Anyone who has ever made the effort to slim down will know, all fat is stubborn. It usually doesn’t want to listen, no matter how hard we try to convince it to jump ship. An entire industry has been based on the foundation of this difficulty.
Did you know that around 45 million Americans are estimated to go on a diet each year? This statistic probably won’t surprise you. We live in an age of plenty, and it’s hard to control ourselves in the face of so much deliciousness.
Unfortunately, it’s often a lot harder to undo the damage than it was to cause it. If you’re wondering how to finally shed some pounds and divest yourself of stubborn fat, you’ve come to the right place. Read on to find out more!
What Is Stubborn Fat?
For the sake of this article, let’s say stubborn fat is any fat that doesn’t vanish after eating the first salad of your new diet. So, in essence, all of it. The bottom line of losing fat is that there’s no shortcut available to get the results you’re after.
We’ve evolved over millions of years to survive in a hostile environment, and that means making the most of every calorie we can scrape together. Unfortunately, in our modern age, this means that an overabundance of food usually means our energy stores get larger than necessary. What helped us survive in the past has become a serious hindrance today.
The mechanisms that allowed us to continue through times of privation simply don’t mesh with the current state of things. Whatever energy we consume that goes beyond our immediate need is stored for later. Herein lies the problem.
If Fat Is an Energy Store, Why Am I Fat and Hungry?
If you’re asking yourself this question, you’re on the right track. It doesn’t exactly make much sense, does it? If our bodies have made the effort to store vast amounts of energy in the form of fat, why don’t they ever actually use it?
This is a complicated question to answer in terms of precise biological mechanisms, and even harder to understand. Simply put, our bodies never use our stores of fat because they so seldom feel the need to. Even if you run a marathon or go to the gym every day, the chances are your body still won’t ever need to tap into your stubborn body fat.
This is because our bodies prioritize the easiest fuels to burn first. In terms of bioavailability, our bodies will always choose to burn sugar in the form of glucose before fat. If you can remember what the food pyramid looks like, you might be beginning to see the problem.
The Common Carbohydrate-Rich Diet
The cornerstone of many common diets is carbohydrate. They’re the foods we all can’t get enough of. Pizza, pasta, bread, and rice are some of the most prevalent.
They might seem like a healthier option than cakes and ice cream, but in reality, they’re more similar than you might think. Carbohydrates are complex sugar molecules. Our bodies break them down into glucose.
In case you were wondering, table sugar is a combination of glucose and fructose. When you think of bread, even though it’s not sweet, you should think of sugar. That’s how your body sees it after breaking it down.
Carbs and Fat Loss
Losing weight means burning body fat as fuel. Our bodies don’t burn precious fat stores until they feel they need to, which is when they find all more readily available forms of energy depleted. This means if you’re eating a diet rich in carbs, the chances of you ever burning fat are very low indeed.
Our bodies store small amounts of glucose as glycogen in our muscles and liver as a primary fuel tank. When you work out thoroughly, it’s these stores of energy that your body uses first. The unfortunate fact here is that exercise coupled with a diet rich in complex carbohydrates is going to do very little to help you shed weight.
It’s this lack of understanding that has us viewing our extra pounds as particularly stubborn. Once the mechanisms of our bodies are better understood, taking appropriate steps along the correct lines helps enormously. The ChiroThin program understands and respects these mechanisms for unmatched results!
Focus on the Kitchen, Not the Gym
For this reason, where you get your energy is the most important piece of the puzzle concerning fat loss. Simply put, if you restrict your carbohydrate intake, your body will burn all its sugar stores. When the tank is empty, only then does your body make the necessary switch to burning fat.
When you consume food rich in sugar, complex or otherwise, your body releases insulin. Insulin, among other things, signals your body to store fat. Elevated levels of insulin also increase feelings of appetite and hunger.
You can see why this might be an issue.
The answer to the question of how to lose stubborn fat is quite simple in reality, albeit sometimes hard to hear. The more drastically you cut out sugar from your diet, the more fat you’ll lose as a result. This is the key to weight loss, and if you’re serious about wanting your body to change and to lose weight for real, you have your answer!
Be Kind to Yourself
Not every change is an improvement, but every improvement is a change. Drastic changes in diet can be effective, but we should be wary of extremes. Incremental changes soon add up, and you might be surprised at just how quickly.
Rather than jumping in the deep end, take care to do your research and listen intently to what your body tells you. This way you can deal with stubborn fat safely, and live a long and happy life in the process!
Are you ready to get started on the path to a healthier you? Click here to find a ChiroThin doctor in your area.