We are all aware that too much fat in our bodies can kill us, but there is so much more to this story. This short guide will help you understand the types of fat in the body in all its forms, and then you will be able to fight the bad ones.
Your Body Needs Fat
At the beginning of this story about fat, we must define one very important thing – fats are good and necessary. Even though this may sound wrong to many people, our body needs fat to function normally. Life can not exist without fat.
Fat is also very clever. It is a metabolic organ that, like our brain and immune system, communicates with the rest of our body through more than 400 signals, most of which we don’t understand.
Those signals influence the heart, liver, mood, appetite, and fertility. However, not all fat (or adipose tissue) is created equally since there are several types, some of which are good, and some are bad for our health.
Studies show that one-third of tested obese people are metabolically very healthy, and many slim people have bad (visceral fat) around their organs, which puts their health at significant risk.
Read our guide and include the exercises that follow in your routine to reduce the risk of cardiac disease, Alzheimer’s, infertility and maximize your energy level, and, of course, get a healthy and fit body.
Save Your Heart
Some people naturally store fat under the sternum and around the heart. That is bad mechanically speaking, but it can be even worse since the fat can be stored inside the heart cells. That puts them at even greater risk of cardiac disease.
Use A Secret Ally
Most of the fat in the body is known as white fat, which stores energy. However, a few grams of brown fat are usually located on the back or around the clavicle and actually burns energy.
Brown fat is thermogenic, which means it generates heat. It is found in mammals, especially newborns, to help them stay warm. It is also found in adults but in much smaller amounts. There is ongoing research for targeting brown fat as a treatment for obesity.
Exercising in cold conditions stimulates brown fat that uses the energy stored in white fat as fuel for that activity. It is confirmed that this method can burn up to 500 calories a day.
Breath More Easily
Fat is not stored in your lung, but it can greatly influence it. Increased fat tissue on your chest can put pressure on your lungs, and if the neck is fat as well, air tubes in the neck are tightening, leading to breathing difficulties.
If you are snoring, feel sleepy while you are driving, or are constantly tired at work, make sure that you see your doctor.
Beat Diabetes
While accumulating visceral fat around your organs, it goes to the liver, which can be catastrophically damaging. There is a close connection between the fat in the liver and type 2 diabetes.
Fat in the liver induces increased creation of glucose. Fats send signals similar to those of an infection or an injury. These signals make you feel lethargic and have no will to exercise, creating a vicious cycle.
Inner KIller
Fat is connected to a high risk of the development of diabetes, cardiac disease, and even Alzheimers, and you don’t have to look fat to have it. Visceral fat coats the internal organs and sends metabolic signals that increase the fat in the liver and bloodstream. In the period of overeating, it increases fast.
Studies show that people that drink up to one liter of cola a day have 23% more visceral fat and even 139% more fat in the liver than people on a healthy diet.
Make Brown Fat
One promising study shows that regular aerobic activity can make one part of white fat get the characteristics of brown fat. Simply said, fat burns itself.
During the workout, your muscles send a signal to fat cells that makes them create heat. This is why exercising is much more efficient than correcting your diet if you want to lower your body fat.
Sexual Health
A high body fat level lowers testosterone levels and slows the blood flow to the penis. Studies show that obese men who lose five to ten percent of body fat have significantly increased sexual power and improved erectile function.
Preserve Your Blood Lipids
If you eat too much hydrogenated fat (pastries, snacks…), you increase the amount of fat globules circulating in your bloodstream (cholesterol, triglycerides).
They are essential to each cell in the body, but when there are too many of them, they pile up on the walls of arteries and form a substance called plaque that slows down blood flow to the heart, and that leads to the deterioration of cardiovascular health.
Fret Not
Subcutaneous fat located under the skin layer is neutral for health. This fat accumulates in a lot of places in the body. Men usually have it in the abdominal area. Unfortunately, this type of fat is very stubborn to move.
If you do not have it in the amounts that slow you down or physically disrupt you, there is no need to worry about its impact on your health.
Conclusion
This is all you need to know about fat to fight it efficiently and get the desired results. We will also give you a few tips that will help you in critical moments in your diet and a few exercise tips so you can reach your goals faster and easier.
Diet Tips
These are a few easy tips you can implement in your diet to help you lose weight and reduce body fat.
Breakfast
Change Bagel For Eggs
Have you noticed that you are much less hungry during the day if you have eggs for breakfast? The reason is that the eggs prevent secreting the hormone of hunger ghrelin. This helps to reduce body weight if, of course, you do not eat ten eggs for breakfast.
Snacks
Replace Crunchy Snacks With Popcorn
Popcorn is an excellent fiber source that suppresses hunger and contains less salt than other crunchy snacks.
One portion of popcorn provides you with 70% of the necessary daily intake of whole-grain cereal and is a great source of antioxidants. Of course, you should eat them with salt, no butter or sweet syrups.
Lunch
Replace Classic Potato With White Sweet Potato
Sweet potato is a grocery with a low glycemic index, which means that it will not raise your blood sugar as fast as other groceries, so you won’t suffer an energy breakdown after your meal and crave snacks.
Sweet potato also raises the level of protein hormone adiponectin that resists insulin and lowers the level that the body stores as fat.
Dinner
Replace Creamy With Hot
Avoid meals with greasy dairy sauce or dressing in the evening. It is better to eat something hot to speed up your metabolism. Capsaicin that gives hotness to hot peppers increases the secreting of protein that stimulates the splitting of fat and, with thermogenesis, influences weight loss.
This process increases body temperature and the ability to burn fat.
Exercise Tactics For Getting Rid of Fat
Fat is stored energy. To get rid of it, you have to burn it. Everything we do that increases our physical activity will help us burn fat.
Different tactics will give different results depending on your body type and build, the type of body fat you carry, and how you train.
1) Beginner On A Start Line
You Are Obese, But You Are Determined To Change That
The key moment here is tolerance. You need to have a realistic plan. Train larger muscle groups: glutes, quads, or lats.
If you are big, you are already strong, so this will work to your advantage. Rest during workouts will increase your aerobic abilities, which is also something to think of.
2) Beginner In The Zone
You Are Chubby But Mobile or Slim But Inert?
In both cases, there is a risk of visceral fat. The solution is a continuous aerobic activity; if you train for more than one hour, fat burns more than needed energy for certain activities.
3) Belly Fighter
You Are Slim, But Stubborn Subcutaneous Fat Won’t Budge
Here you need to try a zero tolerance approach and interval training. With intervals, you increase the energy that has to come from somewhere, and those are fat reserves.
On a treadmill, bike, or even weight training, split the activities into intervals of 20 seconds high intensity, 30 seconds low intensity, and repeat this cycle five times.
4) Final – Definition
You Are In Good Shape, And You Need A Final Touch For Nice Abs
Follow steps 1 to 3 and increase the thermogenesis in the state of rest. This is every move you make when you are not in the phase of a regular workout, starting with stomping your thumb on the office desk to standing on the bus on your way home.
Research shows that in this manner, you can burn additional 350 calories a day. Your fat won’t know what hit it.
