Yep, Rally is going there: belly fat. Not the kind you can poke, but the hidden kind deep in your midsection that loves to sneak in as you age. In this episode, Rally explains why this one is more of a health concern than you might think, why older adults are especially vulnerable, and how a few straightforward lifestyle moves can send it packing. No crash diets, no crazy workouts — just smart steps you can start this week.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
RALLY:
Hey there Beautiful People! How you doing?
It’s Rally Preston here – your soon-to-be 71-year-old host – still fighting the good fight with Father Time. Going the distance here…I hope you are too.
Oh and, welcome back to the Silver Beast Podcast. Hey thanks for stopping by today.
And boy, have I got a doozy for you this time! We’re talking belly fat. Yes, it’s really happening.
Now I know, belly fat, could I have picked a less glamorous topic? I don’t think so.
But look, we need to know this. Because this episode isn’t about the jiggly fat you can see on me here. I don’t want to talk about.
This episode, you lucky listeners, is going deeper – much deeper – this one’s about… visceral fat.
Ah, that fat. The out-of-sight, out-of-mind fat we all have – even the supermodels.
Visceral fat is not like the fat under your skin – subcutaneous fat. That stuff just loves to be seen right? Out of notches on your belt buckle? Well you can thank your subcutaneous fat for that.
Visceral fat is much more coy. Kind of shy. It stays hidden. It buddies up to your internal organs in your midsection – like your liver, kidneys, intestines. Those guys are the real work horses, while your visceral fat is just along for the ride, basically.
Well, I should say visceral fat does a few good things. It’s a nice cushion for your organs, helps you store up energy, pitches in with the hormone production. So it’s not all bad.
But it can get out of control. When visceral fat is more than 10% of your total body fat, well that could be a problem. That’s when it goes from a nice, quiet roommate down there, to a juvenile delinquent stirring up all kinds of trouble.
So yeah, too much visceral fat can cause inflammation throughout your body. And that ups your chances of heart disease, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes for starters. And we don’t want that.
And this surprised me here: you can have a completely normal BMI reading — that’s your height-to-weight ratio — and still have dangerous levels of visceral fat.
Your regular weight scale can’t measure visceral fat. But you can get out a tape measure and guesstimate it. For most people, a healthy waistline is under 35” for females and under 40” for males. Going beyond those might mean you have excess visceral fat.
So, why am I bringing up visceral fat in the first place?
Well, it can be a bigger problem for us older adults. Visceral fat tends to pile up the older we get.
And there are a couple of main reasons for that, if you must know…
First off, we lose muscle as we age. Yeah I know, not a real shocker there. But when your muscle mass goes down, guess what your resting metabolism does? (And that’s basically how many calories your body burns, just to keep the lights on.) So yeah, your fat-burning machine, your metabolism, drops when there’s less muscle, so you pack in more visceral fat.
And here’s the second reason visceral fat gets backlogged for us — and that’s hormones. As you age, women lose estrogen, and men’s testosterone levels drop. And when you’re working with less hormones to work with floating around in there, that starts to change where your body stores fat. So more and more of it gets piled on as visceral fat in your abdominal section. Yeah isn’t that nice?
So yeah. The deck is stacked against us older adults when it comes to visceral fat.
Alright, now here’s the good part…
We can shrink visceral fat with some simple lifestyle changes. There’s solid research on this. If you need to do it, you can.
Alright, let’s look at three things the research says can really fry that visceral fat.
So number one step I have here is a real visceral fat burner – and that’s cardio.
Yep, you love to hate it I know. Cardio exercise, the get-your-heart-rate-up kind. This will do a deep dive into visceral fat.
Doing cardio, aerobics, whatever you want to call it – burns off excess visceral fat.
And let me tell you, visceral fat is a complete wimp compared to regular body fat, your subcutaneous fat. That fat under your skin is so dang stubborn – hard to budge as I’ve discovered. But you can lose visceral fat way faster…it’ll high-tail it out of there with moderate cardio.
And we’re not talking crazy cardio here.
Walking briskly. Riding a stationary bike. Swimming. Water aerobics. Even dancing.
Thirty to forty-five minutes, as many days of the week you can fit it in. And just make sure you’re breathing a little heavier…that’s your target zone.
Alright, number two step to beat visceral fat: And that’s eat smarter, not just less.
Now this one’s important. A caloric deficit — meaning, eating a little less than you’re body burns off — is part of the equation for losing visceral fat. There is no other way around it. Now you could get help here with GLP-1 injections or tablets, but we’re just looking at the natural stuff today.
So if you’re cutting back on calories, there’s a catch for us older adults: you’ve still got to get enough protein in your diet. If you don’t, you could lose muscle mass too.
So aim for around 25 to 30 grams of protein per meal. Cut back on the carbs, sugars, high-fat dairy, processed foods, things like that – but keep the lean protein. That way, your muscles stay, and the fat goes. Very important.
Alright, the third step to losing visceral fat: Lift something.
Resistance training. I know, it sounds intimidating. But you don’t have to be a gym rat here. Simple stuff will do the trick – anything that challenges your muscles resistance-wise. So some light dumbbell work, maybe. Resistance bands — those big stretchy rubber band things. Bodyweight exercises like squats or chair sit-to-stands. Even some yoga counts.
When you build or maintain muscle, your resting metabolism goes up. That’s the key here. You want your body burning more calories all day long — even when you’re doing absolutely nothing. So while you’re watching Netflix, you can be cooking those calories. Just put in some resistance work first and enjoy the show.
And here’s the research kicker here: studies show the best results come from combining both cardio and resistance training. That combo is powerful stuff – so be sure and do both. And of course, watch your calories – again, you need to burn more than you take in.
Alright, let’s bring this one home with some action steps to work on visceral fat. Very simple, natural ones here.
Action Step One: Add three cardio sessions this week. Thirty minutes each. A walk, a bike ride, a swim — whatever you can do and still have some fun with it. Just get that heart rate up, and your breathing heavier.
Action Step Two: Do a protein check at your next meal. Are you getting 25 to 30 grams every meal? Eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken, fish, beans. Pick one. You still have to cut calories, ok, but be sure you get enough protein to fuel your muscles.
Action Step Three: Add one resistance exercise to your week. Just one to start. Chair squats. Resistance bands. Light weights. Something. Something to get your metabolism fired up. That’s what you’re going for.
Ok, last one, Action Step Four: Talk to your doctor about visceral fat. Don’t be shy. Your doc can assess it pretty well. And blood tests can help identify certain biomarkers to get a better picture. And there’s always high tech scans that can really pinpoint it. And of course, get your doctor’s okay if you’re changing up your meals or exercise routine. It’s always smart.
Now, here’s what I want to leave you with today…
Visceral fat isn’t about esthetics. This isn’t about fitting into your jeans from the 1980s — we probably need to let go of that dream now.
This is about what’s actually going on inside your body. Your health. And you know, that’s everything, isn’t it?
And the great thing about visceral fat, it’s very malleable. Very responsive to what you do. Easier to lose that regular body fat. So c’mon, start moving, cut back on calories, be sure you get enough protein, and lift things more. You do all that and your visceral fat will not be a happy camper and scoot right out of there. That’s a fact.
And there’s a bonus here, you keep doing those things and you’re going to lose body fat too – your subcutaneous fat. So in that case, if you’re really going for it, maybe hang on to your ‘80s Calvin Klein’s – you just might be able to fit into them after all.
Alright, I’m Rally Preston — hey, thanks for hanging out with me today on The Silver Beast Podcast.
Work on that visceral fat, will you? Be patient, and get it down to a healthy level, and I’ll see you next time. Take care!