If you've been struggling to drop belly fat, you're going to want to read this.
You may be wondering how many carbs, proteins and fats you should be eating. Is it better to run or lift? How do you stick to your goals when you're traveling, on the road or at a family event?
If you're confused, you are not alone. There's a ton of noise out there about this topic, I’m going to share a mix of my personal experience and research to shed some light on the truth.
Where do we begin?
To burn belly fat, we must first understand that fat is a form of energy. Your body has two energy sources, fat and carbs and ultimately, your hormones dictate which energy source you'll use.
So, how do you end up with all of this stored energy that you can't burn for fuel?
These are the two hormones in your body that help with burning fat, Glucagon and Insulin. They are opposites, just like your Biceps and your triceps. You can't contract both of them at the same time so when one is high, the other is low.
When Glucagon is high and Insulin is low, you're burning fat.
When Glucagon is low and Insulin is high, you're burning carbs.
When the body chooses to burn stored visceral fat for fuel, three things must be true.
1.) There must be a need for energy
2.) Dietary carbs must be used up
3.) Dietary fats must be used up
That is when the body will turn to stored fat to begin the conversion process to use it as fuel. But, you also must be able to sustain this state to actually continue to burn fat.
how do you affect the need for energy?
We know that the body always has a need for energy to perform basic tasks. It’s known as basal metabolic rate. There are also hormones that I mentioned before like insulin that tell the body when to convert and went to store. Then of course, increased movement leads to an increased need for energy.
When all of these factors and the hormones like insulin and Glucagon are working correctly, stored body fat can be attacked to convert into fuel.
This is very important because 84% of Americans hormones are NOT functioning correctly. So, even if your body does all of the other necessary things right, you’ll still have issues burning body fat and this can be extremely frustrating.
So, what can we do about this?
Let’s talk about how you get your body into a consistent state of burning fuel. I'm going to break this down into six easy steps.
1.) Give up unnecessary sugar: I'm not saying you have to give up everything you love. But, if you want to burn fat, you're going to have to give up something and unnecessary sugar is one of the easiest ways to get your body into a fat burning state.
2.) Reduce unnecessary carbs: This ties into number one because carbs turn into sugar. Now I'm not saying you have to give up all your favorite foods, but reducing unnecessary carbs, especially those wrapped in unnecessary fats like seed oil, is going to really help you get into that fat burning state.
3.) Increase your level of movement: The type of movement you’re doing will dictate whether you're burning sugar or fat for fuel.
4.) Reduce stress: You could do everything right, but if you have high levels of stress, your body will stay in fight or flight mode and you will not burn fat.
5.) A HIGH-quality diet: Notice I didn't say you have to eat a particular type of diet? That’s because you should focus more on food that reduces toxicity and deficiency WHILE keeping satiated and satisfied.
6.) Fasting: Not starving, fasting. This is the most important step in my opinion because it has the ability to cover up any mistakes you make in the first five steps.
I can’t stress number six enough! What you eat definitely has an impact on your insulin and Glucagon levels, but so does WHEN you eat.
If you wake up and you eat a high carb breakfast, your Glucagon is low and your insulin is high so you are burning carbs. But if you fast until about 11am or 12pm noon, you're burning more fat.
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