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
JUST FAT
Why doesn't the fat go away?
Approximately 70% of people suffer from excess weight and doctors call the main reason: “hereditary predisposition.”
There is logic in this. If 70% of people around you are overweight, then with a 70% probability you were born from an overweight person.
There aren't many people who don't have at least one parent who is overweight.
With this logic, the fight against excess weight is doomed to failure.
Fortunately, overweight doctors who use the “hereditary predisposition” excuse are WRONG!
Most doctors' conversations boil down to answering the question: "Why is fat stuck to my body, and why does it never go away?"
It is better to look for an answer to the question: “Why do some manage to live in a healthy body, while others do not?”
Smarter doctors say that the main reason for excess body fat is poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle.
All that remains is to learn the rules of nutrition and how much you need to move in order to say “I lead an active lifestyle”
The rules of nutrition and an active lifestyle are prescribed in the recommendations of the WHO - World Health Organization.
Nutrition rules:
- Balance your calorie intake and expenditure
- Salt – 5 grams
- Total fats – 30%
- Saturated fat – 10%
- Trans fats – 1%
- Sugar – 5%
- Vegetables and fruits – 400 grams
Physical activity standards:
Physical activity can be moderate to intense. An example of moderate activity is snow removal. An example of intense activity is playing football.
WHO recommends getting 300 minutes of moderate or 150 minutes of vigorous activity per week.
To these activities, WHO recommends adding strength training to the muscles of the whole body twice a week.
In theory there is nothing difficult, but in practice most people fail.
Why can’t you follow the seemingly simple WHO rules?
The practice of the Size/Quarter club shows that most newcomers stumble over the first point of the WHO recommendations - “balance calorie intake and expenditure”
At least 30% of newcomers to the food diary eat fewer calories than they burn, but “the fat doesn’t go away.”
This suggests that newcomers have gaps in calorie knowledge.
Try to test your knowledge about calories , fill in the gaps in this knowledge and make fat disappear from your body.
How and where does fat go?
Fat is converted into heat, carbon dioxide and water.
Any person between meals should heat his body to a temperature of 36.6 degrees, exhale carbon dioxide and sweat. All people should do this, even the person on the couch.
The more a person exhales carbon dioxide and secretes sweat, the greater the energy consumption - the greater the metabolism.
For comparison, the average person on the couch releases about 90 kilocalories per hour, and a running person about 900!
A running person lives and breathes ten times more per hour.
If a person lives little between meals, breathes little and sweats little, then fat does not go away, but accumulates.
Fat goes into the air with your breath if there is not enough food between meals.
Try to test your knowledge about calories, fill the gaps in this knowledge and make fat disappear from your body.
When does fat start to go away?
Calorie tracking services are designed like social networks and people willingly share their photos of dietary foods and numbers on scales.
Typically, continuous activity of people on such social networks lasts about three days.
After the holidays, the average person enthusiastically follows a negative calorie diet for about three days and loses liters of water, rejoicing at the lost kilogram on the scale.
After three days, a feeling of hunger appears and the body begins to adapt to burning fat. Few people like this restructuring, which is why most people keep food diaries for only three days.
Fat begins to be burned after about three days of the diet.
Try to test your knowledge about calories, fill the gaps in this knowledge and make fat disappear from your body.
How quickly does fat disappear?
Fat begins to disappear on an empty stomach, that is, after three days of a negative calorie diet.
The average 180-pound man burns about 8 grams of fat per hour on the couch.
If he eats food that will last for three hours - that's about 250 kilocalories or a plate of Teremok borscht - then his body will begin to burn fat only after three hours and again at a rate of 8 grams per hour.
If a person wants to eat and lies on the couch, then fat disappears at a rate of 8 grams per hour. As soon as a person has eaten, he needs to wait for the fasting state again to start burning fat again.
If a person gets up from the couch and runs on an empty stomach, even jogging, he will burn 48 grams of fat per hour. But it’s unlikely that the person on the couch can stand jogging for an hour.
In the size/quarter method, a person starts jogging from the couch for 30 minutes, which means that in half an hour he loses 24 grams of fat.
For about twenty minutes his body will calm down and cool down, and then the fat will again disappear at a rate of 8 grams per hour until the next meal comes.
Try to test your knowledge about calories, fill the gaps in this knowledge and make fat disappear from your body.
Why does fat come off slowly?
Weight loss rates are 0.5-1% per week. For the average man, this is approximately 500 grams of subcutaneous fat.
Losing a pound of fat a week is a good idea, but what in return?
Instead, malnutrition and hunger.
How much is the average man willing to undereat given average willpower and average ability to tolerate hunger?
To burn a pound of fat in a week, the average man must be able to tolerate hunger for about 50 hours to 7 hours a day.
The average man is not ready to eat for 7 hours a day. A modern man is ready to suffer hunger, but no more than 20 minutes, while the courier or waiter delivers food.
Tolerating the feeling of hunger for 20 minutes is a standard of decency that must be observed in the company of a woman in a restaurant, but if there is a refrigerator with sausage and butter, but there is no woman, then why wait these 20 minutes?
A free person should not tolerate any violence, so the fat does not go away slowly - the fat slowly continues to come.
Why liberals can’t lose weight is understandable, but why can’t patriots lose weight?
The majority of Russians are overweight patriots.
A patriot, unlike a liberal, has a sense of duty and is able to endure fatigue and pain during training. Training means being tired for an hour, but then being hungry for 7 hours is too much. The patriot does not endure so as not to devour him later.
This is why most heroes, honored masters of sports, honored teachers and other “honored” die from diseases associated with overeating.
What teaching to choose so that fat, at least slowly, but still leaves, and does not come?
The Size/Quarter teaching reduced fat burning rates to 200 grams per week and the feeling of malnutrition to two hours per day.
Both a liberal and a patriot with average abilities can withstand two hours a day.
This is about an hour in two intervals between meals. For example, between breakfast and lunch, and lunch and dinner.
There is no need to endure hunger after dinner - a man needs to get a good night's sleep in order to work and train well, and during the day he can distract himself from the feeling of hunger with work. They say it's for money.
Try to test your knowledge about calories, fill the gaps in this knowledge and make fat disappear from your body.
How much fat will be lost?
Experienced athletes burn about one kilogram of fat per week when preparing for competitions. Big fitness and diet enthusiasts – 500 grams. Ordinary people, without unnecessary suffering and hysteria, are able to get rid of 200 grams of fatty tissue per week.
So an athlete’s norm may be to get rid of 12 kilograms of fat in 3 months, but for an ordinary person this goal can be achieved in a year.
How much fat is lost per day?
Theoretically, with complete fasting, about 200 grams of fat per day can be lost.
Practically, while maintaining a normal life, 7-15 grams of fat disappear per day.
How to feel that fat is going away?
Burning fat can be felt as fatigue or hunger. When you feel fat burning, the world around you freezes: you feel chilly, your speech becomes slower, your movements become sluggish; you enter a state of suspended animation - a state close to life, similar to the state of hibernation of bears in winter.
However, fatigue and hunger may not be noticed if they are not severe. It's the same with fat burning. If you set feasible goals, then fat burning occurs without suffering and problems - unnoticeably.
How to understand that fat is losing?
The simplest understanding of the disappearance of adipose tissue occurs through measurements of body circumference. Typically, one kilogram of fat burned results in minus one centimeter of circumference in the waist, hips and chest.
An inch is lost in the hips and chest if you do not work on muscle growth at the same time as burning fat. If the muscles of the back and buttocks grow, then centimeters disappear only from the waist.
The growth of hips and chest against the background of a shrinking waist is excellent evidence of the replacement of kilograms of fat with kilograms of muscle.
What to do to make fat go away faster?
Ordinary people buy fat burners, smart people build up mitochondria - the very organelles in which fats are converted into energy.
People with more mitochondria in their bodies burn fat faster. Mitochondria grow from long workouts.
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.
How to burn subcutaneous belly fat: other ways
Often, women who cannot cope with how to remove subcutaneous fat from the abdomen, or do not have time for a long-term comprehensive fight against it, prefer to resort to liposuction . This procedure aims to remove fat one at a time through pumping. In principle, it does its job well, but keep in mind that it does not guarantee that the fat will not appear again, so you will still have to adhere to the right lifestyle, which will help keep your body fat percentage normal.
Another popular procedure among girls who want to quickly remove subcutaneous fat from the abdomen is wraps with cling film and mixtures that have a fat-burning effect. It’s quite easy to do them, and there really are results, however, it’s not the fat itself that is burned: excess fluid, waste and toxins are removed from the body, the skin becomes more toned, smooth and elastic, and all this has a beneficial effect on the fat burning process. But keep in mind that wraps should not be the main measure - they are better used as an addition. A massage that accelerates blood circulation in the problem area and fights excess fat can also give good results.
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 WORKOUT
How do you lose fat when you exercise?
Fatty acids leave the subcutaneous fat cell into the blood and flow to the muscle cell, which is loaded with low intensity during training.
Next, the fatty acid enters the mitochondria of the working muscle cell and two-carbon fragments fall off from the carboxyl group.
Interesting next? I don't. Let healthy lifestyle analysts talk about how two-carbon fragments are converted into ATP: for the practice of improving body shape, this knowledge is superfluous.
How to exercise to lose fat?
By pulse. The simplest formula for calculating heart rate is 170 minus age.
Why doesn't fat come off when exercising?
A good workout can burn about 70 grams of fat. If a person weighs 60-100 kilograms, then he may not notice how he burned these 70 grams of fat.
However, you can replace those 70 grams of fat unnoticed. For example, eating a couple of handfuls of nuts.
This creates the feeling that fat does not go away during training.