Belly Fat! How Did I Get This Spare Tire?

After Christmas this year I was thinking, how did I get this spare tire? My spare tire didn't just arrive here overnight, it's taken years to accumulate here. Once I got married and started getting older I wasn't as active through sports. Something would always seem to come up, causing me to do chores, projects or being to tired to workout or eat right.

Here's some causes for my spare tire

1...Inactivity...I'm guilty of not working out enough or at all. I feel I'm fairly active with the duties of being a husband, a father and a home owner. The problem for me is to get in proper workouts regularly. As well as to get my heart rate up and sweat more during workouts. This inactivity is causing my bodies metabolism to remain idle.

2....Overeating....At meal times I tend to over eat, even when I'm trying to watch what I eat. Before supper or as I'm preparing supper I'll graze and sample the food. Then when I eat I'm already half full, but I still eat my full diner. Have you ever found yourself with a full stomach after a meal, then you wondered why you eat so much.

When you get older you find yourself eating for comfort. A release from whats going on in your life. The foods you eat are just as important as how much. Skimping on breakfast only to over eat at lunch. Not having healthy snacks in the afternoon and finding yourself starving. Then eating too much at supper time. I have a friend who doesn't eat all day except for a few cups of coffee and maybe a danish. Come supper time he eats a big supper and a few beers. This is usually late a night and then he goes to bed. This is not a healthy practice to maintain.

3....Stress.. today leads to over eating with our busy and hectic lifestyles. When stress is weighing you down your body releases stress hormones, including adrenaline which fires you up and contains Cortisol, which makes you fat. Cortisol is a powerful appetite stimulant. Thus people under stress make more trips to the fridge or cookie jar. Some people can handle stress better than others, resulting in some to secrete less cortisol during peak times. Elevated cortisol levels appear to stimulate growth in fat cells in the abdomen, producing the worst kind of weight gain, the dreaded spare tire around your mid section.

4....Sleep....Today it is estimated that only 25% of people are getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night. This scare's me to think that possibly 3/4 of the people are operating on less than optimal amounts of sleep. Operating on 5-7 hours or less of sleep a night can cause you to develop insulin resistance, which could result in weight gain. Operating on less sleep could explain why you munch on bad snacks. Your brain thinks your running low on energy and will increase your appetite.

5....Eating Processed or Refined Foods....Do you find yourself eating a lot of processed foods(pre packaged snacks,frozen dinners, meats and cheeses just to name a few). Refined foods are just as unhealthy for you. Some of the most popular products refined are flour. Flour is heated and striped of all it's nutrients and then it is bleached. White flour is found in a lot of the foods we eat(bagels,breads,cereals,snacks). These commercially produced foods are very high in simple carbohydrates and very low nutritional value.

Having a spare tire around your midsection is no laughing matter. It is very important to not except"I'm just going to stay fat" or "I'll never lose this weight". If you feel that you are losing your battle with weight loss. You need to think positive and know that you are going to change your situation. In doing so you will have already won half the battle. Remember that fat around your mid section is very serious and has major heart disease risks.

If you're looking to get rid of your spare tire check out my other article Belly Fat..Tips to get rid of that spare tire.

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