February 27, 2010
Belly Fat Can Kill You
Belly Fat Can Kill You
Being overweight or obese surely puts you at a high risk for disease.
But even more important than simply reading the number on the scale is where you carry your weight.
Very simply, the size of your belly matters.
On the flipside, if you carry more of your weight in your hips and thighs, you’re at less of a risk.
Here’s the deal:
There are different types of fat in the bodyVisceral fat lies beneath the abdominal muscle, so is not visible.
On the other hand, subcutaneous fat is right underneath the skin, so can be seen.
We now know that those who have more belly fat, or visceral fat, are at a significantly higher heart disease and diabetes risk, among others.
The reason for this is that visceral fat surrounds the vital organs.
It also releases various hormones that have been linked to disease.
In a nutshell, belly fat is VERY dangerous!
In general, most women carry more of their weight in their lower body and men carry more of their weight around their middle…and that lower body fat may be actually somewhat protective.
We’re not suggesting gaining weight to protect you from heart disease, but when solely comparing the two types of fat, visceral fat is much more dangerous.
And, while it’s more common for men to carry their weight in their upper body, as women age, hormonal shifts tend to cause a shift in where body fat is stored.
It’s therefore not uncommon for women who go through menopause to gain more fat around their belly too.
So what can be done about this?
First, measure your belly and see if you’re at risk.
Run a tape measure around your midsection at about the level of your belly button.
Breathe normally, don’t suck in, or pull the tape so tight you lose oxygen.
Goal: < 35” for women, and <40” for men.
How do you fare?
Fortunately visceral fat responds very well to exercise … in particular, high intensity exercise.
A study published just a few years ago out of the University of Virginia —
“Effect of Exercise Training Intensity on Abdominal Visceral Fat and Body Composition”
— showed that those who exercised at the highest intensities
(of course that is relative, depending on your current fitness level)
had the greatest loss in belly fat!
Of course any movement is better than none, but this gives more reason to kick things up a notch!
And surely what you eat plays a big role too.
If you want to kill belly fat once and for all then I suggest trying our 6 Week Body Transformation
This is an interview with my awesome client Alycia. Her son Isiah is absolutely ADORABLE.
Dr. Saman Bakhtiar is a Rancho Cucamonga personal trainer.
Filed under Blog, Testimonials by Dr. Saman
February 17, 2010
Dr. Saman Bakhtiar Chino Hills Personal Trainer Interviews John B.
Dr. Saman Bakhtiar a Chino Hills personal trainer interviews his awesome client John B. John talks about why he started an exercise program and his results thus far.
Filed under Blog, Testimonials by Dr. Saman
The new year is approaching fast and year after year “the new year resolution people” are gung ho about going to the gym and getting in shape for the new year.
We already know 95% fail because of lack of accountability.
“The Boiling Fog Phenomenon” is another reason that the 95% quite after only a few weeks.
As your personal trainer and coach it is my duty to educate you for long term success.
If you’ve ever yo-yo’d on a diet or tried to start an exercise program, but couldn’t stick to it, this one is for you.
The following single bit of information has been a “game changer” for many who used to struggle.
It all boils down to …
“The Boiling Frog Phenomenon”
It’s a psychological phenomenon that dates back to research conducted at Johns Hopkins University way back in 1882.
Here’s how it works.
Imagine you want to cook a frog …
If you throw a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will jump out. But if you place a frog into a pot of lukewarm water and slowly turn up the heat, it will stay happily inside the pot … and before the frog realizes what is happening … you have frog soup.
The human nervous system works much the same way.
If you try to introduce a radical change in your life, your system fights back – much like the frog jumping out of the pot of boiling water.
To create lasting change – you simply have to slowly turn up the heat …
Over time, these tiny changes are almost imperceptible to your nervous system, but over time they add up to HUGE transformations.
This is similar to the Japanese concept of “kaizen” whereby one makes small constant improvements that eventually add up and make a radical difference.
Want to see how it works?
Let’s say you want to lose 10 pounds.
Knowing the Boiling Frog technique, you know that making a sudden, dramatic change in your diet and exercise habits won’t likely stick.
It’s too much of a shock to the system.
A smarter way to go is make a more gradual change like this:
Week 1 – Stop drinking canned sodas. Instead drink water.
That’s it! Don’t do anything else. Just that one change.
Then …
Week 2 – Take long brisk walks every other day
And so on …
At the end of a year you’ll have a whole new set of habits and you’ll be a totally different person.
And you know what?
It will stick!
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Looking forward to bringing you more interesting info soon!
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Filed under Blog, Expert Advice by Dr. Saman
