– by Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo
Have you noticed that excess belly fat appears to be almost epidemic these days, even amongst the very slender and the very young?
I' m so tired of all the websites and programs that promise the answer to getting rid of those stubborn inches once and for all, while you still eat your favorite foods. They always flaunt someone with 6-pack abs to prove their point. The average person has tried at least 3 of these programs, only to find themselves back where they started, plus a few more inches in many cases, just a few months later.
Why are most waist-targeted diets simply a waste?
Most belly fat targeted programs fail to help you to change the habits that lead to your expanding waistline. Small and occasional “favorite food” indulgences could possibly be just fine and not sabotage your progress, but the truth is those foods are so addicting that small and occasional portions soon become small and regular portions, then larger portions regularly, and in many cases soon become all-out binges.
When the “favorite foods” include bread, chips, crackers and muffins, it becomes very challenging for most people to keep the portions small. These foods not only are deficient in nutrients, they generally also cause a spike in insulin, a hormone that' s responsible for keeping your blood sugar at its optimal level. Too much insulin creates all sorts of problems, which we explain in detail in our Taming Your Midline Program.
If you want a smaller waistline you need a bigger understanding of insulin
In summary, when you eat high carbohydrate comfort foods regularly, your insulin levels become dangerously high and your cells become resistant to insulin. This means you can't get enough sugar into your cells and you feel tired, unfocused, and hungry after meals.
To get control of your belly fat, you need to break the viscous cycle.
How your muscles may be adding to your midline
On top of the difficulty and stress people experience due to insulin resistance, worry and fear trigger increased cortisol, an adrenal hormone.
Here's the kicker that keeps the belly fat from burning…
Cortisol mobilizes muscles to raise blood sugar quickly to prepare you to run or fight. When you're sitting around worrying about something that may or may not occur, there is no way to burn all that extra blood sugar. So insulin comes to the rescue and stores it as fat.
And cortisol's favorite place to store the fat is around your belly.
So how do you keep your thigh muscles from turning to belly fat?
One way is to stop worrying. As a society, we do it all the time. Huge real estate in the local paper is devoted to gloom and doom predictions and stories of catastrophie. The goal is to induce fear. Fear sells.
Listen in on the conversations that surround you. You'll repeatedly hear people say, “I'm so worried about… .”
When you worry over an event that has not happened and may not happen, the response in your body is identical to the reaction you'd have if the event was really happening. If the event does in fact transpire, you've paid twice! The wear and tear of worry on your body is huge, and constant worry over the years just may be a contributing factor to your expanding midline, especially if you've been exercising and eating well and don't seem to be making progress.
One of the strategies presented in my free e-course and e-book, 7 Simple Strategies to Jumpstart Your Energy Practically Overnight, is to take a news fast. Try it for a week.
You just may find yourself being flatter around the middle, and as an extra bonus you' ll be more focused and get a lot more done.
This is just one of the strategies I will be sharing in my hot new free video series called Belly Fat , Brain Fog and Burnout Breakthroughs.
Subscribe now to Jumpstart Your Energy and then watch your inbox later this week for the Belly Fat Breakthrough signup link!
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