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The difference between subcutaneous fat and the more deadly “visceral fat”… Plus the simple steps to REMOVE this fat permanently
Although this picture depicts an overweight man, this article applies to dangerous types of fat inside the bodies of both men and women… and this discussion also applies even if you only have a slight amount of excess stomach fat.

Did you know that the vast majority of people in this day and age have excess abdominal fat?  It’s true — as much as 70% of the population in some “westernized” countries such as the US and Australia are now considered either overweight or obese.  The first thing that most people think of is that their extra abdominal fat is simply ugly, is covering up their abs from being visible, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body.

However, what most people don’t realize is that excess abdominal fat in particular, is not only ugly, but is also a dangerous risk factor to your health. Scientific research has clearly determined that although it is unhealthy in general to have excess body fat throughout your body, it is also particularly dangerous to have excess abdominal fat.

There are two types of fat that you have in your abdominal area. The first type that covers up your abs from being visible is called subcutaneous fat and lies directly beneath the skin and on top of the abdominal muscles.

The second type of fat that you have in your abdominal area is called visceral fat, and that lies deeper in the abdomen beneath your muscle and surrounding your organs. Visceral fat also plays a role in giving certain men that “beer belly” appearance where their abdomen protrudes excessively but at the same time, also feels sort of hard if you push on it.

Both subcutaneous fat and visceral fat in the abdominal area are serious health risk factors, but science has shown that having excessive visceral fat is even more dangerous than subcutaneous fat.  Both types of fat greatly increase your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, various forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

Part of the reason visceral fat is particularly dangerous is that studies show that it releases more inflammatory molecules into your system on a consistent basis.

One of the major reasons that some people accumulate more visceral fat than others can be from a high carbohydrate diet that leads to insulin resistance over time (years of bombarding your system with too much sugars and starches for your pancreas to properly handle the constant excess blood sugar) … and studies show that high fructose intake particularly from high-fructose corn syrup can be a major contributor to excess visceral fat.

So what gets rid of extra abdominal fat, including visceral fat?

Both your food intake as well as your training program are important if you are to get this right and the good news is that I’ve spent over a decade researching this topic, analyzing the science, and applying it “in the trenches” with myself as well as thousands of my clients from all over the world to see what works to really stimulate abdominal fat loss.

I’ve actually even seen a particular study that divided thousands of participants into a diet-only group and an exercise & diet combined group. While both groups in this study made good progress, the diet-only group lost significantly LESS abdominal fat than the diet & exercise combined group.

From my research, two of the most important aspects to getting rid of visceral fat are:

1. The use of high intensity forms of exercise and full-body resistance training.  Low intensity cardio exercise simply isn’t as effective for removing visceral fat in particular.  High intensity exercise such as interval training, sprints (bike sprints or running sprints), AND full-body weight training are very effective at helping to improve your body’s ability to manage glucose and increases insulin sensitivity, a crucial step in removing visceral fat.

These types of high intensity exercise routines are also very effective at increasing your fat-burning hormones and creating a hormonal environment conducive to burning off abdominal fat, including visceral fat.

2.  In addition, it’s vitally important to get blood sugar under control to help restore insulin sensitivity through the right nutrition.  This means greatly reducing sugars and refined starches in your diet (including fully eliminating any use of harmful high fructose corn syrup!), and focusing more of your diet on healthy fats (such as avocados, nuts, seeds, coconut fat, olive oil, grass-fed butter, free-range eggs, fatty fish and fish oils, etc), as well as increasing protein and fiber intake.  The standard diet recommended by the government, which contains an unnaturally high grain intake is NOT conducive to controlling blood sugar and reducing visceral fat!

Reducing grain-based foods in your diet and getting more of your carbs from veggies and high fiber fruits such as berries can go a long way to helping to solve this problem.

If you have done your due diligence, you are likely well aware that carbohydrates can be bad news for a fitness regimen. However, avoiding carbs completely does not automatically equate to fat loss. Of course, there can be many benefits to adopting a low-carb lifestyle, but never forget that unprocessed and fibrous carbohydrates can be an excellent source of energy for your body. As such, feel free to incorporate the right variety into your healthy lifestyle.

As always, however, knowledge is power. Beyond just what you are eating, you need to know the value (or detriment) inherent to how you are eating it. Think about what your current diet entails. What sorts of foods do you typically consume that are carbohydrates? How do you eat them? With what foods are they usually pair? You may be shocked to discover that something as simple as the dish you choose to eat alongside the carb of your choice can completely make or break your voyage to a fitter future.

There is just one simple rule that you can never forget when doing so. Never combine fats and carbohydrates. Limiting your fat consumption when eating carbs is absolutely critical. The way these two foods interact wreaks havoc on your body’s ability to burn fat and actually encourage it to do just the opposite.

When you eat fat, your body digests the food and releases fatty acids into the bloodstream. On the other hand, when you eat carbohydrates, your body digests that food and releases the storage hormone insulin into the bloodstream. This combination is exactly what you need to avoid. Fatty acids combined with insulin means your body will choose to start storing the fats. Insulin even activates fatty acid “transporters” in your body’s fat cells, which facilitates even more efficient fat storage.

Always avoid consuming large amounts of fatty acids and foods the will release a high level of insulin (such as all higher glycemic carbohydrates) into the body simultaneously. When you eat carbs, do not eat it with fats and vice versa. Best practices generally include limiting carb intake to less than 10 grams in a meal where you will be eating fat. Similarly, cap your fat consumption at 10 grams in a meal where you will be eating a large amount of fat. But just cutting out the dangers of eating carbs and fats by consuming them separately, you will optimized your body’s fat-blasting hormonal environment and being seeing much faster results.

By Josh Bezoni

To all my wonderful 5400 (and growing) subscribers… THANK YOU for a wonderful year.

Some have inquired about me since I have been quiet since August.

I appreciate that.

Truth be told, I just was working on OCR races (Spartan Races) and I have been working on a book.

Yes, I have a book.

It’s called Transparency. But I’ll get to this in a second.

I decided to take on the Spartan Trifecta. For those who are not aware of what this is, The Spartan Race is an obstacle course race that usually breaks down into 3 categories (The Beast: 13+ miles, The Super: 8+ miles, and The Sprint: 3+ miles) each of these have many different obstacles to conquer. I had never done a trifecta before and I’m not the type of person who stays in his comfort zone. As you can see “mission completed”.

Along the journey, I interacted with many different people from different walks of life. Each of them were there for different reasons, but one that was consistent “we’re bigger than any obstacle in front of us”. Some people trained for the races, and some just signed and ran the races with friends. Those that sign up and didn’t train paid for it later on the course.

Then it hit me, those that truly happy with life (in general) make it habit to be happy. They work toward happiness. I even had to look at me, and say “I’ve got some work to do”. That’s how “Transparency” came.

2016 will be about mental health and wellness. More people are just not happy. Not happy with life, jobs, etc… and it starts with you. You have to find your happiness, you have to define your PEACE…

So began the book. Transparency. 12 weeks to the “New” you. I have worked the steps, and I know it will help you in your life, love, and happiness.

2016… I look forward to giving you happiness in Transparency.

Coach…