How to Keep the Belly Fat Away… For Good
By Michael Dangovian
September 7, 2017
Caught in the yo-yoing cycle of fad dieting? Here’s how to shed those pounds and keep them off!
Anyone can lose weight. It’s a simple process: Use up more calories than you take in.
But, ask anyone who’s tried out a fad diet, and they’ll all tell you the same thing. “Yeah, it works. But only for a little while.”
Yo-yoing is the term people use to describe the process of losing—and then regaining—weight. If fad diets have anything in common, it’s that most—if not all—result in this drop-and-gain cycle.
It’s a disappointing process, really. You work really hard at a diet, achieve your goals, and then… you go back to square.
So, why is it so hard to keep the weight off?
THE WHY
For a lot of people, it has a lot to do with their “Why.”
Why are you trying to lose weight to begin with? To look good in a bathing suit? To fit into a particular dress for a class or family reunion?
The problem here is that often those things have an expiration date. Once vacation is over, that motivating factor is no longer present. And with it goes the “Why.”
The other issue with fad diets is that even when they “work”—and by “work” I mean that you lose the weight, at least initially—most of them are so bad for you that yeah, that bathing suit might fight, but you’re unhealthier internally than you were before.
Along those same lines, belly fat isn’t just an outer, physical problem. It’s a sign of what’s going on inside you. It’s a symptom of an unhealthy lifestyle.
(For example, it’s not uncommon to find people who look “thin” on the outside but have all sorts of insulin resistance and belly fat issues inside their bodies.)
Here’s how it works.
When your body is working as it should, your gut microbiome—the hundreds of millions of microscopic plants, animals, bacteria, and other tiny critters that live in your gastrointestinal tract—produce chemicals that improve your bodily systems. They are nutrifying your body.
But, when they’re out of balance, the secretions lead to sickness. And why do they fall out of balance?
It’s all lifestyle. It’s what you put into your body, along with how you handle the inevitable stress in your life.
A lot of times, this imbalance is a major factor in belly fat accumulation.
So, how do you get the weight off and keep it off?
The first step is to find your “Why?”
Ask yourself, why do you want to lose the weight? What’s the primary reason for it?
For a lot of our members at the Wellness Training Institute, the decision to lose the weight and get healthy happens after a major medical event. An accident, a heart attack, a cancer diagnosis—or worse.
For some, it’s realizing that your family, kids, or grandchildren want them to be around for longer than their current lifestyle choices would predict.
For others, it’s merely reaching the point where enough is enough. You have one life, this is it, and you deserve to be happy. But without your health, happiness just isn’t going to happen.
FIND YOUR WHY
So, no matter what your reason is, find it. The important thing to know as you search for it is that it’s there. Sure, you might want to fit into a smaller size, but that’s rarely the real reason. I mentioned symptoms earlier, and a lot our external, maybe shallower impulses, tend to have roots deep within our selves.
Finding yours might be just what you need to get rid of that belly fat, regain your health, and grab that happy life that’s waiting for you just beyond your choice to take that first step forward—and then keep going!
