Exercise has long been known as a critical factor in
lasting natural weight loss, but it is now becoming clear
that for some people, the wrong kind of exercise may
actually be interfering with their ability to lose weight.
This is primarily true for those people who carry their
excess weight mostly in the lower abdomen - the saggy
stomach "pooch". This type of weight deposition is
characteristic of adrenal dysfunction, and too much or the
wrong kind of exercise can make this problem worse.
The adrenals are small glands that sit on top of the
kidneys ("adrenal" translates to "on top of the kidney").
Alhough they are small, the adrenal glands are powerful
organs and produce hormones involved in many functions.
The most familiar of the adrenal horomones is probably
adrenaline (also called epinephrine). As you are probably
aware, adrenaline is produced in response to stress or fear
and mobilizes the body for "flight or fight" responses by
raising blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing, and by
diverting blood flow to the muscles for fast action.
Adrenaline also promotes the burning of fat for energy, so
adrenal function can promote weight loss during short
periods of physical or even emotional stress.
The adrenal glands produce another hormone that can promote
weight gain though. This hormone is called cortisol, and
it tends to cause the storage of fat in the lower abdomen.
Unlike adrenaline which is produced for only short periods
of time, the adrenal glands can produce cortisol long-term.
This means that any fat-burning effects from adrenaline
will be overcome in the long-run by the fat-storing effects
of cortisol. From a survival standpoint, cortisol serves
the purpose of providing emergency storage of fat for
energy when the body is under stress for a long period of
time. For human cultures in which the primary source of
stress is physical stress, this fat storage can help keep
people alive during extended periods of living under harsh
conditions. Unfortuately, emotional stress stimulates
cortisol production as well, and for many people who live
stressful lives, their ongoing cortisol production will
tend to cause weight gain in the lower abdomen.
So what does this have to do with exercise? Well, for
someone who is under chronic emotional stress and whose
adrenal glands are constantly overworked, their cortisol
production is already high and their ability to produce
adrenaline has been largely exhausted. If you add a lot of
strenuous exercise into the mix, the result is more
cortisol production. As the cortisol levels increase,
there is a greater and greater tendency to store fat in the
lower abdomen.
Many people in this situation who are determined to lose
weight will see their inability to lose weight as an
indication that they need to exercise harder and more
often. These people may be able to continue to lose weight
in general, because if you are burning more calories than
you take in, you will lose weight, but they never are able
to eliminate that lower belly fat. So they work out even
harder, but the belly fat remains - and they become more
and more fatigued and actually begin to lose strength in
the muscles of the arms and legs.
Why would somone lose strength in the muscles in the arms
and legs? Isn't exercise supposed to build muscle? Well,
cortisol not only stores fat in the lower abdomen, it also
stimulates the breakdown of muscle and other tissue to use
for immediate energy needs. So the more determined a
person is to exercise away the belly fat, the more cortisol
is produced, and as we said a moment ago, if you burn more
calories than you take in, you will lose weight, only in
this case the weight being lost is muscle and not fat!
The result is a downward spiral of fatigue, loss of muscle
mass and strength, and sometimes the development of joint
problems as the body eats it's own tissues for energy - but
there's no reduction in that lower abdomen fat deposit that
the body holds in reserve.
So what should a person with this problem do to lose that
lower stomach "pooch"? Well, first of all it is important
to figure out if you actually fall into this category,
because with the exception of someone who has high cortisol
production and overworked adrenals, vigorous exercise is
still one of the most effective weight loss measures one
can take.
Someone with a high cortisol problem will have a certain
collection of signs and symptoms. First, as we've
mentioned several times already, the excess weight is
deposited almost exclusively in the lower abdomen. The
weight would create a sagging area just below the
waistline. As we've already stated, there may be loss of
muscle in the arms and legs, and this might be visibly
noticable, or it may manifest simply as an inability to
build strength in these muscles. In addition, people with
adrenal fatigue and high cortisol may have a collection of
symptoms that could include chronic fatigue, cravings for
salty foods, a need for caffeine or other stimulants just
to stay awake during the day, swelling in the lower legs,
dizziness when arising quickly from a seated position,
numerous arthritic problems, cramps in the calves at night,
and waking up frequently in the middle of the night.
If you do fall into this category of adrenal fatigue / high
cortisol, exercise is still important, but you want the
kind of exercise that helps you to handle stress, not
exercise that creates additional stress. For someone with
overworked adrenals, the best type of exercise is
relatively low-intensity aerobic exercise for 30 to 60
minutes about 3 times per week. This is exercise you can
do without getting out of breath and without feeling
fatigued afterwards. Among the options for this type of
exercise are walking, bicycling, swimming, yoga, tai chi,
and low-intensity aerobics. Exercising outdoors seems to be
particularly beneficial for stress reduction, and
subsequently cortisol reduction, at least when there are no
extremes of temperature to deal with. In addition to going
to a lower-intensity type of exercise, it is important to
make sure to eat enough protein to maintain muscle mass.
This is easily accomplished by most people, but if you've
been drastically cutting calories to lose weight, you are
probably actually working against yourself. Just 3 to 4
ounces of meat, fish, eggs, or dairy three times per day is
sufficient to spare your muscle. If you are a vegan, just
make sure to eat plenty of beans, nuts, seeds, and other
high-protein foods. If you've been working out like crazy
to try to get rid of that belly fat, but all you've managed
to accomplish was feeling tired, weak, and sore, by
reducing the intensity of your workouts and controlling
stress better, you'll likely find that the belly fat
gradually shrinks away and you'll look and feel great!
----------------------------------------------------
Dr. George Best is a holistic healthcare provider in San
Antonio, Texas. For more information, visit
http://www.trainyourbrain4weightloss.com .
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