The Facts About Flab by Pamela Peeke, MD, MPH, FACP
Your abdomen actually has two compartments where fat can be stored. I first wrote about this in Fight Fat after Forty when I described the unique fat deposits above and below the ab muscle. The fat that lies on top of the ab muscle is called subcutaneous fat. Unless you’re obese (at least 50 pounds over ideal body weight), it is not significantly associated with an increased risk of heart disease or diabetes. Too much subcutaneous fat is, however, associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. The fat below the ab muscle is located deep inside your belly. Everyone has some level of intra-abdominal or visceral fat. It’s an important fuel source, as well as contributing to the regulation of core body temperature and cushioning your organs. However, if you start depositing too many fat pounds deep inside your belly, that fat becomes what I have called “toxic”. Why? That’s because too much visceral fat significantly increases your risk for heart disease, diabetes and some cancers.
Genetics and age both play key roles in where you tend to deposit body fat. Look at your immediate family’s body shapes. Who do you look like at your current age? There are a variety of shapes for women, including hour glass, pear, apple or straight up and down. As I’ve noted in my research, prior to the age of 40, excess weight tends to be deposited in the subcutaneous fat layer and is easier to shed. After 40, due to declining sex hormones, both men and women experience an increased amount of fat in both the subcutaneous and intra-abdominal regions.
Here’s the great news. Regardless of your age, you can definitely reduce the belly fat in both compartments. So, armed with this information, and using your Power Mind filled with determination and the desire to achieve your goal, let’s move onto what you need to eat and how to move that belly fat off your body.
Mouth: Get Out From Underneath that Blanket of Belly Fat!
Listen up when I tell you that you can never drop your belly fat with just exercise alone. You’ve got to be mindful of every mouthful. So even if it’s healthy food, don’t overeat your calories. Try to spread your calories out over the day, eating a small meal or snack every 3-4 hours from breakfast through dinner. Don’t forget to log onto WebMD’s wonderful Food and Fitness Planner to help organize your eating and exercise.
To flatten your tummy, stick to:
· Lean protein: You’ll fill up and feel satisfied longer throughout the day when you include lean protein at every meal and snack: poultry, lean meat, fish, low fat dairy, legumes, eggs, and nuts.
· Fiber: The combination of protein and fiber will yield the greatest sense of satiety and satisfaction. All kinds of vegetables, fruits and whole grains can get you there. Low fat string cheese and an apple, carrots and hummus, peanut butter on a multigrain cracker or grilled chicken or salmon on a bed of greens are all belly fat fighting examples.
· Healthy Fats: Healthy fat is also very satisfying and good for you. The best are the monounsaturated fats, including olive oil, olives, avocados, nuts and grape seed oil.
Muscle: Blast Your Belly Fat!
Alright, it’s time to sweat off those fat rolls. For optimal results, plan on doing some of these exercises every other day. Remember, if you have any medical condition and/or physical disability, please check with your medical team before attempting any kind of physical exercise. As an added resource, check out WebMD’s wonderful exercise videos (scroll down to “Exercise) to help guide your fitness plan.
The Cure for the Common Crunch: Your “six-pack” muscle is the rectus abdominis. This muscle tends to get most of the attention because it’s the one you can actually see (once you’ve shed the belly fat). The rectus helps you bend forward and so it’s the crunching muscle. Go to my blog for Week 2 where I describe one of my favorite crunch exercises, “the bicycle”.
· This week how about practicing a new kind of ab exercise, the Crunch with a Heel Push. You’ll do a traditional crunch but this time you’ll push your heels into the floor engaging your rectus much more than the regular crunch. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your hands behind your head gently supporting your head and neck. Flex your feet and keep them up as your engage your abs while lifting your shoulder blades off the floor. As you reach the top of your crunch, press your heels into the floor while pushing your back against the floor and slightly raising your butt off the floor. Gently lower and repeat for 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
· I’m also a fan of the Pike and Extend: Lie face up on the floor with your legs together, arms extended towards the ceiling. Lift both legs up over your hips, crunch up while reaching your hands toward your feet. Keeping your legs straight, lower your arms behind your head as you lower your upper back and left leg toward the floor. Now, crunch up and lift your left leg over your hips and reach your hands to your toes. Switch legs and repeat to complete one repetition. Try to do 10 repetitions.
Optimize Your Obliques: In addition to your rectus, you’ve got a nice set of internal and external obliques just crying out for attention. These powerhouse muscles help you in rotating and twisting movements. So, let’s do some!
· The Standing Side Crunch goes like this: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent and arms by your sides. Contract your abs lifting your right leg and bending your knee 90 degrees out to your side such that your thigh is parallel to the floor. Put your right hand behind your head, elbow out to the side and extend your left arm out to the side at shoulder level. Now, crunch your right elbow toward your right knee. Gently lower your leg and bring your arm back to starting position and repeat 10-15 repetitions. Switch legs and so the same.
· The Side Wall Crunch is another terrific exercise to target your obliques. Grab an ab ball and place it about 2 feet from a wall. Position yourself lying face-up on the ball with your hips on its center, feet on the floor about 3 feet apart, toes pointed to the left and soles pressing against the bottom of the wall. Place your hands behind your head gently supporting it, elbows are out to the side, and now rotate your torso so that the upper body faces left. While making sure your lower body is still, crunch up while rotating your torso to the center, and hold for a count of 2. Then rotate back to the left as you lower to your start position. Do 10-15 repetitions and switch sides to repeat.
Perfect Your Planks: The final big ab muscle you need to honor and respect is the transverse abdominis. It functions like a corset helping to stabilize your trunk and core.
· A terrific way to strengthen both your transverse ab as well as your back is to do a Plank: Lie face down on a floor mat, resting on your forearms, palms flat on the floor. Push off the floor, raising up onto your toes and resting your upper body on your elbows. Keep your back flat, in a straight line from head to heels. Engage your ab muscles while tilting your pelvis slightly to avoid sticking your rear end up while preventing your belly from sagging. Hold for 30-60 seconds, gently lower to start position and repeat 3-6 times.
