Excessive deposits of subcutaneous fat bring many physical and psychological problems. They are responsible for the formation of an unaesthetic figure, the formation of excessive folds on the sides, stomach and hips. The subcutaneous fat layer is considered the body's reserve storage, but this does not mean that it does not need to be gotten rid of. There are several ways to remove subcutaneous fat. They are based on physical activity, nutritional correction or cosmetic procedures.
Ways to burn fat
To get a slim body, you need to understand the reasons for the body's excessive accumulation of fat reserves. Most often this is due to poor diet and poor physical activity. In some cases, excessive fat deposition is caused by diseases of the endocrine system, which lead to hormonal or metabolic disorders.
If nothing threatens a person’s health, then you can burn subcutaneous fat using the following methods:
- adjust your diet;
- increase physical activity;
- use the achievements of cosmetology.
However, the best result will come from an integrated approach to this issue. A well-chosen diet, combined with a training regimen and visits to a cosmetologist, will achieve the desired effect in the shortest possible time.
Diet correction
Changing your eating habits will help you remove subcutaneous fat. To reduce volumes, you need to adhere to a number of rules.
- Reduce the total caloric content of food consumed.
To do this, you need to remove everything fried, smoked, alcohol, soda, sugar, flour, and cereals with a high glycemic index from the menu. You also need to be careful with fruits. Grapes, bananas, figs, persimmons, pomegranates and dates are completely prohibited.
- Eat in small portions, but often (every 2-3 hours).
Such fractional nutrition speeds up metabolism, i.e. metabolism.
- Drink a lot.
When losing weight, the daily norm for the average woman is 2-2.5 liters, for the average man - 3-3.5 liters. It is preferable to drink clean water. If desired, you can drink green tea without sugar or flavorings. It is better to avoid juices. It is also necessary to limit your coffee consumption - no more than 2 cups of a weak drink without sugar or other additives.
- Simple carbohydrates are consumed before 12:00, complex carbohydrates - before 18:00.
By simple we mean natural honey, fruits and dark chocolate. Complex pasta made from durum wheat, cereals, and bran bread are acceptable.
- The last meal is 4 hours before bedtime.
For dinner after 18:00 you can cook only dietary protein products and vegetables. If you do not follow this rule and eat high-carbohydrate foods, the calories consumed will be converted into fat tissue.
Proper nutrition
The main key to success in burning subcutaneous fat lies in proper nutrition. You can get a flat stomach and an elegant waist without physical activity by simply reviewing your daily diet. True, it will take much more time to achieve results.
Basic recommendations:
- Increase your fiber intake. These dietary fibers play a huge role in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Additionally, they lower blood sugar. In addition, fiber contains virtually no calories, so it can be present in any diet.
- Eat the right fats. We are talking about monosaturated species. These include nuts, seafood, olive oil. This type of fat helps control appetite and reduce snacking.
- Increase the proportion of protein in your diet. Eating a significant amount of protein prevents the development of insulin resistance. In this pathological condition, the sensitivity of cellular receptors to insulin decreases. Because of this, it does not enter the cell, and the cellular processes of glucose absorption are disrupted. As a result, type 2 diabetes develops. It is in this pathological condition that severe obesity is observed.
Expert opinion
Evgeniy Kislitsa
Practicing surgeon. Certified massage master. Two-time vice-champion and heavyweight champion of regional kettlebell lifting competitions.
Fiber has a beneficial effect on intestinal function. It normalizes peristalsis (rhythmic contractions of the intestinal wall, thereby improving digestion). Also, regular consumption of foods rich in fiber will help you get rid of a whole list of intestinal diseases. Athletes and those wishing to lose weight are advised to consume more fiber than ordinary people, as it prevents the absorption of toxins from food and speeds up their elimination. In addition, fiber improves the absorption of nutrients and allows you to quickly overcome hunger. The latter property is associated with the filling of the stomach, which has special receptors that respond to the stretching of its wall. Fiber leads to stretching of the stomach wall, in response to which receptors transmit information to the brain about the need to stop eating.
According to research, you can lose excess weight most effectively if you adhere to the following proportion of the “golden three”:
- 40% proteins (meat, fish, legumes);
- 30% carbohydrates (pasta, cereals);
- 30% fats (nuts, vegetable oils).
Don't forget about the water regime. To dull your appetite and quickly feel full during meals, you can drink a glass of warm still water 20-25 minutes before meals.
Diets and fasting
To burn subcutaneous fat, you must adhere to a low-calorie diet. Depending on physical indicators, to lose weight, the total caloric content of the diet can be reduced by 20-25% of the usual. It is in this case that the body begins to use up its reserves.
Important! Dietary restrictions do not imply starvation. Fasting to lose weight is not only dangerous, but also harmful. During fasting, not only do metabolic processes slow down, but the body's own tissues begin to break down. Of these, adipose tissue is the last to be destroyed, and muscle tissue is the first to be broken down to replenish energy reserves. An organism that has experienced such stress will begin to replenish its fat reserves at the first opportunity.
The basis of the diet is low-fat protein foods. This can be 1-3% cottage cheese or lean beef. The menu also includes fresh vegetables and fruits. These are natural fat burners that should not be neglected. Cereals are best consumed for breakfast, combining them with nuts and honey. Don't completely give up sweets. A small slice of dark chocolate will do more good than harm. But the consumption of coffee, black tea and alcohol should be minimized or removed from the diet altogether. These drinks stimulate appetite and negatively affect metabolism.
Fasting days are a great way to speed up your metabolism and reduce the number on the scale.
Effectively spend fasting days on:
- kefir;
- cucumbers;
- apples
Such express diets are carried out once every 7-10 days, subject to drinking regime and monitoring the general condition of the body.
Exercises to quickly remove excess
You can burn subcutaneous fat in a month or two only by combining a strict diet and physical training. In the absence of dietary restrictions, the opposite effect will appear: the muscles will pump up, but the fat will not disappear, therefore, the volume will increase.
The following exercises will help you reduce your waistline:
- twisting;
- elbow bar;
- body rotations;
- lateral bends.
Effective training elements for strengthening the hips and buttocks are:
- plie;
- lunges to the side and forward;
- scissors;
- wrong bridge.
To remove belly fat at home, you must regularly do the following:
- side bar;
- leg lift;
- side plank twist;
- straight crunches (classic abdominal exercises), both without bending and bending over.
How to choose a program
The most effective option for combating excess fat is considered to be a complex consisting of 2 blocks: cardio and strength training.
The first type helps burn “reserves”, the second – tightens the contours of the body, while preserving the muscles. Suitable cardio workouts for weight loss include:
- run;
- bike;
- swimming;
- jumping;
- race walking.
If we talk about strength training, then it is worth paying attention to squats, various types of abdominal exercises, and bending. Most elements can be performed at home. The main thing is to exercise regularly 3-4 times a week for at least one hour.
A set of exercises for a month
A monthly workout plan to get rid of subcutaneous fat looks like this:
- warm-up;
- cardio (running or jumping rope);
- power block
The latter consists of the following elements:
- Half squat (shallow squats with straight arms extended forward).
- Alternate lunges forward with each leg.
- Plie (half squats with legs spread and toes turned outward).
- Push-ups, both classic and inclined.
- Plank, including side plank.
- Abdominal exercise (classic + bicycle).
- Raising the buttocks or improper bridge (regular bridge, but the shoulders and head remain on the floor).
Important! Each element must be done 8-10 times, while completing 3 approaches with a break between them of 30-60 seconds. Such exercises will help quickly restore contours even for beginners in sports. They provide sufficient load, which allows you to increase muscle mass and effectively burn excess fat.
Warm-up and stretching are necessary in order to prepare the body for the load, first of all, to warm up the muscles and work out the joints. Otherwise, you can quickly get seriously injured. Warming up the muscles after a workout (the so-called “cool-down”) allows you to relax the muscles at the end of the workout and remove toxic metabolic products from the muscle tissue.
Expert opinion
Evgeniy Kislitsa
Practicing surgeon. Certified massage master. Two-time vice-champion and heavyweight champion of regional kettlebell lifting competitions.
The benefits of warming up do not only come down to preparing muscles and joints for training. It allows you to tune your nervous system to an intense training regime. Also, when performing warm-up exercises, the production of testosterone, the main hormone responsible for muscle growth, increases. In addition, it accelerates fat burning processes. During the warm-up, the synthesis of dopamine, also known as the “happiness hormone,” increases. This will allow you to better tolerate physical activity and quickly develop the habit of exercising at the same time.
The most effective exercises to remove excess fat from the sides at home
Fat deposits around the waist are one of the most problematic. There are a number of useful exercises to solve this problem, such as:
- Side plank twist. Lie on your side, prop yourself up on your elbow, and extend your free arm up. As you exhale, turn your chest down and “hug” yourself with your free hand.
- Spider. Take a lying position, as if doing push-ups, bend your arms and place your right knee to the corresponding elbow. Repeat the exercise for the left side.
- Russian twist. Lie on the floor on your back, with your knees slightly bent. Stretch your arms forward and rise at an acute angle to the hip line. Turn to the right, hold for 2 seconds, then turn to the left. To enhance the effect, you can pick up a weight (dumbbells or a metal plate).
A hula hoop equipped with massage balls will also help in the fight against Venus’s ears. We must not forget about breathing exercises.
Be sure to check out:
View from the back: how to remove fat on the back under the shoulder blade How to remove fat from the arms and armpits: effective exercises and nutrition rules Effective ways to remove fat from the chest
Causes of belly fat
The human body is a complex system that works harmoniously, and everything in it is needed for something. This also applies to fat. Its presence is a completely normal phenomenon and has important functions. These are reserves that the body accumulates in case of stress. If the body is hungry, it will use fat as a reserve. In addition, it performs protective functions, protecting them from various damages. However, if there is too much fat in the body, it provokes not only deterioration of the figure, but also various health problems: disturbances in the functioning of internal organs, blood vessels, and an increased risk of various diseases. Therefore, it is important to determine in advance the presence of excess deposits and start working on how to get rid of subcutaneous belly fat.
A little about how to determine your body fat percentage. It should be taken into account that in women the percentage of fat cells is always higher, since their skeleton is smaller and needs more protection. In addition, women also need supplies in order to bear and give birth to a child. Therefore, removing subcutaneous fat from the abdomen may be more difficult for a girl than for a man.
For men, the normal body fat percentage is 10-15%. For women – 17-22% . If this figure is higher, you should think about your physical fitness. To determine your fat percentage, you can use a special online calculator, which will calculate everything itself based on the data you enter. You can also use special instruments and scales, or undergo examinations that will accurately determine the required indicators.
In the body, along with subcutaneous fat, there is also internal fat, called visceral or abdominal fat. It is located directly next to the internal organs, providing their protection. With an excess of this fat, organs and systems may function worse. Its optimal amount should be no more than 10-15% of all fat cells. To get rid of abdominal fat on your stomach, in fact, you just need to lose weight, since it goes away along with the subcutaneous fat.
The stomach and waist are the most problematic areas for both sexes. There are many reasons why there is excess fat in the body. First of all, it is overeating and lack of physical activity. Also, certain disorders in the body and hormonal imbalances can lead to excess fat.
look at the most popular causes of excess belly fat :
- Hereditary factor. The most common reason. If relatives are prone to obesity, then you should especially carefully monitor your diet and lifestyle.
- Nutrition . The modern rhythm of life does not allow many to eat properly. Overeating, lack of breakfast and a hearty dinner, snacking on unhealthy foods on the go - all this is deposited in excess subcutaneous fat on the abdomen. In men, the cause of a full belly is often the abuse of alcoholic beverages, especially beer.
- Lack of activity. It is a very favorable prerequisite for the appearance of excess fat, since the body does not waste calories received from food, storing them primarily on the stomach.
- Stressful conditions . When experiencing stress, the body wants to receive more energy, which provokes overeating. In addition, this condition causes the production of the hormone cortisol, which leads to an increase in fat. Therefore, it is important to control your emotional state and get enough sleep.
- Hormonal imbalances. When the hormonal balance is disrupted, the body can begin to actively store fat. Hormonal imbalances occur during pregnancy and lactation, adolescence, menopause, and endocrine disorders.
In the absence of health problems, to normalize its amount, it is enough to review your diet and include physical activity in your daily routine. You need to create a calorie deficit, and then the body will draw on excess fat reserves.
Ways to speed up the fat burning process
You can also stimulate fat burning with the help of special drugs that promote the breakdown of fat molecules and increase the effectiveness of training and diets. Such drugs are known as fat burners. Most of these products contain:
- L-carnitine;
- caffeine, guarana;
- clenbuterol (you cannot resort to the latter without consulting a doctor, since the drug is a medicinal product).
However, these substances have a number of contraindications, so you should not take them without consulting a specialist. Natural remedies will also help speed up your metabolism: cinnamon, red pepper and ginger.
Massage has proven itself to improve blood circulation and break down subcutaneous fat tissue. In massage parlors it is known as anti-cellulite. The procedure can be performed only 2 hours after eating. Peels and wraps can also speed up the blood, but their effectiveness for weight loss purposes is extremely low. This is especially true for wraps, the purpose of which is to release water and only slightly burn fat.
It is necessary to understand that losing weight too quickly is dangerous for the body. It is not recommended to lose more than 1.5-2 kg per week. This will not harm the body, but will allow you to achieve the desired result and set the body up for further weight loss.
Pro Tips
When following all the recommendations for weight loss and reducing the subcutaneous fat layer, you should listen to the advice of professionals in this field.
Elena Kalen, nutritionist, expert in the psychology of weight loss, author of the marathon program “Beautiful Habits - Beautiful Body”
Elena believes that completely giving up bad eating habits is a big stress for the body. However, it is necessary to reduce these foods to a minimum and then gradually replace them from the diet. To make it easier to stick to your diet, you need to diversify it. Aerobic exercise or the body-flex system will help increase the effectiveness of the weight loss process.
Elena Isinbaeva, two-time Olympic and three-time world champion in pole vaulting
The athlete adheres to the principles of “separate” nutrition. Her breakfast consists of complex carbohydrates and fruits. For lunch, Elena prefers meat or lean fish with a vegetable side dish. A light dinner consists of fermented milk products: low-fat cottage cheese or kefir. In this case, the athlete resorts to additional meals, in accordance with the principles of healthy eating listed above. Small snacks include fruit or yogurt. Even after leaving the sport, such a diet allows her to maintain excellent physical shape.
Paige Hathaway, famous American fitness model and Instagram star with 2 million followers
Paige says that the basis of her diet is protein, namely fish. The girl also says that it is necessary to maintain a balance between training and rest. However, in case of violation of the regime or overeating, the athlete adds 30 minutes of cardio exercise to her list of exercises.
Main conclusions
Subcutaneous fat causes many problems, but it is much easier to get rid of than its visceral counterpart (located in the abdominal cavity and necessary for the normal functioning of the body):
- A balanced diet that includes 30% protein, 40% carbohydrates and 30% monosaturated fat will help you lose weight.
- Correction of nutrition in combination with physical activity will significantly improve the result.
- For greater effectiveness, training should include cardio and strength training.
- Massage and cosmetic procedures can be used as additional means of accelerating metabolism.
- The use of fat burners should be under the supervision of a specialist.
- You can get rid of subcutaneous fat at home.
In the fight against excess deposits of subcutaneous fat, you need to remember a simple but effective rule: you need to spend more calories than you receive.
FAT AND MUSCLE
Muscles grow, but fat doesn't go away!
Fat can grow beautifully along with muscle if you feed both muscle and fat at the table after your workout.
Muscles go away, fat remains!
If a person sets a goal to lose weight and not gain weight, then this is what happens.
To maintain or build muscle, you need to train and feed it.
A diet that is too strict takes away a lot of strength and weakens the will to do strength training. And too much aerobic exercise suppresses your appetite.
If they want to burn fat faster without regard to muscle, people reduce the volume and intensity of strength training; and at the same time they are malnourished squirrels.
At the same time, a person may not monitor fat consumption - not weigh food and not count calories. This means that, imperceptibly for himself, he begins to eat more fat than he burns during training.
So it turns out that the muscles are deprived of strength training and protein nutrition, and the adipose tissue quietly consumes more fat from food than it spends in aerobic training.
This is how the muscles go away, but the fat remains.
Does fat go into muscles?
In experienced athletes, subcutaneous fat disappears, and intramuscular fat increases. In this sense, we can say that fat goes into muscles.
