How to get rid of stubborn belly fat?

Here’s the truth it can be a lot trickier to manage your diabetes when you are carrying around excess weight. And, when that weight is sitting around your belly, you are also exposed to other complications with health, such as high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. That’s why there has never been a better time than right now to take some action against the belly bulge.

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Why is belly fat bad for me and my diabetes?

There are two kinds of belly fat subcutaneous and visceral. Subcutaneous fat is that jiggle that’s right under your skin. While it may be annoying, it is relatively benign. Visceral fat, which is the fat that you cannot see, is a different story. “Visceral fat continuously releases free fatty acids into the bloodstream,” explains endocrinologist Professor Joseph Proietto from the University of Melbourne.

“This can cause fatty liver. It also stimulates excess glucose, which goes to the beta cells in the pancreas that control insulin function and damages them.” Visceral fat also produces harmful inflammatory chemicals. “These are linked to conditions like diabetes and heart disease, and may contribute to compromised immunity and less healthy organ function,” explains Professor Proietto.

What actually causes belly fat?

While some people are more prone to accumulating belly fat than others particularly men and post-menopausal women eating too much and exercising too little carries most of the blame for an expanding waistline. Certain medications can also cause your waistline to expand. In addition, having higher concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol in your blood encourages the storage of excess energy as visceral fat, explains Associate Professor Stephen Boutcher from the University of New South Wales. “High cortisol is caused by poor sleep, work stress, depression and smoking,” he says, so it is important to consider all of
these factors if you want to reduce visceral fat.

You’ve got my attention – what can I do about my belly fat?

The good news and yes, there is good news is you don’t have to completely overhaul your lifestyle to get rid of unhealthy belly fat. Making small but powerful changes to your diet and exercise regime can help you lose weight and give your diabetes management a boost at the same time. While talking to your care team is the first step in getting your belly under control, this special will help arm you with all the vital information you need to kick your weight-loss goals!

Ready to budge the bulge?

Maximise your motivation with these top tips!

Start small 

One way to marry change and motivation at the beginning of your journey is to ask yourself what you are prepared to change. Target the little things first like cutting back on the spoon of sugar you have in your morning cuppa, or swapping half an hour of television time for half an hour of incidental exercise (think cleaning the house or doing a spot of gardening). Kicking these small goals will fire your resolve to achieve your bigger picture targets.

Be specific 

Building on from the last point, make a list of small, specific changes that you’d like to make and stick to them. So, instead of saying “I’d like to eat more healthily”, instead plan to eat one extra serve of vegies each day, or switch to eating bread three days a week, rather than seven. Writing goals down in this way makes them easier to track and achieve!

Avoid deadlines 

Here’s the truth losing weight, remaking your habits and implementing long-term lifestyle changes is not an overnight process. Maintain your motivation by avoiding setting deadlines on when you want to achieve certain goals.

Celebrate victories 

Don’t forget to celebrate your wins not just wins on the scale, but goals like joining the gym, or walking for two kilometres without stopping, or being able to cut back on your medication as a result of your weight loss. It all counts!

Your get-started check list

TYPE 1

If you’re on set insulin doses, work out how much less you plan to eat. Speak to your GP, endocrinologist or diabetes educator about the amount of insulin you will need to take.

If you already adjust your insulin to your carb intake, reduce your mealtime doses as you eat less under the direction of your care team.

Have frequent hypos (low blood glucose levels (BGLs))? Speak to your care team, as eating lots of jelly beans will not help with weight loss!

TYPE 2

If you are taking medications that can cause hypos such as sulphonylureas or insulin speak with your doctor or diabetes educator about whether your doses will need to be adjusted as you make changes to your lifestyle.

GET FITTER FASTER

Have you heard of interval training? This is where you alternate periods of low intensity exercise (such as walking) with high-intensity exercise (like jogging). Research has shown that this type of workout burns more kilojoules in a short space of time than doing regular cardio workouts. For example, doing 15 minutes of high-intensity exercise will boost your fitness more than jogging for an hour.

“The idea is to up the intensity for a short period of time (known as an interval) so your heart rate rises, then return to a regular pace (where your heart rate comes down to a moderate level) to allow you to complete an active recovery,” says DL exercise physiologist Christine Armarego. “This is repeated throughout the workout.” The upshot of interval training is it gets you fitter, faster, without pushing you so hard you risk injury. Got to love that!

Here’s how you can give it a go:

WALKING

Start by adding intervals of power walking as fast as you can walk or jogging for up to 30 seconds. Do this at least six times during a 30-minute walk. Then, when you get comfortable with interval training, intensify your workout so you’re doing 10-12 speedy intervals over 30 minutes, about one interval every 2.5-3 minutes.

You can time these fast intervals using the stopwatch on your mobile phone, or the second hand on your watch.

SWIMMING

Combine 10-20 laps of swimming with other water exercises:

Kicking only 

Using a kickboard for balance, add a lap of fast kicking then swim 3-5 laps of regular swimming.

Arms only 

For 3-5 laps of every 10-20 laps, use your arms to propel you down the pool, while holding a buoy between your legs to keep you afloat.

Sprints 

Add a half- or a full-lap sprint of a stroke, for 3-5 laps of every 10-20 laps that you swim.

Alternate strokes 

Add a sprint lap of one stroke, and then perform 3-5 laps of another stroke.

CYCLING

TRY THESE:

Flat road 

Add in 6-8 of your fastest sprints for 30-60 seconds in a 30-minute workout.

Gentle hills 

Include 3-6 gentle hills that allow for a seated climb during the course of a 30-minute workout.

Big hills 

Add in 2-4 big hills for a standing climb in your 30-minute workout. When doing a combination of hills and flat roads, use distant landmarks, like houses, to give you something to aim towards during intervals of speed.

CIRCUIT TRAINING

Circuit training  is basically interval training, but with resistance exercises and cardio in the same session. This means you can complete a set of weights in a chair, then do 1-2 minutes of cycling, jogging or marching on the spot. For added intensity, do a different cardio and resistance exercise at each station. Or you can add in intervals of cardio in between doing sets of resistance such as periods of marching on the spot in between doing sets of hand weights.