If your waist size is more than 40 inches, listen.
You’re dying!
Dramatic, isn’t it?
Perhaps, “you’re dying!” is a little much.
However, for some people, they don’t care.
For the rest who do, it’s time to lose your belly fat.
What belly fat tells you: don’t ignore
It frustrates me that people don’t seem to care that they could die from belly fat. There is no doubt that the size of your belly determines your health risks.
A study found that a waist size greater than 94 cm or 37 inches is a reliable indicator of risk to cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
[source: Waist circumference a good indicator of future risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease]
In another study, men with a significant amount of visceral fat and a big waist size had a higher chance of dying.
[source: Visceral fat is an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in men.]
There is irrefutable evidence that belly fat and mortality rate have a direct connection. Yet people seem to ignore it until it’s too late.
What belly fat tells you: stop comparing
People are searching for types of belly fat to compare with their own. Thinking perhaps they have a condition that stops them from losing weight.
And looking at different types of belly fat will give them the answer.
If you are here looking to match your fat belly with different types of belly shape, so you can self diagnose your condition, I want you to stop.
You should seek medical advice from a proper physician. Do the blood work and pinpoint the exact cause.
This is better than you looking at an image on the internet and guessing it’s your thyroid.
Then you spend a great deal of money on thyroid treatments, pills, or surgery you never needed.
Self-diagnosing and self-treatment can lead to a disaster and might even make your problems bigger than it already is.
Belly fat will kill you; it’s just a matter of time. It doesn’t matter which shape, form, or size.
The truth of the matter is that the bigger your belly, the higher your risk of metabolic diseases. You might even already have one.
Once you determine that no underlying conditions are causing your fat belly, you can start your diet and exercise to reduce your waist naturally.
Begin with a proper diet.
What belly fat tells you: eat a proper diet
Start taking action by eating a proper diet.
What I mean when I say proper diet is that you should eat healthily.
I know, it sounds boring. I am a foodie after all. However, you can lose weight and have your cake too by reducing your portions.
Portion control can reduce the calories you consume daily, resulting in a calorie deficit.
Not only will you reduce your calories, but you could also avoid consuming too much of the bad stuff.
Too much sugar can lead to you eating more sugar. Too much bad fat can increase your chances of heart problems.
I recommend losing weight by eating clean, but I know it can be tough, so portion control can be used to ease you into weight management.
Then to boost your weight loss, more importantly, your health, start eating the good stuff. Good stuff means good for your body and not for your palate.
Green leafy vegetables, nuts, lean meats, fish are considered healthy and can help burn calories.
If you want to know the types of food that can help burn fat, click on our belly fat burning foods article.
Want to know which food I eat and drink that contains 3x more than your average green tea? Yes, this food has the highest amount of cancer-fighting antioxidants than your regular steeped green tea.
It is matcha!
Matcha is a stone-milled powder form of Camellia sinensis (regular green tea). And it’s great on its own or mixed with regular milk, soy milk, or almond milk.
Matcha can also help you boost your fat-burning efforts. To learn more about this superfood, click on this article.
What belly fat tells you: exercise
Exercising will burn your belly fat guaranteed. You don’t even need to sweat profusely to get a good burn.
Take me, for example, I walk on the treadmill almost daily, without drenching my shirt in sweat. Yet, I still lost 15 kg.
You see, I know my fat burning zone. Walking a bit faster than normals burns fat. Brisk walking will burn more fat. Walking fast on steeped hills will DESTROY fat.
My point is, you don’t have to be training for a fight or the Olympics to lose fat. But you can lose your pot belly a little quicker with more effort. All you need to know is your ideal heart rate to burn fat.
You can easily find your zone using our calculators located above, in our navigation menu, or by clicking here.
There are many exercises you can do other than walking. You can try the most obvious, which is running.
There are also others, such as skipping ropes, shadowboxing, swimming, cycling, rowing, and many more. And there are more in this article which I talked about 22 exercises you can do to lose belly fat.
What belly fat tells you: the short version
There are many belly shapes and sizes. The most important thing to know is that you have to lose it.
People try to lose their belly fat for a certain period, and when they don’t succeed, they think there is something wrong with them.
So, they go in search of answers on the web. Looking at all shapes and sizes of belly fat and comparing it to their own.
While it can give you an idea, it is based on guesswork.
Why not ask for a proper diagnosis from a reputable physician?
Your doctor will do all the necessary tests to find the root of the problem.
Once you find the cause, you can get the right treatment and finally start losing weight.
The best and proven way to lose weight is through diet and exercise. It will take hard work, persistence, and pain on your part, but you will get there. It’s only a matter of time.