Many women have certain areas of fat on their body that they can’t get rid of, regardless of what they do – a tyre of fat around their tummy, love handles or thick thighs. Some women have problems with wobbly arms, while others suffer with a saggy tummy – particularly after going through pregnancy and childbirth.
The key to getting rid of these stubborn fat stores – and to keep them off – is to learn about why they are there in the first place.
It is thought that a number of things could be to blame for problem fat storage, including hormone imbalances, toxins and stress. Weight does not naturally go on evenly all over our bodies – some women gain weight on their face, while others gain it on their stomachs and others gain it on their thighs, and their lifestyle could determine why they gain fat in those areas.
But what about a wobbly tummy which is a problem area for most mums? How can we banish the bloat? It’s as simple as this – a wobbly tummy is linked to stress, so to banish it, you need to stress less.
Stress = Wobbly Tummy
Women who struggle with fat on their tummy that is caused by stress often have a few common problems – their tummy can look bloated or large most of the time, even if they haven’t eaten a large meal, their tummy might always have been large, despite losing weight from the rest of their body, and when they do gain weight, it goes straight to their tummy.
Fat on your tummy is often linked to your stress levels. When you are stressed, a hormone called cortisol is released in the brain – and this hormone causes the body to redirect fat stores to the tummy.
A Yale University study has backed up this theory, showing that women – even slim women – were more likely to have a larger tummy if they regularly experienced stress. The women who had larger tummies were found to have reported more negative moods and higher levels of stress than women with flatter tummies, leading researchers to believe that women who are stressed are more reactive to cortisol, causing them to gain fat around their tummy.
Visceral fat in the stomach has more cortisol receptors than anywhere else in the body, which explains why fat is directed there, rather than anywhere else.
It is commonly believes that this is why people who are stressed – from whatever walk of life – tend to gain fat around their tummy.
How to Banish the Wobble
To banish the wobble you should include a wide range of exercise in your regime to strengthen your core, such as weight training, yoga and Pilates. Cardiovascular exercise can help you to shed the kilos, but it can also cause excess cortisol – particularly if you push yourself too hard – which could actually cause you to gain weight around the tummy rather than shift it.
Tummy fat could be caused by imbalanced gut bacteria, so to banish a wobbly tummy, look after your gut by including daily probiotics in your diet. You might also want to cut out refined sugar, as this can cause bloating and feed the bacteria in your gut. Generally, junk food, sweets, alcohol, salt and caffeine can also cause bloating as they place stress on your digestive system, so they are best avoided or saved for special occasions.
Luckily, certain foods can improve the levels of cortisol in your body – which in turn can help to flatten your stomach. Include plenty of lean protein such as chicken, game or fish in your diet, along with green vegetables, olives, beets, root vegetables, avocadoes and sweet potatoes. Taking a fish oil supplement in order to slow the absorption of sugar through your gut – which can prevent bloating is also a great idea – which is why we include fish oils on our weight loss plans.
To see exercises and advice on all you need to know about beating stomach fat click here
If you are ready to lose weight then the Lose Baby Weight plans offer a healthy and safe exercise and diet routine.
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