Have you been inspecting your belly lately and plotting against its elimination? Are you hiding the bulges on your thighs behind long flowing shirts and baggy pants? Conjuring up all sorts of plans to extinguish their existence, you are willing to go to any lengths - you've answered the ad for spot reduction, reducing "motapa" by Ayurvedic methods, tried and tasted shakes like it's going out of style, but yet nothing happened. The truth is going to be bitter but here it is -nothing is going to happen! You're not going to lose it until you move it.
The role of fat
A certain amount of fat has a purpose in the body. The normal range for women is about 18-25 per cent of total body weight and for men is about 15-20 per cent (click on the following link to find out your Body Mass Index and check whether you are overweight. Your diet should contain about 15-20 per cent from sources of fat and that too, from good sources. Recent research has shown that omega -3 fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids in small quantities are good for us. Good sources of these can be fish and peanuts.
Remember that fat is a source of energy that is used almost like combustion in the body. The body also has a survival instinct to store excess calories in the form of fat to be used only in cases of emergency. Thus if the body gets the regular signal that it requires energy, then and only then does it mobilize fat as a prime source. However, if on a regular basis, there is less activity, the fat stores are the last reserves to be used in the body.
The body also takes its cue from the amount of energy it receives from what's being put into it - i.e. the nutritional aspect. When that is in deficit, it refuses to metabolize the fat stores. That is why crash diets are so unsuccessful, without any element of exercise.
Fats in the body also are necessary to dissolve vitamins A D E K, which are not soluble in water. If there is a smaller percentage of fat in the body, the vitamins do not get absorbed in the body thus leading to a deficiency.
It has been shown that women who have a very low percentage have irregularities in their menstrual cycle and are sometimes unable to conceive a child (a certain minimum being necessary). That is why you hear of woman athletes taking time off to catch up with motherhood.
The role of exercise
The kind of exercise you do is also what matters. Here we need to understand the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercises. Anaerobic activities include any activities that require huge bursts of energy and the carbohydrate stores in the body provide these. These do not and cannot last for more than 1-3 minutes. This is because there is not enough of oxygen present during the activity. Anaerobic activities include sprinting, high jumps, squash and weight training.
Aerobic exercise on the other hand, take place in the presence of oxygen, which mobilize the fat stores into activation, so that they provide the primary (but not only) source of fuel. This sort of activity involves the heart and the lungs, which, depending on their efficiency, receive their source of fats from ALL over the body to fuel them (the less efficient the heart-lung system is, the less it will derive from the fat stores due to the inadequate and infrequent supply of oxygen). So you will find that practicing regular aerobics will reduce the fat percentage all over the body and increase the lean body mass in the body, which may not even show in reduction of overall weight on the scales. In other words your percentages change. Aerobic exercises have a longer lasting quality about them and can be endured by the hardy and conditioned body. That is why they need to be done very, very regularly. Brisk walking, swimming, cycling are all examples of aerobic exercise.
Fat distribution
Why fats accumulate in someone's belly and on another person's hips is something that is genetically determined. It is in your genes and there is not much you can do about it. Yes, you may be able to contain the percentage of fat in your body with regular exercise and a good nutritious diet. But whenever the input and output do not match, these will come creeping at you in the same predisposed places you are most susceptible to. So if you have a mom who's got heavy hips you can blame it all on her, when you decide to do nothing about it!
Beside the hereditary factor, there is also a universal, sex difference to the distribution of fat in the body. Women have a tendency to accumulate fat on their hips, thighs and upper arms. Men tend to have fat around the belly often called love handles (yeah sure, they handle us fine!) The distribution of fat around the belly is also more dangerous to health which is no wonder women far outlive men!
The amount of excess fat (which has accumulated due to intake of excess calories or a sedentary lifestyle in any form not only fat) can also act as pointers to your predisposition to AND risk of ailments like coronary heart and arteries diseases, hypertension etc.
So what is it you can do to get rid of bulging bellies, thunder thighs, heavy hips and the like?
Doing aerobics daily (or at least 5-6 times a week) for anywhere from 20-60 minutes. If this amount of time is not feasible to you at one stretch, do it in bouts throughout the day. This can have a cumulative effect.
To take care of toning the muscles that lie underneath the accumulated fat, you can do a series of toning exercises. Remember though, that you must work out all parts of the body equally so that none of them are weak. This will save you from future injuries in the weaker parts.
Do not forget the Go-Show principle -- what goes in, shows out (unless used up in the form of exercise! Replace it with Go For It!)
But remember that no amount of abdominal crunches or leg lifts by themselves will take care of your problem. They have to be in tandem with aerobic workouts and must include some flexibility exercise for good measure.
Of the numerous benefits, fat reduction is just one of them, so it's a worthwhile exercise to make it a part of your routine and daily life and not just a goal by itself. Take charge of your life and fat now!
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