One of the most frustrating parts about losing weight, losing stomach fat and achieving the body your dreams is looking in to the mirror and seeing what is commonly termed “the overhang”, “the pouch” or most affectionately of all, “the mothers apron”.
No matter how much weight you lose or how much the needle on the scales falls, when you look in the mirror you still see what can only be described as a deflated balloon looking back at you.
So what can be done about this most frustrating of fat deposits? Well the good news is that you can leap over this final weight loss hurdle – the bad news is that you’re going to have to work pretty hard for it.
OverhangTo beat the “overhang” it will first help to understand it. The most important thing to understand is that belly fat is made up of not one, but two types of fat – which is why losing belly fat is tougher than losing fat off our arms or legs (which is made up of only one layer of fat).
The top layer is called the subcutaneous fat and this sits on top and is the soft, cushy fat that you can touch, feel and see staring back at you in the mirror. The underlying fat is what’s called the visceral fat and this surrounds our vital organs which can cause health implications such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
Subcutaneous fat simply stores unused calories around our waistline in the event that one day you will be threatened with starvation and your will body will need an excess calorie supply to survive. Basically to lose the “overhang” you need to overcome thousands of years of human evolution dating back to caveman times when the threat of over eating was less prevalent.
Visceral fat however is much more active below the surface which plays havoc with your insulin resistance levels and can lead to more complicated health issues, which is yet another very good reason to work at losing “overhang” stomach fat.

How to lose “the overhang”?

The key to ridding your body of both Visceral fat and Subcutaneous fat and ultimately the dreaded overhang is very simple: You need to move – ALOT & OFTEN! This does not mean doing endless crunches, sit-ups and planks – although these are great exercises when included into a well rounded diet & exercise routine, you cannot use them to isolate weight loss or target areas.
To help bust this myth a little further it will help to learn that when you perform a crunch or sit up exercise you’re in fact only working the abdominal muscles which lie beneath the fat on your stomach – the fat on top however is doing little to no work at all and has the intention of going nowhere fast!
As such isolating only the abdominals will have absolutely no bearing on the removal of the fat above it as the abdominal muscle and the fat above it are not directly related, other than by being closely positioned anatomically. I know – how can this be?
The simple fact is that fat is stored energy (calories) just waiting to be burned whether it is located on your stomach, legs, bum or arms, and in 99% of cases when you exercise the last fat to get burned is from your bum and stomach (blame evolution again).
Many people still believe in the concept of spot reduction i.e. Asking your body to only remove fat from one area of your body e.g. removing fat from your legs when you perform a squat or removing fat from your stomach when you perform a crunch but unfortunately this is not yet possible. For now we have to play by mother natures rules.
What we do know is that when we exercise or perform physical activity our body burns energy (calories/excess fat) from all over our body without bias.
The areas that it will first start to burn is often genetically predetermined, but for most people and especially women the bum and stomach areas are the last places to see the fat burning take place. This is why abdominal muscles are often the last muscles to make an appearance on your new lighter body as they’ve been hiding under both your subcutaneous and visceral belly fat even though you’ve performed a thousand crunches!
You also need to work on your diet – the combination of the right diet and exercise is the best thing you can do and the Lose Baby Weight plans are perfect for reaching this balance in a sensible way – all specifically created for busy and tired mums. You can choose the Healthy Mummy Smoothies or the 28 Day Plan or combine the two. You can read about the plans and how they work here

So where does this leave my overhang?

If you’ve read up to this point you’ve probably realised there is no ONE miracle exercise that will remove excess overhang, however the great news is that if you combine multiple exercises such as walking, jogging, squats, push-ups, crunches and any of the hundreds and hundreds of different movements that your body can perform I guarantee that your stubborn, seemingly immovable “overhang” will be on borrowed time.
The key point to remember is that it will take time but if you keep going, it will be worth it!
And remember small amounts of progress is still progress so don’t ever ever give up and remember to take measurements too and don’t just live by the scales.

5 Tips For Losing Stomach Fat

  • healthy_eatingFresh is best – cut out as much processed food as possible (anything in a packet, basically) and opt for plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, meat and low fat dairy.
  • Try our Stomach Fat Busting Healthy Mummy Smoothie. A healthy breakfast means you are less likely to reach for fatty or sugary snacks for morning tea.
  • Cut down on sugar and alcohol – these are two key areas to focus on if you want to reduce stomach fat as they can cause bloating.
  • Get moving regularly – daily exercise is a great way to shift tummy fat. A regular walk or jog, a segment or two from our Exercise DVD, and the exercises from the 28 Day Challenge are all great options.
  • Join the January 28 Day Belly Buster Challenge – lose weight with thousands of other mums who are already planning to take part

Healthy Mummy blog signature
Every month on the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge, we run a BRAND NEW 28 Day Menu with a different theme so you NEVER get bored!
Next months theme is the METABOLISM BOOSTING – Perfect for increasing your energy, boosting your health and getting you ready for SPRING.
If you are curious about the 28 Day Challenge recipes then we have a FREE 28 Day Challenge METABOLISM BOOSTING recipe and exercise pack for you to try HEREAugust Challenge Recipe Pack - Metabolism Boosting
Find a delicious range of healthy recipes, packed full of energy boosting ingredients and nutrients together with easy to achieve exercise.

 
 
Find a delicious range of healthy recipes, packed full of energy boosting ingredients and nutrients together with easy to achieve exercise.

About the 28 Day Challenge

A few key things to note are:

  • The Challenge menu is FULLY customisable
  • You have access to over 1700 exclusive recipes
  • You have access to over 300 exercise routines
  • Meals are family friendly and are made in under 10-20 minutes

For a limited time, we are offering you a HUGE DISCOUNT on the lifetime membership discount on the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge – you can see this awesome offer here.

Here are some INCREDIBLE results from mums on the 28 Day Challenge.

Robyn Jurd lost 19.5kg on the challengesFlash back Friday weight loss results - Robyn Jurd

Robyn says “I have lost 19.5kg in the time I have been following Lose Baby Weight. I have almost completed my 9th 28 day weight loss challenge and love how convenient the meal plans are, I’m cooking things I would never have even thought about before.

Lose Baby Weight helped me find myself again, I’m so much happier now and a better Mumma to my two munchkins.”

Join the challenge here lets-do-it