Let’s face it, everybody loves to have a perfect waistline. There is quite some effort involved in achieving this goal unless you are somehow blessed with superior genetics.
You can achieve your desired waistline through dedication and consistency. In other words, you need to watch your food intake and preferably exercise regularly. Some of you may already be following these steps correctly but are experiencing fat loss in all parts of the body, except on your belly.
If you are wondering why you are not losing weight in your abdominal area but everywhere else, you have come to the right place!
In this article, I will be showing you 10 reasons why you are losing weight everywhere except on your stomach.
Implications of a Bulging Belly
Excess abdominal fats or visceral fats (also known as intra-abdominal adipose tissue accumulation) around your belly are not only love handles. They are a strong predictor of many diseases including insulin resistance, type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancers [1]. Additionally, you may experience high blood pressure and sleep apnea [2].
Therefore, it is important to watch out for your waistline and make sure it is in healthy shape. Not for reasons of vanity, but more for your health and well-being. By embracing a healthy lifestyle, you are doing yourself and your body a favor in the long run.
There are many people who are still struggling to lose their belly fat even though they are eating healthily and taking good care of their body. Many people don’t understand that there can be other factors that are causing this, and it important to understand why this is happening.
Reasons include the following:
- Too much alcohol
- Food deprivation
- Monotonous diet
- Wrong supplements
- Too much trans fat
- Too much HFCS
- Lack of exercise
- Diets with low protein
- Menopause
- Stress
10 Reasons Why You Aren’t Getting Rid of Your Belly Fat
There could be several reasons why you haven’t been able to achieve a healthy waistline. Here are 10 reasons why you are losing weight everywhere except on your stomach!
1. Too Much Alcohol
By consuming too much alcohol over a long period of time could lead you to develop a beer belly, which is also known as beer gut [3]. Don’t get me wrong, it’s completely fine to drink alcohol, but it should be consumed in moderation. The fact is, alcohol contains empty calories, whereby any excess is then stored as fat.
In other words, alcohol contains calories with no real nutritional value. So, enjoy it occasionally, instead of regularly. Red wine is always a good choice, as it contains resveratrol. Resveratrol acts as antioxidants, which can lower your risk of certain diseases.
2. Food Deprivation
Food deprivation can have a psychological effect on you. When you deprive yourself of food, especially food that you sometimes enjoy eating, you can naturally develop a craving to eat more. A craving can quickly change to overeating, and can subsequently lead you to put on more weight.
You can easily avoid this by having cheat meals every now and then. It’s completely fine to fuel a food craving in moderation. Planning cheat meals can also act as a fitness motivation to celebrate an accomplishment, which in turn can help you to lose weight [4].
I personally have a cheat day on Saturdays, where I indulge in my cake and dessert cravings. Of course this only works out if your diet and exercise during the week!
3. Monotonous Diet
Sticking to a monotonous diet is a double-edged sword and can backfire if not done correctly.
Studies have shown that consuming a variety of food leads to a higher energy consumption per meal [5]. This actually makes a case for having monotony in a diet.
But you must be cautious! Eating the same food over and over again can quickly turn into deterrence. You may learn to dislike that particular food, which could make you turn to more unhealthy variants. Switching diets from time to time can be exciting for you and also ensure that you are consuming all the required nutrients like carbohydrates, fats, protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
4. Wrong Supplements
There are good pills and there are bad pills. The good pills are healthy and effective supplements that will usually emphasize the ingredients. They typically help to supplement a certain mineral or vitamin that you may be lacking. For example, zinc supplements or multivitamin tablets.
Bad pills are usually fat loss pills that promise an unrealistic outcome. They claim to be the magic bullet for losing fat.
These pills can contain an active ingredient that could be harmful to your health [6]. If you aren’t fortunate while taking these so-called magical diet pills you may eventually suffer from fatigue, stomach pains, high blood pressure, increased heart rate, insomnia, and heartburn, just to name a few.
So, be mindful when you choose supplements and make sure you understand what you put inside your body. A good practice is to check if the supplements are FDA approved.
5. Too Much Trans Fat
Trans fat is a type of fat that is created through hydrogenation (a process of adding hydrogen) which turns it from a liquid oil to a solid fat. Trans fat makes food taste better and also enables food a longer shelf life, but is it also healthy?
Quite the opposite, trans fats are one of the most unhealthy fats found in food and its consumption is associated with increased visceral fat [7].
Fast food, processed foods, deep-fried foods, and frozen food contain trans fat. As trans fat causes build-up of visceral fat, it can ultimately lead to many diseases such as type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, constipation, high blood pressure, and cancers. Therefore, it’s best to limit your consumption of trans fat and have it only occasionally.
6. Too Much HFCS
HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) is a sweetener that is made from corn starch. Fructose is naturally found in some vegetables and fruits, such as mangoes, grapes, and pairs. However, HFCS is also added to certain drinks, such as soft drinks, as a sweetener.
Studies have shown that consuming too HFCS generally increased body weight, cell inflammation, liver fat, and visceral fat [8]. Therefore, consuming sweetened drinks regularly can make it extremely hard for you to lose your stomach fat. Instead, you should be focusing on a variety anti-inflammatory foods such as dark green vegetables, brown rice, lean chicken, whole grains, and fruits.
7. Lack of Exercise
Exercising not only helps your body to burn calories but it can also make you feel happier, increase your energy levels, boost your memory and lower the risk of chronic diseases [9].
Weight loss plans usually incorporate some exercises, as they can be extremely beneficial to losing weight in combination with a healthy dietary intake. Your body burns a certain amount of calories a day. If you consume more energy than you burn, your body stores the excess energy as glycogen or fat.
That means even if you eat healthily, but are consuming too many calories, a lack of exercise can lead to weight gain. A study in 2009 found that High-Intensity Exercise Training greatly reduced abdominal fat [10].
So, don’t forget to stay active and complement your diet with exercise. This will ensure that you target that stubborn belly fat, as well.
8. Diets with Low Protein
Protein is the most important nutrient when it comes to weight loss. Consuming the right amount of protein is essential to losing weight and can even increase your metabolism [11]. This means that your body is able to burn more calories, which in turn can help you to lose weight and burn your stomach fat.
Studies have also revealed that people with higher protein intake were associated with having a slimmer waistline [12]. So, remember to consume the right amount of protein daily, in order to achieve a slim and healthy waistline!
9. Menopause
Woman are likely to gain excess fat around the stomach when they go through menopause, towards the end of their menstrual cycle. It’s completely natural and our body programmed to do so.
During a menopause cycle, estrogen levels drop, and body fat is redistributed from the buttocks hips and thighs to the abdomen as a fuel storage for breastfeeding [13].
Since this is a natural occurrence there isn’t much we can do, but be mindful that it will seem a little bit harder to lose weight during a menopause cycle. It could also be a reason why you are generally losing weight, except on your stomach.
10. Stress
Stress is something everyone faces from time to time, be it at home, at work or even when you are left with your own thoughts. Some people appear to be able to tolerate more stress than others. When we are exposed to stressful situations, our body releases hormones. You will also experience a spike in cortisol, which is released by the adrenal glands [14].
Cortisol in your body enables a mechanism to replace energy in your body. Since your body does not use much energy, it will make you feel very hungry. As long as you are exposed to stressful situations, cortisol gets released into your body giving you the feeling to eat more, as it is trying to replenish the energy it is expected to burn.
Of course, it’s impossible to completely get rid of stress, but it is definitely possible to manage stress! Management of time, expectations, work, people, and feelings can lead to long-term stress reduction. It is also helpful to supplement your busy schedule with a healthy diet and exercise.
There are always people who have it off worse than you and there is always a solution for everything, so try to relax more and find a way to manage stress.
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