Abdominal Weight Loss. . . Losing Fat From Your Middle

As an exercise guru once stated, "Everyone's got Ab's you jus' need to show em". From the frantic efforts in gyms and obsessions with the so elusive six pack, it seems many never quite got what he meant.

The most noticeable part of a fat person is quite often the stomach but its disadvantage is much more than cosmetic. And apart from being concerned about the loss of aesthetics, it is also reasonable to get concerned of a fat midsection

A fat abdomen not only results to larger pant sizes, it is also a serious health issue. It points to your state of degenerating health. Accumulation of body fat mainly around your midsection (commonly referred to as apple shaped, as opposed to pear shaped that has fat around hips, buttocks and thighs) is more dangerous than any other fat distribution. It is associated with increased risk of heart disease, Type II diabetes and other diseases that often accompany obesity.

However the notion that you can lose fat specifically from the stomach area only is unfounded. Spot weight reduction is really a myth. You just cannot loss weight from one specific area of the body. A good example of how one loses body fat is given by the fat-loss expert and body builders, Tom Venuto.

He explains losing fat is like empting a swimming pool. The last part of the pool to get covered by water when filling it up will be the first part of the pool to show up when emptying it. On the contrary the first part of the pool, the deep end, which fills up first, will be the last place to empty.

Another example would be the loading of a truck container with sacks of potatoes. The first sacks to go into the container will be at the furthest end. The last sacks would be closest to the door. On unloading the first sacks to be loaded will be the first to be unloaded while the first to be loaded will be the last to be unloaded.

Similarly in losing weight the last place you deposited fat will be the first place you lose in. And the first place you deposited fat will be the last place to lose it.

Unfortunately, for most of us, the first place we deposit fat is in the abdominal area. This is particularly so for men. Women tend to have first deposits in thighs and hip area also. This distribution of body fat then translates to mean that abdominal fat is usually the last body fat to be lost.

Though this is roughly the way the body distributes fat, obviously it is not as simple. Your body does not store fat at the abdomen and say, Ahha! That's full, lets' start depositing in the under arms. But on the other hand, it doesn't necessarily distribute body fat equally around the body. Depending on your genetics the body will deposit fat in different parts and at different rates. Often some part will have more deposits than others. However you will rarely see a fat person who does not have a large abdomen.

To see your abdominal muscles you will need to cut down on your total body fat. More crunches will just not do it. Yes the crunches do develop the muscles, unfortunately they will still be under two inches of sub-cuteneous fat. And most likely a one pack was not exactly your idea of attractive.