Belly fat or subcutaneous fat is a natural place for fat to be stored. It is easy to carry there and hard to get rid of because your body sees it as a great energy resource. But it isn’t just the fat that you see that is dangerous it’s the fat that exists around your organs behind your belly, the visceral fat that can cause great health risks like colon cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

What causes this type of fat?

One of the main culprits of belly fat is Trans fat, which is man made fat that is put into foods. This seems to be worse than any other type of fat for stretching your waist. Another problem is your sedentary lifestyle and your eating habits. Lack of sleep can also play a part in gaining weight since sleep deprivation cuts down on Leptin, which is a appetite suppressant.

How to get rid of belly fat.

Simply eating less, especially trans fat, is the easy answer. But to really be effective you must try to eat smaller meals each day, say 5 small meals instead of 3 big meals. And of course you must incorporate some kind of exercise program, walking is a great way to start.

Losing weight is more a mental exercise than anything else. We know, or we should know what to eat and we should know how much to eat. But why don’t we? Habits are hard to break. The habit of using food to make us feel better and the habit of eating when we have nothing else to do are habits that must be broken in order to lose weight.

Maybe it is 2 in the afternoon on Saturday, nothing is on TV and you have no plans to do anything, you decide that it is a good time to snack. Are you hungry? No, but you always have a snack around 2. That’s fine if the snack is fruit or any other healthy snack.

Unfortunately the snack may be chips, cookies or anything else that might be fattening. Why not the apple or low fat yogurt as a snack? Your mind just can’t get past the idea that junk food tastes better then fruit. A lifetime of bad decisions makes you reach for the cookies.

Can you change? Will the change be easy? You can change and with the right mindset you can eat properly. Two things that have to change, one that boredom is not a reason for eating and two healthy snacks can taste as good as junk food. You need to write a note to yourself and put it in a visible place in the kitchen saying that boredom is not a reason for eating. I know that sounds corny, but it is simple and it can remind you if you get a little forgetful.

As for the junk food, think exactly why you prefer junk food, it’s the sweet or fattening taste and the habit of eating them. Oranges and apples are sweet too; give them a try or any other fruit that you want. Remember it is a habit to eat junk food; it can be a habit to eat the right foods.

Tell yourself that you are going to try it for a week. Each day write down the snacks you ate and why you ate them. At the end of the week, look over what you have written. Eating healthy snacks makes sense and you really know that. The taste of healthy foods or snacks can be as enjoyable as junk food and you know that too.

Think about it and give healthy snacks a try.

She wasn’t too upset when she found out that she only lost a pound. One pound is better than no pounds. The problem that she is going to face from here on out is to find the time to exercise which she didn’t do much of this week because of scheduling issues and her being sick. She knew this would be a problem because I don’t get home till late and she has to pick our son up from school, go home make dinner and help him with his homework. And on Tuesday he has to be at scouts and Wednesday it is choir practice. She isn’t complaining but she is just going to have to find some time to exercise.

One of the folks at Weight watchers told her to break up her exercising during the week. That is her plan and we will see how it goes.

 Our bodies produce a fat, a brown fat, that doesn’t store energy like the yellow or white fat, this fat helps burn energy. The function of brown fat is to mainly maintain body temperature. Interesting enough brown fat cells become more active in cold weather and that women more than men have this type of cells.

 Newborns have brown fat cells located on their back to help them to keep warm. Adults don’t have as much but they still have brown fat and it is located around the neck. The amount of brown fat may be less than a half ounce.

 What is important is the fact that brown fat cells may be the key to reducing weight and research is being done to find ways to produce brown fat cells.

 Dr. Lyons asserts that white or yellow fat can be replaced by the good brown fat through an exercise plan that he devised. He also has diet that includes fat in it.  Dr. Lyons exercise regimen emphasizes weight training as opposed to cardio training. He also advocates eating smaller meals, which a lot of diets advise today, and he encourages getting a lot of sleep.

 Like the morning banana diet this diet was developed in Japan. The concept behind this diet is more than just eating the right food; it also incorporates the Chinese philosophy of yin and yang. I don’t know that much about yin and yang but it centers on opposing forces (yin and yang) and food is also categorized into this two forces.

 Fresh vegetables make up a great deal of this diet and they are lightly steamed before eating.  Whole grains make up the majority of the diet whereas nuts and fish are allowed in small portions.

 Unfortunately all the foods that I like, foods with sugar in them are considered a no-no. Forget about red meat and soda drinks are also forbidden because of the sugar and caffeine, which of course means no coffee.

 Some of the arguments against the macrobiotic diet is the lack of choice in what you can eat and the lack of protein. That seems to be a fair argument against it. Although eating fresh vegetables and fruits and promoting low fat meals do seem beneficial.

 Does it matter where the fat cells are located?

Yes it does matter. On men the fat cells tend to gather around the waist, you have heard of the term ‘apple shaped’ well that is what it is. This can be dangerous because it leads to heart disease and diabetes. The fat around the midsection is called ‘visceral fat’ which is deeply embedded within the body’s tissue and is harder to get rid of then other types of fat. Visceral fat also has a part to play in higher bad cholesterol, which can lead to many health issues.

 ‘Pear’ shaped body types usually have subcutaneous fat, under the skin fat. This is a layer of fat that is used for protection as well as energy. It is easier to get rid of then visceral fat.

 Of course you can get rid of subcutaneous fat with liposuction. There are issues involved with liposuction that you need to go over with your doctor before considering it.

 Here is the bad news, as you get older your metabolic burn rate goes down.

 That’s a bummer!

 But wait there is good news! You can increase your metabolic burn rate by doing a few things on a regular basis. I know what you are thinking, it has to do with exercise and what you eat. You are right.

 In the way of exercises, weight training is an excellent way to increase your metabolism and the reason is because muscle eats fat more than anything else. Now don’t think that you have to start lifting 6 days a week and become a body builder. Use light weights to start with and get comfortable with them before adding any weight. Of course always consult a doctor before starting any exercise program.

 Aerobic exercises like walking will also be a great help and forget about using the elevator at work, try the steps. When you go to the store park as far as possible from the door, every little bit helps.

 Smaller meals and more meals each day will also increase your metabolism.

 So get started on raising that metabolic burn rate!

Check out Master Your Metabolism: The 3 Diet Secrets to Naturally Balancing Your Hormones for a Hot and Healthy Body!

Burning fat is considered an important part of any healthy diet and lifestyle. There are simple things that you can do burn fat slowly and consistently. The most important part of any weight loss program is to gradually lose the fat so it will stay off. Quick loss weight programs rarely work because you will eventually end up putting the weight right back on. And exotic or fad diets that concentrate on eating certain foods will also fail. The best way to lose fat or lose weight is too eat nutritional foods and to exercise.

Here are some general common sense things that you can do:

Fat loss tips

1. eat smaller meals each day and eat at least 5 meals a day
2. eat slowly, so the food is digested efficiently
3. eat fruits, vegetables and whole grains
4. stay away from processed foods as much as possible
5. don’t eat as much sugar
6. exercise
7. cut back on sodium, salt helps to retain fluid
8. get plenty of rest (see losing weight while you sleep)
9. drink more water

Let’s start with the diet and when I say diet that means the food that you should be eating for the rest of your life not just because you want to lose a few pounds. Let every diet plan should be the food that you eat should be balanced into the five food groups. When you are looking to gain lean muscles it is important is that your protein isn’t from fatty meats but lean meat like fish, chicken and red meat as long as it doesn’t have a lot of fat. Remember not to scrimp on protein supplies because protein is important in building muscle especially lean muscle.

Carbohydrates are also vital in that they give you the energy to workout. Carbohydrates are found in lots of foods but the ones that you need are complex carbohydrates not ones with a lot of sugar. Whole wheat and vegetables are a source of complex carbs.

Before you ever start to workout check with your doctor first. Let them give you the okay before starting any program. Start out slow with any exercise program that you begin. Walking is a great way to build up your wind. Keep a chart and gradually increase your distance and speed. In order to build lean muscle you will also have to do muscle resistance exercises that will work your overall body with out straining one particular area. Exercises involving light weights are a good start. Like the walking start slow and build up. Remember that your goal is lean muscle so don’t worry if the weight that you use isn’t very heavy.

Keep in mind that with any exercise program it takes time to work. So be consistent and stay with it.