Abdominal or visceral fat is a fatty mass present in the abdomen. Present and stored in excess, they expose to several diseases, including diabetes, cholesterol and high blood pressure.
To assess their risks to your health, you must measure your waist circumference, which should not exceed 80 centimeters for women, and 94 cm for men.
In addition, it is essential to pay attention to your daily habits. These can promote their accumulation and hinder your slimming efforts. Here are the 4 most common mistakes that cause abdominal fat to accumulate:
1.Assign high-calorie meals to dinner
Many of us succumb to the temptation to snack during the day, dedicating our most important (and caloric) meal to dinner, which we associate with a moment of relaxation at home. Unfortunately, this mistake is often responsible for fat accumulation because the body tends to store more after late meals. A study has shown that nocturnal cravings are strongly associated with overweight.
To take into account these metabolic restrictions, Dr. Alain Delabos invented the concept of chrononutrition. This is a diet that is based on your circadian rhythm, or what’s called the biological clock. This states that you have to take the right food at the right time. Breakfast should be the most important meal of the day, consisting of good fats and proteins, to help the body regain its energy. Indeed, depending on the time they are consumed, nutrients are not assimilated in the same way. Thus, sugar and lipids will not be stored by your body if they are consumed in the morning, but they will be if they are taken in the evening.
2.Believe that all calories have the same energy intake
If you evaluate two different foods, for example 50 calories of nuts and 50 calories of spread, the results will be different as well. It turns out that the thermogenic effect of proteins is higher than that of carbohydrates and fats. The latter are metabolized respectively, between 5% and 10% for the former, and 0% and 3% for the latter. Proteins, on the other hand, metabolize 20% to 30% of the body’s energy.
3.Adopt a restrictive regime
The stress and urgency of certain events during which we want to look our best sometimes push us towards restrictive diets. It is then thought that a low calorie intake will help us lose weight quickly. But this is far from sustainable over time. The greater the calorie deficit, the greater the risk of yo-yo effect, sometimes with a more consequent weight recovery. Especially since drastic diets marking a very important caloric deficit, push the body to perform a metabolic adaptation that hinders weight loss.
To find the line effectively and ensure its long-term stability, it is therefore preferable to avoid draconian diets. A progressive calorie deficit and a balanced diet will prevent the yo-yo effect once your diet is over.
4.Eating several meals a day without understanding the mechanism
It is often said that it is more effective to eat several meals a day because it would lead to a greater breakdown of fat and boost metabolism. On the other hand, what is often left behind is that it is not a question of sitting down 6 times a day, but of eating in small quantities, just enough to prolong the feeling of satiety throughout the day. As Aline Ways, holistic nutrition coach, explains, this will allow the body to have energy available continuously, but it will also prevent it from drawing on fat.
In addition, according to a study published by the scientific journal Plos One, eating adequate amounts following a traditional model would have more thermogenic effect than 6 smaller servings. Still according to the aforementioned principle of chrononutrition, it is therefore better to take 3 to 4 meals a day: preferably breakfast, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack and dinner. You just have to make sure to space meals by at least 4 hours.
