Can’t Burn one Fat Cell

June 12, 2016 – 

 

Today I had the pleasure of fielding a fitness question for a client who simply asked “how to burn fat off the abdominal area, but only from the belly button down.”  Remember, in anything important there are no stupid questions, but I did have to take a moment to get a full breathe before answering …  “What?!” So this is one of those common sense answers that may be alluding many. Point blank answer – you cannot burn fat from the belly button down.  Actually, spot reduction is impossible.  Fat cells all shrink at the same time and exercise is a catalyst, not the answer.  After all is said and done, DIET creates the ‘law of thermodynamics, or ‘calories in = calories out.’  Spot reduction in the body just doesn’t work that way; not from the abdomen, the back of the arms, the inner thigh or the bottom of your chin.  Nope! Before I explain … if your vegan, you may want to stop reading until the READ NOW letters further down this report … sorry honey.

I am not going to look for a reference in the bible but I’m rather sure that cavemen or even the American Indian had a very limited menu to order from.  I feel that as a society or a tribe somebody was good at agriculture and somebody else was awesome at throwing rocks or sticks at a buffalo to bring food to the tribe.  And, there were not a lot of refrigerators or freezers to keep food very long before it spoiled.  So they feasted and rejoiced as their fat stores were full and now they did not have to worry about food for a while.  It might be a while before another meat party, or the corn was ready to harvest.  Nonetheless, these calories were twice the value of corn or potatoes as they were much higher in fat for storage.  Nobody needs to go dinosaur hunting this week … you can go to H.E.B. for your nutrients.  Just don’t buy so much you throw half of it away.  IF you purchase a large box of spinach make a plan to eat it before it wilts and your wife throws it out.

READ NOW  … Be thrilled that we have all the foods we want at our disposal on any given day at any given hour.  The problem with DIET and burning one fat cell is that we are dealing with too much too often.  Your body MUST burn a lot of calories every hour to sustain life and basic bodily functions (metabolism.)  As we age our metabolism slows down.  NOW here is where F.I.T. is helpful and speeds the fat burning up greatly … muscles are metabolism, IF your body is unconditioned or weak, you know it and that is why weight training is the fastest way to get your body fat stores lower, your muscles firmer and more functional and increase your metabolism.  Cardio is great for you too.  Go run for an hour, and burn 100 calories but if you eat a banana, you just put the 100 calories back in. Pick your battles.

So back to the question … here is the shortcut to get ready for your swimsuit – don’t eat less, move more. Park further away from H.E.B., take the stairs at work, and make the time for a little bit more exercise.  Go to bed 20 minutes earlier and then walk that same 20 minutes in the morning, back and forth to the kitchen for coffee or around the block!  Just do that for a week or two … get that body moving!

Go burn one fat cell (the entire body will look better incrementally!)

In good health,

Bob

‘Paleo diet or Vegan diet if you eat too much food the extra calories store as fat.’  – Bob Geib