Why Losing Belly Fat Takes SO Long (The Honest Truth)

Summary

Mario Tomic discusses the challenges and solutions for losing belly fat, explaining why it is often the last to go despite diet and exercise efforts. He breaks down the differences between visceral and subcutaneous fat, emphasizing that visceral fat is easier to lose due to its metabolic activity. However, subcutaneous fat, especially in the belly, is more resistant because of genetic and receptor differences. Tomic outlines the psychological and physical commitment required to overcome these challenges, stressing the importance of sustainable habits and mindset changes. He concludes by highlighting the necessity for lasting lifestyle changes to prevent regaining lost weight.

Highlights

• Visceral fat is metabolically active, making it easier to lose before subcutaneous fat. 🏃‍♂️
• Belly fat contains more alpha 2 receptors, slowing its breakdown. 🕒
• Genetics heavily influence where one stores and loses fat. 🧬
• Secure a consistent and realistic calorie deficit for sustainable weight loss. 🥗
• Build muscle with weight lifting to prevent becoming 'skinny fat.' 💪
• The significant role of a sustainable lifestyle in maintaining fat loss. 🌱
• The importance of integrating healthy habits permanently for long-term success. 🔄

Key Takeaways

• Belly fat is stubborn due to genetic factors and receptor differences. 🧬
• Visceral fat is easier to lose and crucial for health improvements. 💪
• Consistency and commitment are key to losing and maintaining a healthy weight. 🔑
• Effective fat loss requires a sustainable calorie deficit and resistance training. 🏋️‍♂️
• Long-term success in keeping fat off hinges on lasting lifestyle changes. 🌟

Overview

In the video, Mario Tomic delves into the frustrating journey many face when trying to lose belly fat, illustrating why it seems stubbornly resistant to traditional diet and exercise. He explains that visceral fat, which wraps around organs, is more easily shed due to its higher metabolic activity, while subcutaneous fat, particularly in the belly, is often last to go due to its abundance of alpha 2 receptors. This makes subcutaneous fat harder to mobilize.

Tomic emphasizes on balancing a sustainable calorie deficit and incorporating consistent exercise, particularly weight training, to avoid the pitfall of losing muscle mass while trying to shed fat. He provides practical tips on calculating calorie needs and structuring workouts to maximize fat loss and muscle retention, underscoring the importance of a committed mindset and realistic expectations throughout this journey.

The discussion wraps up with an encouragement to adopt permanent lifestyle habits, moving away from temporary dieting mindsets. Tomic stresses that long-term weight maintenance is about ingraining healthy living into one's identity, reducing the risk of weight regain by ensuring diet and exercise become indispensable parts of daily life.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction and Struggles with Belly Fat The chapter discusses the common frustration and struggle people face when trying to lose belly fat. Despite making efforts to be healthy and losing fat in other parts of the body, the belly fat often remains stubborn. As time passes without seeing desired results, many people feel disheartened and give up. In an attempt to achieve results, some might resort to extreme measures like heavily restricting calories and increasing cardio, which can lead to unsustainable practices and ultimately failure in their weight loss journey.
• 01:00 - 02:00: Understanding Visceral and Subcutaneous Fat The chapter titled 'Understanding Visceral and Subcutaneous Fat' delves into the persistent issue of belly fat, emphasizing its complexity and common misconceptions surrounding its loss. The speaker promises to provide crucial advice on effectively losing belly fat, drawing from a decade of coaching experience with individuals facing this issue. The emphasis is on understanding why belly fat is particularly resistant to loss, the pitfalls that people commonly encounter, and the correct methodologies for reducing it. The key takeaway is that 90% of those attempting to lose fat tend to regain it, highlighting the importance of sustainable strategies.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Response of Fat to Diet and Exercise This chapter discusses the different types of belly fat and explains why it is particularly stubborn. It introduces two main types of fat in the stomach: visceral fat and subcutaneous fat. Visceral fat is described as deeper, wrapping around internal organs and leading to an increase in waist size as it is pushed out from the inside, whereas subcutaneous fat is the more superficial layer that can be felt just under the skin. The chapter sets the stage for a deeper dive into strategies used by the 10% of people who manage to stay lean long-term.
• 03:00 - 04:00: Challenges and Genetic Factors The chapter discusses the different types of fat and their effects on health. It focuses particularly on visceral fat, which secretes pro-inflammatory cytokines leading to chronic systemic inflammation. The presence of visceral fat is linked to serious health conditions such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. Importantly, individuals do not need to be visibly overweight to have visceral fat, as 'skinny fat' people can have high internal fat levels. This is supported by DEXA scan observations.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Commitment and Mental Preparation In this chapter, the focus is on understanding the differences and behaviors of visceral and subcutaneous fat. It explains that visceral fat is metabolically active and can be reduced with diet and exercise, whereas subcutaneous fat varies in stubbornness across different body areas. Men, in particular, tend to accumulate more subcutaneous fat around the belly.
• 05:00 - 07:00: Effective Strategies for Weight Loss The chapter ‘Effective Strategies for Weight Loss’ discusses the differences between visceral and subcutaneous fat. It highlights that visceral fat, which surrounds internal organs, is more active in terms of blood flow and is the first to be burnt off when you start exercising and create a calorie deficit. Importantly, even without significant weight loss, exercise alone can reduce visceral fat. Despite not seeing immediate changes in belly fat, internally, fat reduction is occurring, leading to improved health and eventually aiding in the reduction of subcutaneous fat.
• 07:00 - 09:00: Long-term Success and Lifestyle Changes The chapter delves into why belly fat is resistant to diet and exercise compared to other body areas. It highlights the role of alpha 2 receptors in belly fat, which slow down fat breakdown, making it harder to lose, unlike areas with more beta receptors. It touches upon the fact that belly fat isn't always the last to go but often is for many men, pointing out the influence of genetics in fat storage and loss.

Why Losing Belly Fat Takes SO Long (The Honest Truth) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 If you ever tried to lose belly fat, you know exactly how frustrating it can be. You're putting in the work trying to be as healthy as possible, maybe even losing fat in areas like your face, your shoulders, your arms. But that stubborn, squishy layer of fat around your waist just doesn't want to come off. And as months go by, the frustration builds and most people just give up because they're not seeing the changes they want. Or they try to cut calories deeper and do extra cardio and end up in an unsustainable plan and then fall off. And if you're about to repeat those
• 00:30 - 01:00 mistakes, I urge you to wait a minute and listen to this video before you waste another 6 months because this will be the most important advice you will hear on losing your belly fat. I'm going to go over the real reasons why belly fat is so stubborn, how people make losing belly fat harder than it has to be, and how to do this the right way. And this isn't just theory. This is experience from 10 years of coaching hundreds of people who struggle with this exact problem. It's the truth you need to hear. because 90% of people trying to lose fat end up regaining all
• 01:00 - 01:30 of it. So, at the end of this video, I'm also going to tell you what the 10% who stay lean long term are doing differently. So, let's dive into part one and why belly fat is so stubborn. In your stomach region, there are two types of fat that cause your belly to expand. First, there's visceral fat, which wraps around your organs and is internal. You can't grab it, but you can see your waist increase as it's pushed from inside. And then there's subcutaneous fat which sits under your skin. It's that soft layer of tissue that you can
• 01:30 - 02:00 pinch and grab with your hand. And these two types of fat have very different effects. Visceral fat secretes pro-inflammatory cytoines causing chronic systemic inflammation. And research shows that this can cause heart disease, cancer, stroke, and other chronic health conditions. It's one of the drivers of metabolic disease and type 2 diabetes. And you don't have to be very overweight to carry a lot of visceral fat. Even skinny fat individuals can store significant amount internally. I've seen many client DEXA scans of guys who weren't that heavy and
• 02:00 - 02:30 they had quite a bit of visceral fat. On the other hand, subcutaneous fat is our main energy storage. We have subcutaneous fat all over our bodies. It's not just the belly. Although for men, that's where we tend to accumulate a lot of it as weight goes up. And not all subcutaneous fat is the same. Certain areas are much more stubborn. Now, these two types of fat also respond differently to diet and exercise. The good news is visceral fat, the very dangerous one, actually isn't all that stubborn. It's much more metabolically
• 02:30 - 03:00 active, receives a lot of blood flow, and it has a higher rate of fat breakdown compared to subcutaneous fat. It's one of the first to get burnt off when you create a calorie deficit, and start exercising. Even exercise alone without losing weight can reduce visceral fat. So, if your belly still feels as squishy and thick after 30 days of diet and exercise, keep in mind that you're cleaning fat inside around your organs. Even if you can't see it, you're becoming a lot healthier, and that will help you get rid of the rest of the fat you have. Now, subcutaneous fat,
• 03:00 - 03:30 specifically in the belly region, doesn't seem to respond as quickly to diet and exercise. The leading theory is that belly fat has more alpha 2 receptors which when activated reduce fat breakdown and make that fat harder to mobilize unlike areas like your arms which have more beta receptors and release stored fat easier. It isn't always the case that belly fat comes off last, but it is true for most guys. Also, genetics play a key role where you store more fat and where you lose fat
• 03:30 - 04:00 from. For example, I noticed with some clients, they see visible abs at higher body fat percentages while they carry more fat in their legs and glutes, while others store more fat in their chest, their belly or love handles. Now, there is some new interesting research on spot reducing fat, but it is very early to tell how much difference this can make. The reality is we have decades of studies showing that we need to keep losing fat from our entire body and eventually the belly will also go away. The analogy I like to use for this is
• 04:00 - 04:30 that losing belly fat is like drying out a puddle. The edges go first and the middle is the last to dry out. Your belly is that middle. So, if you've been working hard and you feel like it's not going as fast, you need to hit that subscribe button and understand it will take time because physically mobilizing that fat is slower and more difficult. Not just for you, but for all of us. Now, the last reason why belly fat often feels so stubborn is because most people underestimate how much fat they actually need to lose before they tap into belly
• 04:30 - 05:00 fat. The average guy in the gym thinks he's 15 20 lbs away from visible abs. But even if you have just 20 lbs of belly fat to lose, you might need to first lose 20 lbs from the rest of your body before you get to that part. That's a total of 40 lbs to lose. And that's a good 6 months of work if you're doing it right. A lot of my clients are often surprised by how much weight they had to lose to get visible abs as we kept peeling off the layers. That's despite the fact they're building more muscle. And that's why the process often feels
• 05:00 - 05:30 very slow because the goal is way farther than you thought. And this brings me to part two in how to effectively lose belly fat. Here's the fundamental truth you need to hear. This is going to suck. And you'll have to convince yourself to commit to the process of losing belly fat despite the fact that it sucks. Tell yourself whatever you need to. That grilled chicken tastes better than pizza. That cardio is more fun than watching Netflix, that you're full when deep down you know you could have that extra slice and eat the whole thing. You can try to
• 05:30 - 06:00 hack around it by shifting your macros, trying different recipes, or eating stuff like low calorie ice cream. But we all know the truth. Restriction and sacrifice are necessary. And if you're one of the unlucky ones with below average genetics, well, it's going to be even harder. And I can sit here and tell you that it's all worth it going through the process of getting leaner and healthier as it was for me. But none of that matters unless you decide it's all worth it for you. Because the bottom line is if you're not 100% committed to this goal and willing to make the
• 06:00 - 06:30 sacrifices, you'll always find ways to sabotage yourself. You'll be inconsistent and you'll eventually quit. And until that mentality changes, you won't get results no matter what advice I give you. So the first thing you need to do is get your head right. That's the foundation upon which everything else rests. Even a perfect program doesn't matter if you don't follow it. And there is no shortcut because we know this is going to take a while. You need a plan that you can do consistently for a long time. And here are the fundamentals your routine has to have to lose fat
• 06:30 - 07:00 effectively to make sure your hard work is going in the right direction. The first and most important thing is to create the right calorie deficit. If you cut calories too low, you might lose weight faster initially, but you only be able to keep it up four to five weeks, and that won't be enough. I like to call this the sustainability threshold. For myself and the guys I'm coaching, I found that there's a sweet spot with reducing calories. If you set your intake to 2300 calories more, results are too slow and hard to measure. But if you set your intake to 100 200 calories
• 07:00 - 07:30 less, suddenly the diet feels completely unsustainable. For me, that sustainability threshold is about 1,900 to 2,000 calories. If I go down to 17,800, it's pure misery. I'm always hungry. I'm food obsessed. And I can only do it for about 2 to 3 weeks. And your numbers might be different. I recommend initially setting your calories to your goal body weight in pounds times 12 and then adjusting from there. You should be losing about 1 to two lbs per week. and it shouldn't feel extremely difficult at the start. Now,
• 07:30 - 08:00 on top of that, you need to make sure you're doing everything you can to retain muscle. If you're not doing it already, get about one gram per pound of your goal weight in protein. And whatever you're doing for exercise, you need to prioritize lifting weights. Don't make the mistake of just doing cardio. You'll end up skinny fat, slow down your metabolism, and regain the fat. I suggest lifting three to four times per week, using a program that focuses on compound lifts, tracking your workouts, and learning about progressive overload. Outside of the gym, I recommend getting 8 to 12,000 steps per
• 08:00 - 08:30 day, depending on how much time you have available. This will keep your metabolism running, improve your digestion, lower stress, and speed up the whole process. And lastly, make sure you're sleeping at least 7 hours. Lack of sleep will increase your hunger levels, will reduce how much fat you're losing, and accelerate muscle loss. Actually, it's one of the reasons why so many people gain so much belly fat to begin with. And you probably heard all of this before, and for a good reason, because it all works. People don't just fail because they don't know what to do. They fail because they stop doing it.
• 08:30 - 09:00 When the skill stalls for a while, when life gets busier, motivation fades. So, if you came here looking for a shortcut, well, this is it. Do the boring fundamental stuff even you no longer want to. And not just for a few weeks, but for however long it takes. And that's where most people fail. And this brings us to part three, the one no one talks about. How do you actually keep the fat off for good? Because most people had some experience dropping 10 to 20 lbs. But the issue is 90% of the
• 09:00 - 09:30 time they end up regaining all of it. No one ever prepares for what comes after the diet. The habits they implemented for losing fat were temporary. The daily structure was temporary. The mindset was tied to a short-term goal. It wasn't a lifestyle. It was a project. So when it ended, so did the progress and the results. And the 10% of those who keep the fat off long term think differently. They know there is no going back ever again. You can't go back to eating how you used to. You can't go back to skipping workouts, neglecting your
• 09:30 - 10:00 sleep, and doing whatever. You can't live the same lifestyle that got your weight in the first place and expect to stay lean. You have to live a different life, and you have to move on. For the 10% of those who are successful long term, the habits that got them lean in the first place became a part of who they are. Eating healthy isn't a diet. It's how they eat. Lifting isn't just a program. It's a part of their week. Walking isn't just a step goal. It's how they move and how they organize their
• 10:00 - 10:30 day. It's being intentional and keeping a healthy routine to take care of themselves even when they're not dieting. becoming the kind of person who can't imagine themselves being overweight and out of shape ever again and building a new lifestyle that doesn't let the belly fat come back. That's what it really takes. And if you'd like to work with me on your journey to building that lifestyle and getting lean, details for coaching are in description below. So check those out. Don't forget to subscribe and I'll see you in my next