Gaining weight solely in your stomach may be the result of specific lifestyle choices. The two S's — stress and sugar — play a significant role in the size of your midsection. Certain medical conditions and hormonal changes can contribute to abdominal weight gain.
Causes include poor diet, lack of exercise, and short or low-quality sleep. A healthy diet and active lifestyle can help people lose excess belly fat and lower the risk of problems associated with it.
The most common causes are trapped gas or eating too much in a short time. The sensation of bloating can cause abdominal distention, which is a visible swelling or extension of your belly.
If you're skinny everywhere, but your belly, your genetics may simply predispose you to storing fat from excess calories there. Certain types of food are also more likely to cause you to accumulate middle fat. Sugary foods and refined, white carbohydrates are culprits.
Sometimes, excess fat around the belly is due to hormones. Hormones help regulate many bodily functions, including metabolism, stress, hunger, and sex drive. If a person has a deficiency in certain hormones, it may result in weight gain around the abdomen, which is known as a hormonal belly.
fat: It is unrealistic to expect that you can have a flat stomach 24/7. Even if you lose a lot of fat from your abdominal area, you will still notice daily fluctuations from bloating. A completely flat stomach is not a “natural state” for your body.
Your genetics prefer storing fat in your stomach area
Visceral fat—the type of fat the body stores in your abdomen and around your intestines and is mostly responsible for keeping people from a flat belly—can be partly determined by genetics.
Myth #4:Everyone can have a flat stomach. Reality: Many factors impact the look of your abdominal area such as genetics, disciplined diet and stress.
Common reasons for someone to have belly fat even when they're skinny is: Being too sedentary (inactive), which builds visceral fat around the organs and abdominal fat. Eating too many processed foods, which stores at the belly.
One of the most effective ways to reduce belly fat is to regularly take part in aerobic exercise, such as walking ( 19 , 20 ). In one small study, women with obesity who walked for 50–70 minutes three times per week for 12 weeks, on average, reduced their waist circumference and their body fat.
The American Council on Exercise says a 1 percent body fat loss per month is safe and achievable. Given that math, it could take a woman with average body fat about 20 to 26 months to achieve the appropriate amount of fat loss for six-pack abs. The average man would need about 15 to 21 months.
Losing belly fat and getting a flat stomach is done through achieving a caloric deficit by eating less, exercising more, and doing that for at least 6-12 weeks. The more stubborn your belly fat is, the more strict and consistent you need to be with your diet and exercises regimen throughout that period.
A high intake of refined carbs is associated with excessive belly fat. Consider reducing your carb intake or replacing refined carbs in your diet with healthy carb sources, such as whole grains, legumes, or vegetables.
Suck in your stomach.
Not only will this move instantly make your stomach look flatter, but you will also be giving your abs a workout. Your deep core muscles are activated by sucking in your stomach and the longer you suck in, the more toned your core will be.
Pineapples too are rich in weight-loss-friendly fibres. It contains an enzyme called bromelain, which has anti-inflammatory properties. This enzyme helps in metabolizing proteins that help cut down belly fat. A bowlful of strawberries may prove very instrumental in shedding belly fat.
Muscle is denser than fat, and as it is more compact within your body, as you gain muscle mass, you end up looking thinner, no matter your physical weight. So, if you've been doing a lot of strength training lately, it's likely this is the reason that you're looking fantastic but not dropping those numbers.
Stress belly is the extra abdominal fat that accumulates as the result of chronic or prolonged stress. Although stress belly is not a medical diagnosis, it is a term used to describe the way that stress and stress hormones impact your midsection.
When excess insulin and cortisol are released together, they create lipoprotein lipase (LPL) which is a fat storing enzyme. The more of this enzyme you have, the more belly fat is stored. Those extreme levels of cortisol also cause damage to cells, lowering their insulin sensitivity.