How can I lose fat from my stomach and thighs?
I wish I had a dollar for every time I have been asked this question. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as spot reduction. I can’t just tell you to go do 1,000 crunches to lose your belly fat. Your muscles in that specific area would get stronger, but in the big picture the crunches won’t help you lose the fat surrounding your midsection.
What happens is that your body stores the excess calories that you consume through your diet as body fat to be used as a source of energy at a later time. If you are constantly consuming more calories than you are burning on a daily basis, your body will continue to store more and more calories as fat instead of using the fat as energy.
This excess fat is stored all throughout your body. Women tend to store most of their excess body fat around their thighs, triceps, and around their stomach. Men tend to store most of their excess body fat around their stomachs, also known as beer bellies and love handles. For most people these are the most problematic areas that we can’t seem to lose fat from.
The key to losing body fat is to burn more calories than you are consuming by strength training, aerobic training, and eating the right types of foods.
When your body uses your stored body fat as a source of energy, it is broken down and mobilized from all over your body, not just from the specific areas that you want to target.
Don’t get discouraged, it is just how the body works. You can still easily lose the excess body fat it, will just require a little bit more effort on your part!
Here are three simple steps to get you started on your way to burning off the fat:
1. Get a fitness assessment
- Record your weight
- Record your body fat percentage
- Record your girth measurements: shoulders, waist, abdomen, hips, thigh, calf, and arm
Once you have all of your measurements you can accurately monitor your progress.
2. Begin an exercise program
- Strength Training- total body workouts
- Interval Training – instead of traditional steady state cardio
3. Start eating healthy diet
- Eat a lean protein, veggie, and fibrous carb at every meal
- Consume small frequent meals every 3 hours
- Keep a food journal and record everything that you eat
- Substitute water for all other liquid calories
- Watch your portion sizes
I hope that this information has been helpful for you. Now put it to work for you and start watching your fat melt away!
By Benjamin Petitpas, CSCS, CPT
CT Workout Personal Training & Weight Loss Programs
Personal Trainer Newington, CT
