.

Visceral fat can stored easily, it has a great supply of blood to it, but the good news is that it is also the easiest fat to access and use as fuel.

Storage of fat in the stomach area happens when you over eat calories and combine this with cortisol and insulin. If you just  count calories you will eventually lose the fat around your stomach, but it will take longer as belly fat is linked far closer to hormones than you think.

The fight between cortisol and insulin

Insulin levels are directly linked to the amount of sugary food and starchy food that you consume.

Cortisol levels are linked to the amount of stress and quality of sleep that you get.

Cortisol can increase the amount of fat that is stored when it interacts with the enzyme lipoprotein lipase, but bizarrely can speed up the amount of fat that is burnt by interacting with ‘hormone sensitive lipase’, for all you guys that count calories please note it is ‘hormone sensitive’ and not ‘calorie sensitive’. So cortisol can be good or bad, but if combined with insulin it is always bad new for gaining belly fat.

Insulin blocks the ability of cortisol to release fat and therefore when they are in combination with excess calories you get fat storage.

Want to know how to get a fat belly?

Ok so the formula to get a fat belly is as follows; Sugar & Starch + fat x stress = fat storage.

Sugar and starch raise insulin levels, fat is fairly neutral as it does not trigger insulin production. Fat gives calories to help fuel the body, but it is when they are combined it is bad news for belly fat.

The hormonal responses trigger reactions that cause fat storage as insulin blunts the bodies ability to burn fat.

If you add in high stress levels you multiply this response to a potentially deadly level if left in the long term.

So how do I get a six pack?

So the formula for getting a six pack is as follows; (protein + vegetables x sleep) ÷ intense exercise = fat reduction

Protein and vegetables do not produce a high level of insulin and plenty of sleep reduces cortisol levels. If you add in weight training and sharp bursts of exercise you produce more human growth hormone and testosterone leading to more belly fat being burned away. Incidentally long bouts of cardio work i.e. running long over distance causes cortisol levels to rise, which is normally why runners are continually hungry!

So what does this all mean?

In developed country’s our diets are terrible, we eat 75%  – 90% starch / sugar / fat in our diets, generally sleep less than 8 hours a night and have become sedentary by nature. Most people eat some form of fast or processed food every day, very few eat clean (I’ll hold my hand up to this!). Generally we are inactive and if we do exercise we choose slow jogging rather than intense exercise (although I know I might be preaching to the converted!)

To fix this we need to replace sugar and starch with fibre, raise your protein levels and keep fat at a sensible level. We get the most fibre from vegetables, aim for 9 portions a day. If that seems tough try a greens drink to help you, I can recommend one if required. Corn, beans and potatoes are not classified as vegetables, they are starch, so ditch them if possible. Try to minimise dairy, this will add to your fat levels and also in some elements add to your sugar levels causing insulin to rise, which we don’t want.

When you exercise make the majority fast paced weight bearing exercise. Short intense bursts work the best, running is ok, but try sprints not long slow runs if the aim is fat loss. As we get older frailty becomes an issue, so having a high ration of muscle on your body is seen as beneficial to good health.

Putting it into practice

Nutrition

Breakfast – get rid of cereal, switch to eggs or a protein smoothie

Mid morning – a hard fruit like an apple

Lunch – a chicken salad / soup (get rid of the sandwich)

Evening meal – lean protein and double the normal level of vegetables, you will need some starch, but no more than 10 bites.

Exercise

Monday / Wednesday / Friday – 20 minutes of weight bearing exercise, lift something heavy or train strength.

Tuesday / Thursday – 30 minutes of  interval training – no more than 4 minute intervals

Saturday – rest

Sunday – Run if you are inclined too, but you need to walk at least.

In addition

Walk for at least 30 – 60 minutes a day to lower cortisol, this does not count towards exercise

Aim for 8 – 10 hours sleep a night, it is as important as the exercise.

But remember the most important thing is your diet, you CANNOT out train a bad diet.

If this has hit a nerve or leads to more questions feel free to ask, if you want to know how all this can affect your running, please take a look at our program Stronger : Fitter : Faster for more details.