The lady points to her belly and her arms and asks me, “how do I get rid of this?”
That was her exact question to me.
I know
most women don't love the answer…..
We can't spot reduce fat, STRONG friend, unless we go under the knife!
We can't crunch or plank our way to less belly fat. This isn't to say not to do core/ab workout. Just know that it's not the way we reduce belly
fat.
If we could spot reduce, we would all do it in a heartbeat. Lol, am I right, or am I right? 😝
We would have all lost it long ago in whatever area we wanted to. 🙌🏾
Unfortunately, we must patiently wait for our body fat stores to decrease through a consistent calorie deficit in the order that the body sees fit - technically, our genetics dictate this.
Our so-called "trouble" areas, such as belly fat, may be the last to go, and it might not completely disappear. We women are supposed to have a certain level of body fat, and
the body doesn't like it when we get too low.
If you have reached a point on your fat loss journey, lost a considerable amount of body fat, and still have some belly fat hanging around, you have a couple of options...
One, you could lower your calories even more, if you are open to
that after weighing the pros, cons, and trade-offs of eating even fewer calories. 🤔
This infographic is awesome visual of the cost of getting lean.
Precision Nutrition breaks it down really well as to what it takes to get to various body fat levels. It's a real eye opener if you have never considered how to get really lean and stay lean. Is it worth it? Can you sustain it and still live your best life? 🤔
The second option is to pause for a bit because it's normal not to lose all the body fat you want in one fat-loss phase.
When done correctly, it takes a few diet phases to reach your body composition goals.
So, it may be advantageous to spend time
on maintenance, eating at your new maintenance level of calories and maintaining your current weight, give or take a few pounds.
Maintenance is where we should be living most of the time, not in a continuous year-round diet phase - either intentionally or unintentionally.
Anywho,
wrapping up the belly fat portion of the email, STRONG friend, it simply takes time, patience, a consistent moderate calorie deficit, and managing your expectations!
As for the arms, it's a two-part situation. One to tone the arms - we gotta build muscle first and foremost. There will be no tone without muscle.
And no, we don't just do bicep curls and tricep kickbacks. We do those, of course, but we nail our big compound lifts primarily. That, STRONG friend, will help you "tone" (aka build muscle) the arms.
The second part of the equation is reducing body fat to see muscle tone.
Some folks, if they are newbies, will experience the joys of both gaining muscle and losing body fat in their first year of lifting.
Beyond that, you'll have to do a build phase and a fat loss phase. Most likely a few cycles of it.
I must mention we can
spot enhance muscle; that's what bodybuilding (hypertrophy) is all about - training various muscles more or less to build muscle mass in various areas.
One more thing about belly fat, aka getting a smaller waist: We CAN create the illusion of a smaller waist by training our delts, back, and glutes. Building those areas will help with the appearance of your
stomach.
Back to the arms! You can get rid of the fat under there. Again, it requires you to lose body fat through a caloric deficit.
Now, as you consistently lift the heavy
things with progressive overload, you will see a change in your muscles all over, not just the arms. Things will be firmer, tighter, etc.
That's wonderful news, right?
All of it takes time, but it's worth it. Fitness, body change, health, etc., is a journey, not a sprint; remember
that.
Thanks for reading STRONG friend! I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful Easter weekend!
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out! Happy to help!
In
Strength and to your Success,
One Love,
Coach Candace
