Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Getting Rid of Dreaded Belly Fat!

Excess Fat Over Tummy...HELP!












"Hi Holly
Is it possible that I could have a lean body but still retain a reservoir of excess fat over my tum? I ask this because despite continual inches lost and 14 lbs shed to date I still have a sizable glut of fat over this area.

I will continue following all the FYM guidelines - nutrition, resistance, intervals etc, but if there is anything else I could be doing to help myself, your guidance would be appreciated.

One thing I am going to experiment with is that from tonight I am going to start doing some FYM exercises in the TV ad breaks, because at the moment even though I've been doing the programme for a while now the Plank is still a real challenge, and everything shakes after 10 seconds - sad I know!" Sarah CD, ClubFYM


As far as your concern about having a lean body and still have belly fat - it really is a matter of each individual's body.

Remember, Fat Loss is a process - an overall body process - and as you stick consistently with the plan mapped out for you in Fit Yummy Mummy, little by little your body will lose the fat, we just cannot choose where that fat comes from.

It is typical that fat from our "problem areas" - for women....but, hips, thighs (and the belly)....is the last to go. This has to do with genetics and all that jazz about being able to bear children and nourish our babies.

Now the belly area can have a few different things going on.

1. The typical fat that we store from eating too much and not moving enough.
2. A "mennopot" - what the BFL for Women refers to as Inner Belly Fat (which may increase as we get older)
3. Excess Skin from pregnancies and/or years of too much belly fat.
4. C-Section - allowing time to heal then strengthening from the inside out
5. The BLOAT - this is purely from bad nutritional choices

The remedy for all....eating supportively and exercising effectively - Consistently.

Loss of Belly Fat will vary from woman to woman and some may say this is due to genetics....I say let's be more realistic and figure it has to do with each individual's ability to be compliant.

That being said - as you do make positive changes - yes, what may seem to happen is that as you begin to shed pounds and inches - and you have already lost a lot - places like your upper body will appear more toned and defined, while that belly fat - sure has gone done some - is still there. But you have to consider, the amount of fat to lose in your upper body is much different than the amount in your lower body.

The fact that inches are begin lost and you are feeling so much better - inside and out is the BEST sign that what you are doing is working and will take time.

The #1 reason so many women battle belly fat...
is simply because they give up too soon!

Many women are mislead by the notion that hundreds of ab exercises or hours of cardio is the solution to lose the stubborn belly fat.

Not you - you know differently and will keep at this for you have the resources, the knowledge and the support available to you at ClubFYM.

The stories being shared are also evidence that as you lose the belly fat, you will experience some toning/tightening of lose skin. Some may take a bit longer than others - but little by little it does improve. The only exception is the case of severely stretched skin - indicated by deep stretch marks. While our skin is fairly elastic, it can reach a breaking point - a point of no return. (this is in severe cases).

There are no magic exericises that make the belly fat go away - there are however moves you can do to help strengthen and tighten your INNER core muscles. This is turn will help your belly to look flatter as you do continue to lose the belly fat. The best moves are the ones where you do NOT "move" - you know...everyone's favorite Plank and Side Plank or even slow and controlled leg lifts.

Doing MORE of the FYM exercises will NOT make your results happen faster. It is very important that you give your body and your muscles a rest for this is when the improvements are made. Doing more will only interrupt this process and delay your results. If you follow the 6 day a week plan - choose to add in a couple core movements after your intervals. If you follow the 3 day a week plan - choose 2 "off" days where you will just do a couple core movements.

(I know you said you would do exercise on during TV Ad breaks....maybe switch out watching TV with something that keeps you on your feet vs. sitting on the couch?)

I know and work with plenty of women who look lean as ever but still have a bit of belly fat. Nothing any of us would consider problematic....but it just doesn't match the rest of their body.
In this case - it has to do with nutrition. (I was one of them, shh!)

What I did that made the difference?

To be honest - I tried out Dax's elimination diet and found that there were foods that prevented me from being able to see more results. Keep in mind that I had already fine tuned my nutrition plan and followed my progressively challenging workout plan. So this is an option as well.

Next to consistency and boosting your metabolism with the short burst Fit Yummy Mummy workout plan .... Nutrition will play a HUGE role in helping to whittle away the fat on our bellies.

For more informative forum discussions,
be sure to join us at ClubFYM!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have a question? Being a man, I have success losing the weight around the middle when I stall switching to a more low carb diet. Do you think this would help woman?

Holly Rigsby said...

Any time you cut out the processed and refined carbohydrates you will lose more fat. This is one very important factor I use to help coach Fit Yummy Mummy's as they make adjustments to their nutrition plan in order to see better results.