Stubborn Fat

Why do some people have problems getting rid of fat, no matter how they diet or exercise? To understand this you need to distinguish between 3 types of body fat.

1) Structural Fat

Structural fat is part of the building blocks of the body. This type of fat surrounds the joints and the internal organs. This fat is like a soft cushion which facilitates movement and prevents bone grinding on bone. This is not the fat you want to lose while you are on a diet, as it is integral to the structure of your body and to accomplishing even the simplest of movements.

2) Normal Fat Reserves

These are the fat reserves that are everywhere in your body. This is a thin layer of subcutaneous fat that all of us have in our bodies. This fat keeps us warm, supple and keeps us from hurting ourselves when we fall.

3) Stubborn Fat Reserve Areas

Stubborn fat reserve areas are spread throughout your body. They are designed to be a modern survival mechanism.   Once fat is stored in these areas the fat will not be released easily, if ever! 

Most people discover how stubborn these problem fat reserve areas can be when they go on a diet and exercise program. They lose water, structural fat and muscle mass and yet still retain these pouches of fat no matter how much they diet or exercise to get rid of it!

This has everything to do with the hypothalamus gland.

When you go on a severe diet you just end up losing the fat where you absolutely can’t afford to – in the structural and subcutaneous areas of the body.

The only way to lose stubborn fat areas is to adjust the function of the hypothalamus through eating a healthy diet.  It is the only way to prevent fat from being stored abnormally in these problem fat reserve areas.

The only other time that the body will release these fat reserves is at the absolute point of starvation or during pregnancy.

The bottom line is that you get fat or obese when your metabolism is abnormally low.   The hypothalamus gets put in an abnormal state and stores fat in these stubborn areas at a much higher rate than usual.

Once you start eating an alkaline, plant based diet devoid of the refined sugars and flours, and embark on a regular exercise program to raise your metabolic rate, it is easy to lose excess fat – quickly, efficiently and for life!

John McNally