John Chatham - The Belly Fat Diet Cookbook: 105 Easy and Delicious Recipes to Lose Your Belly, Shed Excess Weight, Improve Health

THE BASICS OF THE BELLY FAT DIET

A ccording to renowned cardiologist and author Dr. Mehmet Oz, ones waist measurement is the most important indicator of overall health. If your waist measurement is more than half your height (in inches), according to Dr. Oz, you are at serious risk for heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. This statement has caused many people to look at their measuring tapes not just as a way to measure their fitness but also as a way to measure their future.

The Dangers of Excess Belly Fat

Belly Fat Damages Your Liver

Several recent studies on the connection between obesity (particularly excess belly fat) and high levels of liver fat have shown that there is a much higher rate of fatty liver in those with excess belly fat. Fatty liver is a leading indicator of several lipid and metabolic disorders and even liver cancer. In these studies, researchers found that liver fat is strongly associated with increased secretion of very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), which contain the highest amount of triglycerides. High levels of triglycerides carry an increased risk of metabolic abnormalities, heart disease, and premature death.

Belly Fat Increases Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes

When we eat, our food, especially carbohydrates, is broken down into glucose so that it can be used to power every cell in our bodies. However, to be used as energy rather than stored as fat, glucose requires the help of insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas.

Insulins job is to serve as a key that unlocks your bodys cells so that glucose can enter and be used by the cells as energy. Fat cells, particularly abdominal fat cells, lessen the sensitivity to insulin, making it harder for glucose to pass through cell walls. Because the glucose cant enter the cells, it remains in the bloodstream (high blood sugar). The pancreas responds by producing and releasing more insulin. This cycle repeats itself and grows worse over time. This is what leads to metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

Belly Fat Increases the Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke

Because belly fat is so close to the liver (and often accompanied by excess fat directly surrounding the liver), it boosts production of LDL cholesterol (the one we dont want boosted!). This cholesterol eventually becomes a waxy substance known as plaque, which sticks to artery walls and eventually causes swelling, narrowing the arteries. This narrowing increases blood pressure, which seriously taxes the heart. It also increases your chance of blood clots, which can cause stroke.

Belly Fat Increases the Risk of Dementia

Excess belly fat has even been linked to an increased risk of dementia. In fact, excess belly fat increases your risk of developing dementia by as much as 145 percent! This is a result of the same inflammation in the artery walls, which decreases proper blood flow to the brain.

With all of the serious health risks linked to belly fat, its easy to see that getting rid of excess belly fat should be a very high priority. Fortunately, while we have lots of scary research that shows the risks of belly fat, we also have all of the new research that shows us how to get rid of belly fat quickly, easily, and permanently.

Belly Fat Myths

Myth #1: Excess Belly Fat Is Your Destiny

Fact: This long-held belief about losing belly fat has led to a great deal of frustration for dieters. Research studies have found that it has been our approach to dieting that has caused people to give upnot heredity.

Myth #2: Low-Calorie Diets Decrease Belly Fat

Fact: For decades, it was accepted that the only way to lose fat was to take in fewer calories than you use. There are a few things that make this difficult. First, cutting calories does not specifically address losing belly fat. Second, counting calories leads to people eating too few calories. Since this is difficult to maintain, it often leads to yo-yo dieting cycles as well as reaching the infamous weight-loss plateau, where your metabolism adjusts to the lowered caloric intake and virtually shuts down.

Myth #3: Dietary Fat Is the Enemy

Fact: All fat is not bad. In fact, fat is an essential nutrient. Fat not only enhances the flavor of food, it also gives us a feeling of satisfaction and fullness. It is also used to transport essential vitamins and minerals. The key is not to cut out all fat but to cut out the bad trans-fats and cut down on saturated fats, which are found primarily in animal products such as meat and butter. Healthy fats improve our heart health and brain function, and help us lose belly fat.

Myth #4: Burning Tons of Calories Is the Answer

The other long-held belief about losing belly fat was that you had to burn it off by spending hours at the gym. This approach did not specifically target the loss of belly fat. Many people spent hours on the treadmill or in aerobics classes and saw the numbers on the scale drop while the belly fat stayed put. This is why we saw a surge in popular diets that claimed to work with your set point of weight or BMI, or to address certain body types.

Thankfully, we now know that these methods and theories simply failed to address the ways and the reasons that our bodies are designed to store fat or dispose of belly fat. While our genetics and heredity may decide whether we have a long torso or wide shoulders, whether we tend to store fat on our hips or on our thighs, they do not mean that some people can have flat abs and some cant.

Myth #5: Abdominal Crunches Helps Lose Belly Fat

For years, it was accepted as fact that in order to lose belly fat, you had to do specific exercises that targeted the abs. People spent hours doing sit-ups or crunches without seeing results. Theres a very simple reason for this: resistance exercise does not burn fat in a specific area. Exercise burns calories and speeds up your metabolism, but your body doesnt burn fat from your abs because youre doing crunches. Resistance exercises such as crunches build and tone lean abdominal muscles, but your muscles are located beneath (or behind) the fat layer. In order for those crunches to result in a flat, toned tummy, you have to get rid of the fat thats hiding those muscles.

What You Can Expect From the Belly Fat Diet

You Will Lose Weight

Because most diets are designed to help you lose weight by cutting and/ or burning calories, they result in weight loss that includes the loss of stored water and lean muscle tissue. If youre able to stick to them for long, you may see a nice new number on the scale, but you still look flabby because youve lost muscle instead of stored fat.

This plan does not rely on simply cutting calories to lose weight. The key is that you will be taking in the right caloriesfrom foods that actually help to speed up your metabolism, burn stored fat, and utilize your food better to provide energy.

You Will Not Be Counting Calories, Carbs, or Fat Grams

The Foods List in Chapter Two is designed to provide plenty of nutrition and satisfaction without empty calories, excess carbs, or unhealthful fats. As long as you stick to the Foods List and follow some simple guidelines, theres no need to track everything you put in your mouth.

You Will Not Be Portioning or Weighing Anything

One of the reasons that most diets fail, even diets that are based on solid science, is that they take too much time to follow correctly. No matter how good a diet is, if you dont have time to follow it, it wont work for you. By sticking to the Foods List and following some simple guidelines, you will get plenty of food and nutrients without getting too much fat or too many unhealthy carbs.