YOUR
HEALTHIEST
BODY
guide to
The ultimate
Our extract from Sally Matterson’s book, Healthy Body,
will show you how to balance your hormones and
shred fat for life. WORDS SALLY MATTERSONA LOT OF DIET AND WEIGHT-LOSS
BOOKS WILL TELL YOU IF YOU EAT
THIS AND TRAIN LIKE THAT YOU WILL
GET THIS RESULT. What a lot fail to do is
tell you why you are doing it. Over years
spent training clients, I have noticed that
once they understand why they are doing
something, they can change it for life,
instead of just doing it because I say so or to
get a quick-fix result.
A lot of it comes down to understanding
key hormones and how they change in
your body as you age, as well as the major
role diet and lifestyle play in this process.
To make it really simple, I focus on the
four key areas in the body where fat is
stored depending on possible hormonal
imbalances:- Love handles and/or back fat
- Pear-shaped body and/or jelly legs
- Bat-wing arms and/or upper chest fat
(surrounding the heart). - Jelly-belly fat (surrounding the navel)
If you tend to store body fat everywhere, I
have some solutions for you, too. But first,
here is a run-down on each of the body
types listed above as well as the hormone
responsible and a possible solution to help
control further imbalances in the body.
Love handles and /or back fat
Love handles – cute as they may sound – are
unfortunately not very healthy. Those rolls
of fat on your hips (also known as a muffin
top), or on your back, have a lot to say about
your health.
Hormone responsible: insulin
A major fuel-regulating hormone, insulin is
secreted into the blood from the pancreas.
Itsfunctionistostoreandtransportenergy
from carbohydrates
(in the form of
glucose) to the
muscles for energy.
Why does insulin
increase weight in
this area?
Unfortunately,
when we consume
too many carbs, we
produce too much
insulin, which
rather than being
used for energy,
gets stored as fat.
Over time, this
can cause insulin
resistance, which
means the body
cannot tolerate
carbs anymore.
This is often
ref lected physically
in fat distribution
on the shoulder
blades and thetop of the hips,
otherwise known
as love handles.
Shoulder-blade
skinfold thickness
is also directly
associated with
carbohydrate
intolerance, and
research suggests
that fat in this area
may, in some cases,
help identify risk
of type 2 diabetes
in pre-menopausal
women.
SOLUTION
Once the body
becomes insulin
resistant, it goes
into a meltdown.
This can be
corrected by
controlling
carbohydrate
intake in the
diet and takingEPA-dominant,
pharmaceutical-
grade omega-3
f ish oil, both of
which can help
increase your
insulin sensitivity.
In short, you will
produce less insulin
and when you do
eat carbs, they will
be used the way
they should be – for
energy!
Pear-shaped
body and/or
jelly legs
Yes, a pear-shaped
body is beautiful
and feminine – and
sometimes this is
our natural shape –
but sometimes we
can have too much
of a good thing.
Same with jelly
legs. Enough said!Hormone
responsible:
oestrogen
Secreted from the
ovaries, oestrogen
is the female
sex hormone
that regulates
the female
characteristics
of the body such
as reproduction,
menstruation and
menopause.
However, excess
oestrogen can also
be ingested from
our environment,
causing havoc
with our bodies
and body fat
composition.
Weight-bearing
exercise is essential
for lean muscle
development.
The more lean98 | JULY/AUG 2015 | oxygenmag.com.auNutrition