Stubborn belly fat can be 'stubborn' for a variety of reasons.
- Your genetics
- Your calories aren't low enough
- Your hormones suck
- Your metabolism has dropped too much
A calorie deficit WILL eliminate this eventually, but often it's not realistic.
Let's get into this...
1. Your Calories
You may just be eating too much food.
If you're 160 pounds, yet you're averaging 2500 calories on most days while not doing any cardio, then it's just too much food.
There's nothing wrong with you, you just need to eat nutrient-dense, calorie-sparse foods.
2. Your Hormones
If you've got low T, you may reach a point in the diet where a calorie deficit just leads to further muscle loss, rather than fat loss.
To combat this:
+ OBVIOUSLY train hard with weights
+ Make sure you're sleeping properly
TBC...
+ Get your vitamin D
+ Get on TRT if the above doesn't work
+ Take 1-2 months at maintenance, if all the above doesn't work
Stress/cortisol is directly linked to low T and lack of sleep.
SO the solutions are the same for high cortisol.
3. Your Metabolism
When you're in a calorie deficit for extended periods of time, your metabolism eventually drops no matter who you are.
It's your body's way of adapting and trying to get you to 'slow down' with the weight loss.
The best way to combat this...
A) Diet SLOWLY, and don't cut loads of food/calories out too early on...(although it may be too late for you now)
B) Take time to build muscle
The reality is that you're not going to go from 28% bf down to 8% in one go.
You're going to have periods of rest.
Periods of...
Fun & relaxation.
Periods of MUSCLE GAIN.
Muscle is the most powerful thing for your long-term metabolism, and you may just have to be a little patient with the stubborn belly fat.
If you're in a deficit & your testosterone isn't in the gutter, you may just need to gain 💪
It's like trying to go from an income level of $50k to $500k, without any weekends, any holidays, or any fun.
It's not realistic or sustainable.
Taking 'maintenance periods' is fantastic for muscle growth and testosterone, and therefore your LONG-TERM fat loss.
If you'd like to learn more about this, I'll be talking about stubborn belly fat at the email list this week (along with various other useful topics).
Don't miss them:
https://t.co/elVXKFiq80