At the Y, we have an information board that shows fitness facts and myths. One of the facts says you have to eat to lose belly fat. It has definitely started some great conversations this past week, so I thought I would expand on it.

One of the popular questions asked is “why do I not lose the fat here?” (grabbing their belly fat.) Well, the majority of the time, people eat too much. Too many calories in and not enough calories out. If you eat 3,000 calories and you burn 2,000 calories, you have 1,000 calories left. The body tries to store it first in the muscles, some organs and other tissues but whatever is left will be stored as fat. Example: Someone came to me and told me they were eating healthy. They showed what they were eating and it was a very-well balanced diet. The problem was the calories in were way over the calories burned, so this person was actually gaining weight. But, then again, not eating enough calories and exercising hard, and your body does not like to lose the fat. The fat is a wonderful energy source. It does not use any energy while “sitting” there, but can be used as energy.

When the body does not get enough calories it needs, it goes into “survival mode.” It will try to use the least amount of calories possible, burning muscles for energy when necessary. Amazing really —if your car doesn’t have fuel, it stops working completely. Try to look at your body that way — when you do not put the right foods into your body, it will not run very well. Is it easy? No. If it was, everyone would be in great shape and health. But there is tons of free knowledge out there. One of them is ChooseMyPlate.gov

This site will give you the awareness which foods you should be eating and what serving sizes. Typically, around 1,500 calories is needed for a female and around 2,000 calories for a male. Of course it changes with activity levels, age, size of the person,  weight, and genetic makeup just to name a few. But the fact that your body needs good calories to function properly is a given.

Your body is your temple and you need to take care of it. Too much unhealthy food and calories are bad, not enough calories for a body in need is also not good for you. And your body will try to survive and hold on to the fat and use your hard earned muscles for energy instead. All that hard work for my body to burn it again?!

If you are struggling with weight loss, you know you are eating few calories, and exercise regularly; not eating enough calories might be your problem…..

For one week write down everything you eat and drink. Every piece of candy, soft drink, sausage biscuit, etc. Go to my ChooseMyPlate.gov and sign up (free) you can enter all your data each night or when the week is over. It will place all items eaten in the correct food groups and will show you a graph. You will be very surprised. It will show you that you might eat a lot more calories than you think you are eating or actually show you that your calorie intake is below your needs. It will even show you if you do not use all your food groups (another problem). When cutting your calories take small steps. Too much too soon makes your body go in “survival” mode. Cut 500 calories each day, in a week that would be 3,500 calories and it takes 3,500 to lose one pound. You keep that up, and it will 52 pounds in a year. If you need more assistance, I highly recommend Weight Watchers because they teach you how to eat real foods and to be healthy and learn portion control. And remember how long it took the fat to build up — it will take a while to get rid of it.

Ester H Marsh Health and Fitness Director Hurley YMCA