John Limpus

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A good friend of mine, Paul Mort, who runs Precision Fitness a North East based Personal Training company that specializes in fat loss, recently wrote this article on how to remove the fat around your waist and and I thought it would be really useful for you all as we approach holiday season!

Enjoy,

John

The Muffin Top

Just what is Muffin Top? A muffin top is that layer of fat that ‘spills’ over the top of the wearers waistband. More visible when wearing Jeans and a shorter top- see pic above!

I see them all the time, alarmingly more so on teenage girls than anyone else.
The lady in the picture doesn’t have a particularly fat bottom or legs- in fact they look pretty shapely!
So how does this happen?
Quite Simple. TOO MANY CARBS.

You see, the supra-iliac or ‘LOVE HANDLE’ area is DIRECTLY LINKED to your carbohydrate intake.

I’ve written in the past about ‘carb bitches’ but lets just say you’re friend who can eat all the carbs he/she want’s doesn’t have a problem with insulin but if you have love handles- you do. It really is as simple as that; some people have the genetic ‘gift’ of being able to tolerate more carbs. The Chinese for example.
Let’s take a closer look at how this works:

The hormone in question is INSULIN. 
Contrary to popular belief, the body actually WANTS to use fat as energy. However doing anything that causes insulin levels to rise rapidly, causes the body to shuttle blood sugar to the liver, muscle tissue and most importantly, to the adipose tissue (bodyfat!). Insulin, in essence is a STORAGE hormone. 
Guess where it loves to be stored?? You guessed it! 
Around that waist!

I must clarify however. It’s REFINED carbs we need to AVOID AT ALL COSTS and anything with a High Glycaemic Index reading. Things like pasta, bread, rice YES wholemeal versions count too if you want to get REALLY lean. Obvious things like cakes and biscuits too. However I would say its alcohol that is the biggest cause of this muffin top syndrome.

Alcohol is quite simply liquid sugar, a useless nutrient that the body struggles to deal with:
I recently came accross the explanation below by Nick Mitchell of Ultimate Performance http://www.upfitness.co.uk/ and he sums it up perfectly.

“The body absorbs all of the above carbohydrates as quickly as it would a tablespoon of sugar, which means that the body is forced to release waves of insulin to dispose of the large influx of carbohydrates. These surges of insulin, repeated over and over again, lead to a condition called insulin resistance. The cells that normally respond to insulin get desensitized. The pancreas — which produces insulin — has to “shout” louder and louder for the cells that handle insulin to “hear.” The pancreas has to produce more and more insulin to metabolize all that rapidly assimilated carbohydrate. 

To make matters worse, these large surges of insulin tend to overshoot the mark, and more is released than is needed. As such, it then causes temporary low blood sugar (insulin takes sugar out of the blood and puts it in storage, remember), which sends your brain a signal that it’s time to eat again. One biscuit is never enough is it?”

Ready to lose the love handles then??
Let’s get one thing straight- you will not die if you don’t have carbs and this is not the Atkins diet. We just need to choose our fruit and vegetables carefully.
If you want to lose that muffin top quickly then here’s my advice for maximum results!
1) Eat ONLY green vegetables. Eat them 4 times a day. Eat them steamed or raw. (Micro waving destroys 97% of the flavanoids, boiling 66%, steaming only minimal).
2) Try to stick to berries for your fruit intake- they have a pretty low GI but have lots of anti-oxidants due to their thin skin. 
3) Never eat fruit on its own. Have a handful of organic nuts with the fruit- this can help slow down the insulin ‘spike)
4) If it comes in a packet or tin- Don’t eat it. FULL STOP.
5) If it’s ever had a face- you can eat it!
6) Supplement with a good quality fish oil. Don’t buy store bought crap. You get what you pay for. Cheaper brands contain alarmingly high quantities of heavy metals, most notably mercury.
7) Look to insulin stabilisers such as the herbal products fenugreek and gymnema sylvestre – they can work fantastically well in leaning up a carb intolerant person. Again, dont buy store bought rubbish, click the link below for the one we reccomend!- http://www.revital.co.uk/Metagenics_Fenugreek_Plus