There’s nothing worse than stubborn belly fat. You diet for months — years, even — only for the same unsightly podge to stay lodged in your lower abdomen rent free.
Like a landlord trying to evict freeloading squatters, you don’t want that fat there, but it simply doesn’t want to go.
And believe me, I’ve been there — stubborn belly fat will have you tearing your hair out.
You might spend hours looking at it in the mirror in frustration.
Why won’t to go?
You have done everything in your power, but the scales won’t budge.
How to Kill Stubborn Belly Fat for Good
Unfortunately, the only things you can do to get rid of that spare tire is through a prolonged calorie deficit and patience.
It’s not the answer you were hoping for, but it’s God’s honest truth.
There is no other way around it.
Not being in a calorie deficit is the only reason why you are not burning fat.
If you can find ways to keep within a calorie deficit for an extended period of time, then great.
But the point of this article is to kick up your fat loss up a notch.
Sure, you — like me — might’ve been dealt a crumby hand when it comes to keeping a lean body composition, but you can only play the hand your dealt.
Complaining at the situation will only leave you more stressed and frustrated at your stubborn fat to the point where you might even be tempted to give up your diet.
And that’s something we don’t want you to do.
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1. Eat More Protein
You may have seen this suggestion in a lot of places, but protein is a dieting cheat code if you want to lose that stubborn fat.
Protein, when dieting, can:
- Burn more net calories than other macronutrients
- Keep you fuller for longer
- Help retain lean muscle mass during a calorie deficit
To help you lose the stubborn fat, we will stick with the first point.
Out of all of the big three macronutrients — protein, carbohydrates, and fats — protein has the highest thermic effect.
In digestion alone, roughly 25-30% of the calories in protein sources are expended in digestion. So, for every 400 calories of protein you consume, 100 calories will be burned in digestion — and your net calories from these 400 calories will be around 300.
Therefore, the net caloric intake from a high-protein diet will be lower than other macronutrients.
Taking this into account, it is not an invitation to increase your daily caloric intake to reflect protein’s lower net calories.
If you are consuming 2500 calories per day to lose a pound a week, just alter your macronutrient intake slightly so that your ratios skew more favorably to protein.
For example, if you were consuming a calorie breakdown from: 30% protein 30% carbs 40% fat; consider tweaking them to be something like 45% protein 30% carbs 25%.
That way, not only will you feel fuller for longer, but your net calorie expenditure will be greater than before.
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2. Raise Your BMR
To lose that stubborn belly fat, as we have already established, you must be in a calorie deficit.
One side of the equation is to reduce your food consumption, the other is to increase your total caloric expenditure at rest.
There are a few ways you can do this — which we go into detail in our article on the topic.
In the meantime, you can do the following:
- Eat spicy food
- Drink black coffee/green tea
- Build more muscle
- Work at a standing desk
- Eat more protein (see step one)
The whole idea that you “can’t lose fat because you have a slow metabolism” is often a misnomer.
Losing that stubborn belly fat isn’t a case of a slow metabolism, but more so a case of misjudging how many calories you are consuming and overestimating how many calories you are burning through exercise.
Some people on their quest to incinerate stubborn belly fat may look to resort to spot reduction to attack especially stubborn fat deposits.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work in practice, but in theory your fat deposits can tell you much about the state of your endocrine system — and what supplementation you should take or nutritional protocols you should run to address in the long term to combat the emergence of these sites.
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3. Your Hormones
Your stubborn belly fat and stubborn fat deposits such as love handles and man boobs can tell you a lot about the state of your hormones.
Let’s go over which each stubborn fat deposit can mean:
Lower Abdomen Fat
Stubborn belly fat held in the lower abdomen — most common site — can mean a few things:
You can take supplements such as Ashwagandha, L-Theanine, and Magnesium to help you combat high stress.
Insulin resistance can be approached with low-carb and diet models based around fasting.
Fat loss is the best way to combat low testosterone levels.
Man Boobs
Stubborn fat deposits in the nipple area or the dreaded man boobs are commonly found in men who tend to like the odd beer or 10.
- High Estrogen Levels
More often than not, the development of gynaecomastia or fat deposits in the chest are a result of high estrogen for a variety of reasons, including high aromatization (process by which testosterone is converted to estrogen), xenoestrogen/phytoestrogen consumption, and excessive fat deposits.
Love Handles
Love handles are one of my personal stubborn fat deposits. To be honest, before I addressed my unhealthy lifestyle, I had large fat deposits in all of the stubborn areas — meaning that my endocrine system was in a dreadful state.
However, love handles tend to be a symptom of:
- insulin resistance
- low testosterone
- high estrogen
- high cortisol
Sometimes, stressful environments can’t be avoided, but addressing all other areas of your health should be a priority.
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