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The Wardrobe Stylist

Advice on Fashion, Beauty, Fitness, Home Décor & DIY

Understanding Fat & What You Can Do About It

October 29, 2018 · Fitness, Workouts

We’ve all struggled with losing that fat that just seems so stubborn. We go on the right path, get results than drop off the wagon and here it all comes back again. Couple that with a slowing metabolism, loss of muscle mass as we reach the age of 40, and you’ve got a recipe for lack of fat loss.

Nothing to rave home about but there are some good people out there that have dedicated their life’s work to find an answer this old age question.

Man measuring his belly

Understanding Fat

Dr. Sylvia Tara, PhD, the author of The Secret Life of Fat: The Science Behind the Body’s Least Understood Organ and What It Means for You, a biochemist, discusses in her book the science behind the body’s least understood organ – fat.

Despite spending $60 billion annually fighting it, the ways in which our battle with the bulge has been misinformed and misdirected. Fat is an essential and critically misunderstood body part.

In it, she addresses issues such as:

  • The genes that some of us have and others do not that help determine our weight
  • Fat growth even without excess calories
  • Its effect on the body’s metabolic rate
  • The unexpected importance it has on to our health
  • Fat’s fight back to preserve itself while we are battling its removal

Fat is Smart

Fat is much smarter than we think. According to Dr. Tara, fat is not only an obsession, it’s also the least-understood part of our body. You may not love your fat, but your body certainly does. In fact, your body is actually endowed with many self-defence measures to hold on to fat. Tara talks about the complex role that genetics, hormones, diet, exercise, and history play in our weight.

Fat can:

  • Use stem cells to regenerate
  • Increase our appetite if it feels threatened
  • Expand itself through bacteria, genetics, and viruses

The secret to losing 20 pounds? You have to work with your fat, not against it.

Work With Your Fat

Tara explains how your fat influences your appetite and willpower, how it defends itself when attacked, and why it grows back so quickly. The book describes cutting-edge research together with historical perspectives to reveal fat’s true identity – an endocrine organ that, in the right amount, is critical to our health as our heart, lungs, or stomach. It triggers puberty, enables our reproductive and immune systems, and even affects brain size.

Woman jumping in the air

Seems like a pretty important piece of ourselves that we should treat more than just excess meat on our bodies. In her book, she sets you on the path to beat the bulge once and for all…

The Importance of Willpower

Part of getting a handle on fat, is ensuring you have the willpower for it. Dr. Sylvia Tara believes that your willpower can be trained like a muscle. We have all sorts of medical interventions for weight loss, but there is always a risk to each one of them. The brain does what it can to fight off your fat loss efforts, by triggering your body to feel hungrier, more lethargic, even making you want foods you otherwise didn’t enjoy.

As much as you’d hate to hear it, diet and exercise are the best remedy.

Man's belly with hamburger and fries

The only hurdle is changing our behaviour towards it. Psychological studies show that there are different things we can do to reach fitness and health goals:

  • Temptation bundling
  • Reward schemes
  • Building good habit
  • Pre-preparing meals
  • Paying your gym membership on a monthly basis to ensure you get yourself to the gym

How To Lose Fat

With all this information on hand, there are a few things you can do.

Eat Well

As mentioned about eating well is always going to be part of the equation. Many specialist will advise you to find the diet you can stick with during your weight loss and after. Be it a calorie controlled, keto, weight watchers, or intermittent fasting diet, find one that works for your.

blueberries

You can also curb hunger by ensuring you take in enough protein. AgeLoc 90 has a great starter set you can get to begin your eating well journey Each serving contains 24 grams of protein and it comes in different flavours.

Exercise in Pairs

To make your fat loss experience even better, don’t do it alone. People are more likely to stick to a workout routine when they have support and camaraderie behind them. Research shows that 94% of couples are more likely to stick to a fitness program when they exercise together.

Make it Harder

In addition to working out together, always adopt exercises or add things to your workout that will make it harder to ensure you burn more calories. For example, if you have access to a weight vest, put it on. If you can use your arms and legs during an exercise or over exaggerate your moves, do it. That will get your heart pumping some more and allow your body to burn more. Don’t take the easy way, because anything you get comfortable with, your body will adapt and won’t make a dent.

Woman exercising on the stairs

Streaming Workouts

Cat Kom, a fitness expert who runs Studio SWEAT onDemand, produces streaming workouts that can be accessed through their app and any internet browser. These can be done in pairs or more and will definitely motivate you to keep the momentum going for you.

Strengthen Your Core

It’s not just about getting that sleeker, slimmer waist – it’s also about building that strength that’s going to make you stronger and increase your muscle to help burn off fat.

The secret to working out those hidden gems lies in an overlooked set of muscles sitting deep within your core. They’re called the transverse abdominus muscles, sometimes referred to as the ‘Spanx of the Body’.

When you work out core muscles like the rectus abdominus or obliques, it tends to make your belly jut out, without reducing the size of your waist. The transverse abdominus on the other hand tighten your midsection, help with stability, posture, breathing and lower back strength.

Plank it

The plank is one of the best exercises for it. Time and form of your plank will get you the results you want. Hold your plank for as long as you can, increasing over time, while always maintaining proper form.

Woman in plank position

When your form starts to break down, that’s a good sign you’ve had enough and it’s time for a rest:

  • As you’re facing down on your stomach, lift yourself up onto your elbows and toes
  • Your spine should stay flat and your buttocks in-line with your body
  • Keep looking straight ahead of you
  • Hold for 5-10 seconds to start then increase your duration by 5 seconds with each rep
  • Repeat 3 times

The Gist of it

Fat has dominated our lives and is often misunderstood. Fortunately, there has been much research on the subject and slowly we’re beginning to understand some of its functionalities, other than that it makes us bigger than we want to be. However, with all the research and understanding, the defence mechanism against fat is and will always be eating well and exercising.

Every little bit that you do counts, because fat loss is not just about doing one thing and relying on it to make magic happen, it’s all the pieces you do that will create that difference.

What are your fat loss tips?

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, sign up to my newsletter to get the latest advice, tips, and giveaways right into your inbox!

Comments

  1. D says

    November 5, 2018 at 2:05 am

    According to a friend of mine, when we are together, we seem important, like editors or something, and people have an “urge” to speak to us. I’m quoting her here.

  2. Wardrobe Stylist says

    November 5, 2018 at 5:00 am

    haha…that’s funny…I am thinking we should start charging for this…lol

Hi, my name is Rania. Welcome to my blog The Wardrobe Stylist where you'll get the best advice on fashion, fitness, beauty, home decor and DIY.

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