Let’s accept the true state of affairs! After all the hustling that we do throughout the whole day, coming back home to a cozy bed and just having our feet up is the kind of dream that tempts us. With a bowl of comfort food and a comfort show streaming on some OTT platform – who wouldn’t want to have a laid-back evening at the end of a long day!
But, keeping the weight in check is also important; can’t let obesity take over.
According to dietitians, there’s a way to balance both ends – and the key lies in taking ample amount of rest!
Surprised much? Read on to know more!
It’s easy to assume a stricter workout routine or aggressively cutting calories yields the best results. According to dietitians, however, when it comes to achieving a healthier body and reducing harmful visceral fat, one of the most effective things you can do is the most counterintuitive. It’s resting!
What is visceral fat?
Belly fat, also known as visceral fat, is fat that builds up deep within the abdomen and around the internal organs. It’s different from subcutaneous fat, which is the fat just below the skin that you can pinch. Belly fat can be a health concern because it’s linked to a higher risk of serious health problems, including cardiovascular disease, dementia, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer.
Belly fat can refer to both subcutaneous fat, which is located just below the skin, and visceral fat, which is located deep within the abdomen. While some belly fat is normal and healthy, too much belly fat can increase the risk of health problems. Subcutaneous fat, for example, makes your belly appear soft and round and can make your clothes feel tighter.
On the other hand, visceral fat, also known as “active fat”, surrounds your internal organs like your liver, stomach, and intestines. It’s more dangerous to your health than subcutaneous fat and can increase the risk of conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
Johannah Katz, M.A., RD, an Orlando, Florida–based registered dietitian told Eating Well, “Excess visceral fat is strongly associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. Mechanistically, it promotes chronic low-grade inflammation, elevates free fatty acids in circulation, and contributes to organ dysfunction.”
But how does rest help reduce visceral fat?
In a world obsessed with hustle culture, resting may seem counterproductive.
However, contrary to popular belief, a lot goes on in your body during downtime, including regulating fat.
Helps keep your hunger hormones in check:
Keeping your hunger hormones in check helps lose visceral fat by regulating your appetite, preventing overeating, and minimizing the storage of excess calories as fat, particularly around the abdominal area, as when your hunger hormones are balanced, you naturally feel fuller for longer, reducing your overall calorie intake which is crucial for visceral fat loss.
Key points about hunger hormones and visceral fat:
Ghrelin (the “hunger hormone”): When you’re sleep-deprived, ghrelin, known as the “hunger hormone,” increases, making you feel hungrier than usual. When ghrelin levels are high, you feel hungry, which can lead to overeating and increased visceral fat storage if not managed.
Leptin (the “satiety hormone”): Leptin, which sends signals to your brain that you’re full, decreases. The result? You may end up consuming extra calories, which can settle as visceral fat. When leptin levels are adequate, you feel full, signaling your body to stop eating, helping to prevent excess calorie intake and visceral fat accumulation.
As per Mascha Davis M.P.H., RDN, a registered dietitian and author of Eat Your Vitamins, “Sleep helps balance hormones like leptin and ghrelin, which regulate appetite, preventing overeating.” This may be one of the reasons that people living with obesity frequently report getting fewer than seven hours of sleep per night. While the magic number is different for everyone, a good goal is seven to nine hours of sleep nightly, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Helps regulate your stress hormones:
Regulating stress hormones, particularly cortisol, helps in losing visceral fat because high levels of cortisol can promote the storage of fat around the abdomen, leading to increased visceral fat accumulation; by managing stress and lowering cortisol levels, you can prevent this fat storage and facilitate better fat burning, thus aiding in losing visceral fat.
Key points about stress hormones and visceral fat:
Cortisol’s role: When you experience stress, your body releases cortisol, a hormone that signals your body to store fat, especially around the abdomen, which is where visceral fat is located.
Impact on metabolism: High cortisol levels can also disrupt your metabolism, making it harder to burn calories and contributing to weight gain, particularly around the midsection.
Stress management strategies: By practicing stress-reduction techniques like meditation, yoga, deep breathing exercises, regular physical activity, and sufficient sleep, you can effectively lower cortisol levels and minimize visceral fat accumulation.
Supports your workout:
If you’re aiming to crush it at the gym, you might need to occasionally take it easy.
Why?
Even though exercise is an excellent way to burn visceral fat, overdoing it may leave you too tired and unmotivated to keep up with your exercise routine. So, you may spend more time on the couch if you push too hard than if you exercised moderately or took a day off.
To tell you the truth, rest days are as important as the intense-workout days. The low-intensity recovery days, are essential to keeping your body in balance. When your muscles have had time to recover and repair, you’ll be stronger, more energized, and capable of working out more effectively during your next exercise session.
However, rest doesn’t have to mean lying in bed all day. Light activities like walking, stretching, or yoga fall under the “active rest” umbrella and can contribute to your overall fitness goals. These gentle movements keep you engaged and encourage blood flow to your muscles without the strain of a high-intensity workout. Active rest days can also keep you motivated by allowing you to keep moving without risking burnout.
Supports a healthy metabolism
Are you aware of the fact that your body burns calories even when you’re asleep?
Sleep is when your body engages in critical repair and regeneration processes. It’s also when your body releases growth hormone, which helps break down fat for energy.
In fact, research has found that people whose sleep cycle is out of alignment burn roughly 55 fewer calories per day than people who get regular sleep. That might not sound like much, but over months and years, that can really add up. So, it’s not just a matter of getting enough sleep. It’s also about getting regular, quality sleep.