Why is Belly Fat Hard to Lose? | PYHP 047

In this episode, we talk about how to lose belly fat.  Belly fat is one of the most common complaints we hear from our patients and listeners.  Weight loss, especially in the stomach is very common and more of a consequence of hormones rather than food.   This episode is an extension from our article, 11 Tips on How to Lose Belly Fat in Perimenopause'. Because of the popularity of the article we wanted to expand on belly fat and ways to combat it.  This episode focuses on tips to help lose belly fat that you might not be aware of. That is because many of our tips go against the grain in the typical weight loss theory of eat less, exercise more. How many of you have gone on a diet ? I think I went on my first diet at 13 years old.  For the majority of history, it has always been reduce your calories and exercise a bunch, and you will lose weight.  While many do this over and over. The long game is, the weight might initially come off. But inevitably the weight loss will plateau and come back.  How many of you have worked really hard to lose 15 pounds only to put most of it back on plus more, just by going back to a normal way of eating. You do not have to starve yourself and exercise like crazy to lose weight and maintain it.  I have so many people complain that they are eating 1000 calories and do some form of intense cardio 5 days a week and they are actually gaining weight! I wish to lose weight that the simple math equation of calories in versus calories out acutally worked.  That would be amazing. But there are too many variables, whether metabolic or hormonal that influence this equation making it obsolete. Reduce Stress: yes, this is easier said than done.  But stress raises cortisol which then causes an imbalance of glucose and insulin.  Insulin is the only fat-storing hormone. Stress can actually make your belly grow.  Stress = Belly Fat. Get Better Sleep: getting enough restful, deep sleep will help prevent belly fat.  Sleep is when we heal, and our cells recover. Not getting sufficient sleep will cause your cortisol to elevate at night.  Which a mentioned above will alter the balance of glucose and insulin. I have had patients that we worked only on healthy sleep that lost weight.  All they did was sleep better, and their pants fit better. Don't Drink Your Calories:  we all know that we shouldn't drink soda or sugary drinks.   Sure, we have all heard of a beer belly'. Yes, alcohol beverages like wine and beer can cause weight gain.  But fruit juices are still loaded with sugar. Any drink with sugar will raise your glucose and then your insulin, then your belly.  That goes for electrolyte sports drinks that are loaded with sugar. Even coconut water has a lot of sugar in it. Some protein powders are secretly loaded with sugar.  If your protein shake/powder has more than 5 grams of carbohydrates, do not drink it. Ideally, find a protein shake that ha