Guest Blog: The Truth About Belly Fat
So you have belly fat. You have either been struggling with this all your life or it’s only started to accumulate recently. Either way you want to know why.
I would like to start this off by saying that there is nothing wrong with a little belly fat! This is not a guide on how to achieve a super low body fat percentage to see definition in your stomach, aka get a six pack. This is about achieving a healthy body fat percentage for you! This is about learning why there is fat on our belly and how fat storage is a super cool mechanism the body uses to protect us, but also how it can potentially become dangerous. Bellies come in all shapes and sizes, and they are all beautiful!
Our body has this amazing ability to store fat. This comes in handy for all sorts of reasons! It’s protective. The fat our body stores cushions vital organs to keep them safe. Thank you body fat.
Fat is energy. Fat is how our body stores excess energy that we can use later. Carbohydrates are our main source of energy, but our body can only store a finite amount and so once those stores run out our body looks to its fat stores to fuel us. Our body wants to maintain a certain amount of fat as an emergency back up. This might come from our caveman days since food is much more abundant today with energy literally at our fingertips in the pantry, in the fridge or at the corner store but it’s still an important feature our body has.
Fat helps regulate appetite. Leptin which is a hormone that signals satiety is produced by our fat cells. It lets us know we have eaten enough because we have sufficient body fat. Of course it is easy for us to choose to ignore this signal especially at Thanksgiving dinner!
Fat supports fertility. Again, leptin plays a key role here. Our body produces leptin only when body fat is sufficient. If body fat is too low we don’t produce as much leptin because our body wants us to store more fat, so our appetite becomes a little bigger. It isn’t safe to reproduce if we don’t have sufficient body fat. Our body literally wants to make sure there is enough fat to sustain our life and to grow a human if for some reason food becomes scarce (or we don’t feel like eating cause those pregnancy hormones have us feeling nauseous.) Our hormones all rely on each other to be in balance. If one hormone is off tilt it affects other hormones so too low fat stores have even further reaching detrimental affects on our health.
Fat keeps us warm. There are two types of fat our body stores. White fat and brown fat. Brown fat has an important job regulating our body’s temperature. It’s extremely active as it takes a lot of work to keep our body at just the right temperature. Brown fat cells even contain mitochondria (just like our muscles!) and therefore brown fat contributes to our metabolic rate. Brown fat is typically stored in our upper body in the chest area.
Now that we’ve covered all the benefits of body fat let’s get to its dangers. Above I mentioned that we store two types of fat. Brown fat we don’t have to worry about, it’s a healthy fat and in fact we don’t really have much control over how much of it we have. The second type of fat, white fat, is stored everywhere subcutaneously (just under our skin) and viscerally (deep in our abdomen around our organs). While some white fat is completely normal and healthy, too much white fat particularly when stored viscerally can become dangerous.
Too many large white fat cells become inflammatory as they fight to survive. Inflammation when we have injured ourselves is a good thing. It helps the body heal. But constant inflammation from too many damaged fat cells starts to damage other healthy cells in our blood vessels and in our organs. If our healthy cells are being attacked our body can’t function optimally and we feel this in our energy levels and in our long-term health. When fat accumulates excessively in our abdominal area it can also build up in our liver, creating a liver that is overrun with fat. This can lead to liver damage and eventually cirrhosis or liver cancer. Our liver has so many important jobs in our body. When it is compromised all our systems are comprised.
But how do we determine if the level we are storing has become unhealthy or if it is affecting our liver? This is tricky. You can’t just go by the number on the scale or the fact you can’t see your six pack. And you can’t go by your shape in comparison to someone else. You also can’t and shouldn’t use the BMI. Just because you have a belly, just because there is something to grab onto, just because you have rolls, doesn’t mean you are at risk.
The least invasive and most accurate way to determine visceral fat thickness is through an ultrasound. An ultrasound can differentiate between subcutaneous fat and visceral fat, detect whether or not there is fat on your liver (NAFLD) and give you an idea of the amount of each.
Another effective way to determine excess is by measuring the circumference of your waist. This doesn’t give you an indication of the TYPE of fat around your middle but it’s a starting place to move forward. It can be a strong indicator of excess visceral fat storage. Even excess subcutaneous fat around your middle can be an indicator of poor metabolic health. When you have good metabolic health your body responds to what you eat in a beneficial way. You seamlessly store carbohydrates and fats and then you are able to use both sources of fuel as required. In general a healthy waist size is less than 35 inches for a woman and less than 40 inches for a man. If your waist is larger than this, it can mean you have excess visceral fat. This is a safe statistic to use to start a conversation with your doctor about your metabolic and cardiovascular health. There are many tests your doctor can perform to give you a better overall picture of your health. Don’t use just your waist size as THE indicator. It’s important to consider the complete set of tests you receive from your doctor.
A little more on waist size because it isn’t the end all and be all of your health. I want you to consider your waist circumference as potential indicator of health but NOT as an indicator of your worth or beauty! Society has made us believe that only flat, toned stomachs are beautiful. I BEG to differ. Your soft, round stomach, your stretch marks, your love handles, your extra skin, these too are all beautiful! These parts of you are indications of joy, success, strength, and a full life!
On the flip side a flat, toned stomach also does NOT equal health. Sometimes the low body fat percentage required by a woman to see definition in the stomach is extremely unhealthy. Remember above when I talked about the benefits of fat? It often takes an awful lot of restriction to reach such low body fat which means these bodies may not be getting adequate vitamins and minerals either. It’s important to note that fatty liver does happen in cases where the waist circumference does not exceed the numbers indicated above as well. And what about mental health? What is this person’s relationship with food or their body? These are all important factors in health too!
BUT why am I gaining weight in my belly!?
Our body stores fat when there is more energy coming in than going out, aka we are eating too much and moving too little! There are many complex reasons why we are eating more than we are moving but it is simply an imbalance in energy that causes the weight gain. When we are putting on weight there are a few different factors involved in determining WHERE that weight gets stored.
Genetics! Yup blame your parents for this one. You may just have a genetic predisposition to store fat in your middle vs. in your hips or butt.
Stress! Stress causes the release of glucocorticoids, like cortisol, which have a regulating effect on how much fat is stored where. When cortisol is circulating our body seems to prefer to store fat in the abdomen. This is why you hear that stress makes us fat. It doesn’t make you fat it just contributes to fat being stored in the area we notice it the most, which is our bellies!
Changes in estrogen! Estrogen does so many amazing things one of which is it tells our body WHERE to store fat. Estrogen is responsible for fat being stored in our hips and bust. When estrogen levels drop (in perimenopause and/or menopause) women start gaining more of their weight in their bellies because estrogen isn’t there to make sure it is directed elsewhere (this is also why men are more apt to gain weight in their waist area). Menopause has a reputation for causing weight gain, however it’s not the cause of the weight gain, just the cause of WHERE we gain.
An over consumption of saturated fat! Too much saturated fat in your diet also seems to cause our body to want to store fat around our belly. It is primarily stored as visceral fat and liver fat.
No cardiovascular exercise (walking, running, biking, swimming, etc). Cardiovascular exercise has been shown in studies to decrease visceral fat even in the absence of weight loss. They don’t know exactly why but they think it may have something to do with interleukin 6 which breaks down visceral fat! And because visceral fat is actually easier to get rid of than subcutaneous fat because it metabolizes quicker.
How do I get rid of belly fat!? (and NAFLD)?
Previously I stated that our body stores fat when we eat excess calories. Therefore, I could simply say to lose belly fat you need to be in a calorie deficit. But we all know it isn’t that simple. When we think calorie deficit, we think dieting and when we think dieting, we think short term, intentional weight loss that takes away all the foods we love! Basically, zero food enjoyment, following hard and fast rules and constant monitoring of our food and that arbitrary number on the scale.
Ditch the Diet Mentality!
I truly believe improving your health must start with the relationship you have with your body and with food. Listening to your body, getting in touch with your own hunger and fullness cues, not categorizing foods as good or bad and realizing that your worth is not tied to your size is one of the most freeing experiences. Diet culture has really messed with women and made it hard for us to enjoy food AND love our bodies. It makes us believe we must eat in a specific way and that we need to look a specific way. The wellness industry has made it even worse. We went from looking at food as either making us fat or not to now looking at foods as toxic, or intolerable or as not part of a clean diet and making us sick. Leaving us with not a lot left we feel is safe to eat. And we are supposed to THRIVE on that tiny list.
This journey is different for everyone, and some may find they even need support from a therapist. You need to dig deep into where your food rules came from. What are you afraid of? Social media feeds this fear with so many claims being made by seemingly qualified individuals. It’s important to have high standard with regards to where you get your nutrition information from. Make sure it is from someone with proper credentials. Don’t take everything they say with face value. Get curious about what they are saying.
In the fall of 2021 I read a book called ‘The F*ck It Diet’ by Caroline Dooner. And wow was it a gamechanger for me. I related so much to the author’s struggles. At times I thought “ummmm does Ms. Dooner have a hidden camera in my house, in my mind!?”
After reading The Fuck It Diet there was a real shift in my mindset. I literally said f*ck it, ditched the rules and stopped trying to reach a number on the scale that was meaningless. I also stopped trying to fit into clothes that never really fit anyways. They weren’t made for my body so I found sizes and clothes that were! I ate ALL the foods I felt like in the amounts I wanted. Sometimes those amounts were “large”. It didn’t matter. I gave myself full permission to eat, without shame or guilt. With the understanding this was a process. With the mindset that my current weight was okay and that if I gained weight THAT was okay too. I was still me. I could still do all the things I wanted to do. I was still worthy. It wasn’t the number on the scale that defined any of that. I took any and all restriction away! It was freeing and I was able to start listening to my body because I wasn’t trying to follow someone else’s diet rules or attain some unrealistic body image. I felt a weight lift off my shoulders and food lost its power. And in listening to my body, I was able to become aware of what felt good and what didn’t with respect to how I ate and how I moved. I could make decisions about what food I wanted and needed and how much of that food. I was getting back in touch with my own hunger and satiety signals. In just that simple act of paying attention I was showing myself love and that felt amazing. If I was honouring my body, I was serving it well. I was also practicing self compassion so instead of berating and belittling myself if I made a mistake, I forgave myself and spoke to myself with kindness.
My journey was guided by the principles of Intuitive Eating and Gentle Nutrition. This is the place where dieting ends and truly taking care of your body begins.
Understand Energy Balance
Let’s reiterate. We gain weight because we are taking in more energy than we are using. We are eating too much and not moving enough. It’s as simple (and not) as that. It has nothing to do with any specific food. It’s not because of stress. It’s not because of our age. It’s not because we are in perimenopause or have gone through menopause. It’s not carbs. These things are all factors in WHY we may eat more and move less but they in and of themselves do not cause us to gain fat.
It's important to understand that we need calories. Calories are not bad! And you probably need more than you think you do. What happens often is the number of calories you think you SHOULD be eating is way too low. You are able to stick to eating that small amount for a very short time (maybe a day or two, maybe the whole week) but then you are hungry and you ultimately end up on a binge or eating a bigger than normal meal (a meal your body needed, a meal that wasn’t “too much”) and guilt and shame set in because you think you have failed and then you eat even more to feel better, or because why not you already ate too much what’s the point!? Please know I am fully not judging you for this. I have done this countless times. It’s not your fault. It’s growing up in diet culture that has messed with our relationship to food in this way. It’s not understanding energy balance! If you restrict your calories too much your body will find a way to make up for it.
If you did absolutely nothing all day except breath you still need calories! Your heart needs calories to pump. Your digestive system needs calories digest your food and absorb nutrients. Your lungs need calories to function. And your brain needs calories to coordinate all this effort. You need a minimum of 1300 calories for all these functions! Which really sheds light on those 1200 calorie diets!!! Which function will you sacrifice by only eating 1200 calories? Once you add in all the other “stuff” do in a day related to your job, your family, your household chores there’s another bunch of calories you need! Then on top of that if you participate in a sport either leisurely or competitively, if you have a yoga practice, if you lift weights, if you run, hike, bike, swim that’s even more calories you need. All this to say that you need calories, and likely more than what you thought you did.
These calories are used daily! But you can use calories consumed today on a different day. Eating excess calories one day does not mean you gain fat. Just like eating in a deficit for one day does not mean you will lose fat. You need to either be in excess over a long period of time to gain weight or be in a deficit over a long period of time to lose weight.
Know that what we do consistently determines our future.
There is not one food that will destroy your health. There is not one magic pill, supplement or “this one thing” that will give you good health. It’s your dietary patterns. It’s your habits. It’s what you do over a long period of time that directs your trajectory. It’s not the size of the action it’s how often you perform that act that determines its value.
Are you getting good quality sleep often?
Are you moving your body regularly?
Are you eating whole foods everyday?
What are the coping mechanisms that you repeatedly engage in?
How much do you connect with others?
All of these have an impact on our health in direct and indirect ways. All of these can affect our hunger and fullness cues, our energy levels, and our motivation.
Real change happens in small steps, one day at a time, with setbacks. Establishing a new habit has compounding effects. You experience growth from the doing and from the mistakes and it becomes a catalyst to creating even more habits that support that growth.
Carol Coates is an Holistic Nutritionist and owner of Belly Smiles. You can find out more about her and her services by visiting her website https://bellysmiles.ca