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Excess abdominal fat
Excess abdominal fat is more than just struggling to zip up your jean pants. Also known as abdominal obesity, with other names such as central obesity or truncal obesity, this is a condition where excessive abdominal fat is stored around the belly and abdomen region to an extent where it might start affecting your health negatively. At times, a waistline that keeps expanding is also due to ageing or genetic conditions. Although excessive abdominal fat is more commonly found in women, specifically after pregnancy or menopause, most men are also beginning to experience belly fat in the recent days due to various reasons. Most people tend to go circles on how to lose abdominal fat, simply because sometimes, getting rid of it requires more than just changing lifestyle routine.
In most of the individuals, around 90% of the body fat is subcutaneous. Subcutaneous fat is the lower abdominal fat that lies under the skin; the kind of fat that will feel soft when you poke your belly. The remaining 10% wishes located out of reach under the firm abdominal wall is known as visceral or intra abdominal fat. This intra abdominal fat is generally located in Spaces around the intestines, liver, or other organs.
Despite the fact that intra abdominal fat or visceral fat only accounts for a small proportion of the abdominal fat, it can be a crucial player in leading to a variety of health complications. In the case of women who have lower abdominal fat or intra abdominal fat, the ratio of their fat to body weight can increase when compared to men — and the fat begins to get stored on the upper body, over and above the hips and even the thighs. It may look like you actually did not gain weight, but your waistline may grow by inches since the visceral fat tends to push out and protrude against the abdominal wall.
Symptoms
Whether you have lower abdominal fat, intra abdominal fat or upper abdominal fat, it can be quite evident and visible. Some of the most common symptoms of having an excess abdominal fat can include;
- A waist measurement of 40+ inches for men & 35+ inches for women
- Hanging abdomen
- Large waist
- Protruding belly
- Pear-shaped or apple-shaped belly
- Hard to zip up pants
- Increase in weight, but the fat gets accumulated only in the abdomen and not any other body parts
Causes
Excess abdominal fat in both men and women occurs when the body stores all its fat in the abdomen region due to various reasons including;
- Sedentary lifestyle
- No proper physical activity
- Obesity
- Genetic conditions
- Calorie surplus
- Stress
- Smoking
- Alcohol consumption
- Sugary foods and carbonated beverages
- Certain medications that cause weight gain
- Hormonal fluctuations
Possessing high levels of intra abdominal fat or subcutaneous fat is often linked with a higher risk of getting any chronic diseases such as;
- Metabolic syndrome
- Type 2 diabetes
- Heart disease
- Certain types of cancer
Treatment options
So now that the symptoms and causes have been briefly discussed, the next part is on how to lose abdominal fat? Excessive abdominal fat is not permanent and can be gotten rid of with a variety of techniques, whichever suits your concerns. Some of the most sought-after and reliable treatment options to get rid of stubborn fat and excessive abdominal fat are as follows;
- Diet and lifestyle modifications
The first and foremost step to decrease excess abdominal fat is to modify your diet and lifestyle routine. Incorporating a healthy diet and workout routine can help one decrease abdominal fat to a great extent. Of course there are no one-size-fits-for-all options in a fat loss routine and you can definitely not spot excess abdominal fat. A slow and steady weight loss journey paves way to a sustainable lifestyle. Before modifying your diet and lifestyle, your doctor will consider the medical history and customise your new weight loss routine according to your concerns. Learn more about Diet and lifestyle modifications →