The Real Reason You Aren’t Losing Belly Fat
If you have been very meticulous with the things you eat and your work outs have been regular, but you are still finding it difficult to lose belly fat, there might be a hidden reason. This hidden reason has nothing to do with exercise or increasing your frequency at the fitness centre or diet and it is even making your belly fat become more stubborn.
So, let’s talk about why you could have been finding it harder to get rid of stubborn belly fat and also explain what could be responsible for this. Most people don’t actually consider this. I will also be talking about effective and simple ways by which you can deal with stubborn fat in your belly.
Apart from beauty or vain reasons, there are health benefits that come with getting rid of deep belly fat, which have been linked to high risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke and so on.
This is another reason you might want to take this seriously. Alright, let’s check this out…
First, what you should know about belly fat is that it is extremely influenced by your body hormones. This is one of the major reasons why belly fat is very hard to lose. Before you get me wrong, I need to say this.
The fat in your belly isn’t the only fat in your body that is been controlled by your hormones. However, your belly fat just happens to be the most sensitive body fat where hormonal impact is concerned.
Then, what exactly am I talking about?
What this means is that eating right and doing regular exercise may not be enough, when it comes to losing stubborn belly fat.
There is also one of these hormones that most people do not pay enough attention to. This could be the main reason why your body is retaining stomach fat.
If you have tried everything else, such as diet and exercise, the best fitness centres around, flat belly detox and you are not getting your desired result, then you should pay more attention to your cortisol.
Your stress hormones, cortisol.
Cortisol is an important hormone in the body and it is essential for the survival of human. Anytime your body goes through any kind of stress, which could be physical or mental, it secretes cortisol. This triggers a cascade of some physiological responses, which is quite essential for proper functioning of your body.
The cortisol works like an emergency generator that works until an unforeseen power outage is fixed, which is not meant to work for the long term. Your cortisol is responsible for turning “off” most of the physiological mechanisms and turning “on” some of the physiological mechanisms, which are operatively temporary.
Normally, the production of the stress hormone cortisol lasts only for a short period of time. After this, all metabolic functions are restored back to their normal. However, things can go wrong here. This is because too much stress makes your body to secrete cortisol too often and causes the “on” activity of the cortisol to remain like that for a longer time.
Constant stress causes your body to continuously secrete cortisol. This further makes the stress hormone become counterproductive to your body. It can alter the process of your body metabolism, which can cause you to gain unrelenting stubborn fat, depending how much cortisol is circulating through your body and how long it stays on.
This can as well compromise your health. According to researchers at Yale University, it was discovered that slender women with high levels of the stress hormone cortisol had more belly fat.
One of the signs that will help you know your body is producing too much cortisol is that you tend to gain belly fat easily but getting rid of that doesn’t come that easily. It is a strong sign that your body is producing excess stress hormone. Other ways to find out if there are other things hindering your weight loss apart from diet and exercise is the following factors.
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Sleep
Are you having enough of it? I mean the recommended 7-9 hours per night. This is one of the best ways y which you can reduce stress, help your body get rid of fat and optimize your health.
While sleeping, your body uses fat as its fuel. Get rid of distractions to your sleep such as bright light, snacks and gadgets in your bedroom.
2. Recovery
Inadequate recovery can have negative impact on your weight loss goal. If you’re always feeling tired, it means you don’t allow your body to recover well. This way, your body still has cortisol coursing through it. In this kind of situation, you need a break.
Allow your body to rest well. Pushing through the fatigue will only make things worse, such as increasing the production of the stress hormone and causing your belly fat to become harder to burn.
3. Caffeine
Do you feel you need to take caffeine before you can be able to get going in the morning? Caffeine is a stimulant. It enhances the production of the stress hormone. Its ok for you to drink cup-a-joe, just not when you’re suffering from serious fatigue.
If find it hard to get up in the morning without a stimulant, it only means you have not had enough rest or sleep. If you still feel you need a stimulant to get going in the morning even after enough sleep, then you can try green tea.
It contains natural stimulants that help to fight fatigue and enhance energy levels along. Green tea comes with 1/4 the amount of caffeine you get from a cup of coffee.
Conclusion
If you are experiencing any of the above, then cortisol might be sabotaging your effort to lose weight. So…rest, sleep and recover! It seems unrelated but it is important to improve these factors because they can help you reduce your cortisol levels. This way you can finally start melting fat off your belly.