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I was wondering why my stomach seemed so solid and round in comparison to others who have a 'flabby' stomach. Then I came across an article on visceral fat and to be honest it's given me a shock. I have very little subcutaneous fat on my body but have a pot belly and finding it hard to lose.

My basic question is: Is it possible to target visceral fat? I know about the myth of spot reduction etc. and I assume this falls into the same category. I have a pretty good diet 50% Carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat, 500Kcal deficit per day with every 3rd day at maintenance to prevent metabolic slowdown and I have a pretty good cardio plan too. I'm following Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle program.

I have been losing fat everywhere except my pot belly and it's really starting to make me lose hope. Is there any way I can finally get rid of it??

personally, and I'm no expert, I would cut back on your carbs and get a bit more fat and protein.

Like i said before I'm really not an expert but I think 50% carbs sounds a bit high to me

Just a shot in the dark here but:

Is it possible that you are just full of food and water?

As in you ate enough food & drank enough water to have your stomach stick out a bit, and your chest isn't big enough yet to make it not look like a gut?

You need to reread Venuto's plan. I think you got the diet wrong.

No, you can't target visceral fat.

Decrease the carbs.

To lose visceral fat, you need a low-carb diet. An pot belly is a sign of to many carbs. Also, avoid eating before bed, reduce stress and get more sleep.

Thanks guys,

It's definitely not just food and water I have a large pot belly (38" at its widest point) but carry little fat everywhere else. I have Venuto's plan correct alright I have read and re-read that book many times. I think I just need to further reduce the carbs while sticking to the same principles. I had been eating a lot of sugar, refined carbs and trans fats up until I decided to get into shape and thats how I got a pot belly. It's just that I have been training and watching my diet for quite some time now but the inches aren't moving. I'll look into a low carb diet and see if things change.

Thanks for the input guys much appreciated.

Aaron

This guy's diet book really says 50% carbs & 20% fat?

When was it published?

Following is totally inverse of the diet advice that you may have been used to. So brace yourself. But it will fix your visceral fat. It did fix mine.

To target visceral fat you must understand why it happens.

It happens when fats are stored under the influence of insulin.

Now when does the fats get stored under the influence of insulin? It happens when you eat carbs and raise your insulin with the glucose from carbs. The fats might be from diet or created by the liver from glucose or fructose.

Fructose always converts to triglycerides. Glucose converts to triglycerides if your body is not able to absorb the glucose and store it as glycogen. Triglycerides are saturated fats, our bodies preferred form of fuel.

The insulin in addition to reducing the glucose, also stops any fat metabolism, so that it can get rid of the glucose as soon as possible.

The body will use these stored fats later when it is safer to do so, ie when glucose levels are lower which triggers a reduction in insulin..

If your visceral deposits are not reducing, it means that your body is not able to get to a low insulin phase. This might happen because you are eating too often, or your body is insulin resistant and is not able to consume the glucose to lower the insulin.

The first problem can be fixed by simply eating fewer number of times. Actually optimal is only once a day, but only possible for people on completely meat diet. Two times a day is practical if you eat high amounts of fat. There is no reason to eat more than 3 times a day, unless you are into body building.

The second problem is more complex. High visceral fat results in liver malfunction which results in a vicious cycle. Low functioning liver does not convert glucose to fat efficiently. Resulting in longer high insulin phase.

You may want to do some test to check your liver. An upper body ultrasound and liver function test will give you important clues. Generally if you have visceral fat, you will also have a malfunctioning fatty liver.

So what do you do to fix your liver? You must understand what things are bad for your liver. One is Fructose, the other is high Omega6. Glucose is also bad if it is not being absorbed.

So you must attack the problem in several ways.

1) Give up all high Fructose sources. Basically all sweet things. Even limit your consumption of sweet fruits.

2) Give up refined oils. These are high in Omega 6. The only good fats are which have low polyunsaturated fats and have omega 3 and omega 6 in balance. Generally go with Ghee/Olive oil/coconut oil.

3) Add 5ml fish oil everyday. This will balance the omega6 fats that you will get from your daily diet.

4) If possible go low carb. It helps by keeping your insulin low at all times. It may also be necessary if your liver is in a very bad shape. Diabetics absolutely require it.

Then it has changed, because I read one I got a couple years ago and the diet is nothing like the one you posted. But I think you've got the right idea now anyway.