Help! I can’t lose this stubborn fat! The main reason most people hire a personal trainer is because they can’t lose weight on their own. A majority of PT clients believe that losing fat is more important than getting strong, developing greater bone density, preventing disease and mind/muscle connection. Just help me get rid of the fat! Well, here’s some good news. You may not be technically FAT.
Maybe you’ve tried to lose what you think is “fat” by diet and exercise, but failed to address the elephant in the room — STRESS. You push hard at the gym every day to exhaustion. You cut your calories so that eating is no longer enjoyable. At the end of the day, after your body has done all it can possibly do to keep up with the demands of your will, driven by fear of aging, not looking good enough (or whatever) –you insult yourself by looking in the mirror with disappointment and disgust.
Your body is trying to serve you, trying to please you, doing what it does to give you optimum health. Most of us are blessed enough to have bodies that are created that way. But if you feed it next to nothing, take pills to confuse its natural rhythms, push your joints and ligaments too hard without recovery, mutilate yourself to look younger by injecting poisons … ultimately you do nothing to prevent the fat / flab / inflammation from returning. If you have a body image issue, you may even see yourself as fat no matter what you do. These are just things to consider as you work to achieve optimal health.
So … what you have may not be fat. It may be inflammation. If you are a muscular, trim person but you still have a double-chin and a goat-belly, it could be inflammation, not fat. There are three general types of “fat” which again, may not be fat at all:
FLAB (IE: Bat Wings, Chicken-Neck, Rooster-Chin, Saddlebags): FLAB is loose, saggy skin and soft tissue, caused by loss of muscle tone or loss of elasticity. You may be lower in body fat but still appear overweight from loose skin. This is VERY hard to lose. Be prepared to work hard building muscle. Muscle will “fill out” SOME of the loose skin, but very rarely ALL of it. Muscle burns calories much faster than fat. Even at rest, the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn. If you have excess flab, all the supplements in the world will not help you. Some people choose to get an operation if the flab is severe enough.
INFLAMMATION: Stress, poor diet, food allergies and/or intolerance, autoimmune disease, pain or illness can cause chronic, low-grade inflammation, thereby causing you to appear fat. They alter a variety of hormones and encourage fat storage, particularly around the belly. Fat cells caused by inflammation release inflammatory chemicals, which puts you on a continuous merry-go-round. (My personal inflammation causes moon-face, double chin, puffy eyes, goat stomach, rashes, drooping eyelids, aching joints and I.B.S.) This is something YOU CAN CHANGE. Sugar, grains, wheat, dairy, too many veggies, too much fruit and fructose, alcohol, cigarettes, processed food, too much coffee and too many supplements —- you and I both need to GET OFF THIS MERRY-GO-ROUND. I did it for two weeks and all my pain and inflammation went away.
Body Image Stress: If you look in the mirror and cut yourself down, you are creating a whole network of beliefs which cut grooves into your brain, triggering a whole host of chemical responses. Your body is doing the best it can with what you’re giving it. Treat it better, and it will treat YOU better. We have hormones and chemicals in our own bodies that can heal and support us — let’s change our tune together.
VISCERAL FAT – THE ENEMY: This is the stuff that you want OUT OF YOUR BODY. If you want to be hard on yourself, do it by getting rid of the visceral fat. This fat is your enemy, and sometimes it HIDES. It’s found deep inside the abdominal cavity. Like an encroaching ambush, it surrounds your organs. You won’t find it by pinching — (that’s why I love DEXA and Bio-Electrical Impedance scales for measuring fat). It causes a firm, round “goat belly”. Sometimes the goat belly is very small, but far more dangerous than subcutaneous fat. It’s a predictor of disease and may be strongly linked to the “inflammation”fat” you find on the “outside”. If your outer inflammation is caused by visceral fat, you may have insulin resistance, diabetes, kidney issues, auto-immune disorder or heart disease. You’re technically not fat; it’s actually inflammation.
BOTTOM LINE: Diet. Exercise. Reduce Stress. Build Muscle Mass. Build Bone Density. Have compassion towards yourself. Rest. Educate yourself. Eat food the body was designed to eat. Chew well. Don’t have “food regret”. Build yourself up; don’t tear yourself down. Is it fat, flab or inflammation? When in doubt, rather than focus on how you look, focus on how you FEEL physically and emotionally. Heal well in both of these arenas. If you’re not sure what kind of fat you have, go for the visceral fat approach, or ask your health care person. Oh yes, and I’ll repeat myself here: EDUCATE YOURSELF and find your joy in the journey.
Vicki Morgan ACE CPT is a Private Senior Strength & Fitness Personal Trainer in Franklin, TN. Look for her Seibukan Karate Class for Seniors coming soon at the Franklin YMCA. For more info, visit seniorstrength.net. Legal Disclaimer — Remember to consult a physician before beginning any diet or exercise program. If you experience pain or difficulty, stop and consult your healthcare provider. This article is not meant to take the place of any treatment or activity your physician has deemed necessary.
Senior Strength and Fitness 