Everyone walking on the face of this earth
has an abundance of fat cells throughout their bodies. In fact, if
you’re a healthy adult with normal body composition, you have
approximately 30 billion fat cells. This is an astronomical number when
you think about it. Did you ever wonder why you have so many? Have you
ever wondered what those fat cells are for?

The answer is, fat cells are part of our genetic code and they
allowed us to use stored energy when food was scarce. This survival
mechanism is very much the same today as it was 10,000 years ago.
However, today our needs have changed. There is an abundance of food in
modern society today.

When you consume too many calories, your body goes into storage mode
for that "rainy day," so to speak, but the "rainy day" does not happen.
So your body simply stores those extra calories as fat. When you eat
less calories then your body demands your cells release stored fat for
energy. Pretty simple equation, however it does not appear that all fat
is the same.

The placement of fat deposits on our bodies varies depending on each
person’s genetic influences, lifestyle choices and nutritional intake.
Men tend to store their body fat around their bellies and chest. Women
tend to store it around there hips, buttocks, thighs and back of their
arms. A complete discussion of hormones and fat storage would be beyond
the scope of this article, but let it suffice to say that certain
hormonal process do determine body fat distribution.

There is one major factor that many people do not realize when they
are attempting to lose body fat and this can be a stumbling block in
anyone’s long term success. Many people approach fat loss and fitness
with great enthusiasm and determination. With this attitude, they lose
body fat and feel great, but even so, they just do not seem to get rid
of ALL they fat they want to. They lose fat successfully for a time,
but ultimately get stuck just before all of the fat is completely gone.

This is commonly known as a plateau and this plateau phenomenon
causes many people who were previously successful to lose their
enthusiasm and return to their old ways. When old habits take over
again – and this happens to the majority of dieters – the body fat
comes back with a vengeance. This is due to programming of the fat
cell. Each time you try to lose body fat again, it seems to take longer
and require more effort.

So what is the real solution? It’s simple – you must understand how
fat cells work and how to get past the plateau phenomenon and defeat
this last bit of body fat, that we often call stubborn fat.

I have worked with many clients and I would say most of them have a
good amount of stubborn body fat. This fat is literally "programmed" to
be very difficult to lose. It seems to remain on our bodies no matter
what we do, hence the word stubborn fat. Modern diets and weight loss
programs almost all seem to work in the beginning, but then they never
really address this crucial part of fat loss – the last bit of stubborn
fat.

Stubborn fat develops when your hormonal pathways are broken down.
Age does play a role in this: Fat deposits increase and become more
resistant to fat loss methods as you get older. This you have little
control over, but some things that lead to stubborn fat development are
under your control. Yo yo dieting is one of them. Losing weight on
crash diets and then regaining it – often known as the "rebound effect"
– will only increase stubborn fat in the long run. A decrease in
exercise and activity level also compounds the stubborn fat problem.
This is why people who crash diet on low calories and refuse to
exercise and move their bodies, often have the worst stubborn fat
problems of all.

Our ancestors really never had to deal with this problem because
they moved and engaged in physical labor as a regular part of daily
life, whereas technological conveniences and the modern lifestyle have
caused many of us to become lazy and inactive.

Stubborn fat is metabolized extremely slowly and is resistant to the
hormonal process that takes place while the fat burning process is
started up. To burn fat, the adrenal hormones better known as
adrenaline and noradrenaline, attach to the fat cell receptors and
essentially "open them up" so the fat can be used in the energy
pathways. There are two kinds of receptors in your fat cells: one is
alpha and the other beta. The beta receptors are much more active and
respond to adrenal hormones. To lose body fat, the adrenal hormones
switch on and the body begins to use fat as energy. However, in the
case of people with stubborn fat, this does not occur, so no body fat
is lost.

According to my good friend and colleague Ori Hofmekler, author of
the warrior diet, "stubborn fat" has a lower ratio of beta receptors to
alpha receptors." Therefore, your body’s hormonal "fat dissolver,"
adrenaline, will not be able to enter the fat cell and open the door.
Ori also points out that "to make these matters worse, stubborn fat has
more estrogen receptors which cause even more stubborn fat."

If all this sounds bad enough, what makes it even worse is that if
you indulge in the typical modern diet and sedentary lifestyle, this
often results in reduced insulin sensitivity (read my past article on
Insulin Sensitivity for more information). Added on top of everything
else, your fat tissue becomes so incredibly resistant to your attempts
to lose it, it seems like you will be stuck with it forever.

Diets fail because they only look at the caloric reduction side of
the equation. You need to understand the other variables in the
equation – exercise and lifestyle. You need to understand the deeper
issues you are really dealing with. Getting rid of stubborn fat is not
nearly as simple as just slashing calories and dieting. Stubborn fat is
the result of a complex interplay of biological and hormonal processes
– all of which are affected by how you eat, how you move and the type
of lifestyle you lead.

Now that you understand why you have stubborn fat, right down to the
hormone and receptor level, the question is "How do you alter your
nutrition , exercise and lifestyle to get rid if this resistant body
fat?" The answer will be found in part two. Stay tuned.