At this very moment, you could be crunching your way through the abs exercises you watched on YouTube that promised you a flat stomach in 10 to 30 days. But…
Unfortunately for you, that’s not how human bodies work. It takes a lot of time and hard work to trim the fat off your body, especially the visceral fat (abdominal fat). Sometimes it takes months, even years.
Regardless of the level of your abdominal fat, Joseph Oyatta, a certified fitness and nutrition coach and a bodybuilding enthusiast, says it’s important to note that we all have abs.
“Just that they’re hiding underneath the fat. There are two types, subcutaneous fat that forms just under the skin and are the wobbly bits you can easily grab with your hand. It’s generally harmless. Then there is visceral fat, the most dangerous fat that you can’t see. It forms around your organ,” Mr Oyatta explains.
To anyone, nothing could be more annoying than sticking to a healthy diet, logging countless hours at the gym and still dealing with a belly pooch that refuses to budge.
Unfortunately, a lot of methods that most think will sculpt flat abs are sexy-stomach saboteurs.
Of his concerns, Mr Oyatta or simply Pippen Jay as he prefers to be called, notes a trending culture that is on the rise.
“Most clients, especially women, want the results so soon. Stomach fats are the most stubborn ones in the body and could take you months up to five years to go while doing the correct thing, that being eating clean and exercising. That’s why most of them end up jumping on slim tea and waist trainers because they are after a quick fix."
But there is danger to that.
“If slim tea was a solution then everybody would be spotting flat tummies. As for waist trainers, the damage is long-term. Wearing them for eight hours or the entire day as is always recommended, does harm to your internal organs. They will damage them in the long term because naturally they aren’t meant to be squeezed or tightened for them to properly function and to some extent they could permanently move resulting in permanent internal damage. These are merely selling points and many are desperate,” says the fitness coach.
Pippen Jay also says the adored waist cincher also limits the blood flow to one’s organs, which can result in poor functioning.
For the shredded 30-year-old, the only easier and safest way to lose belly fat and spot abs worth dying for is having the right mindset towards a healthy lifestyle in general.
“It’s easier to lose fat than to gain muscle, I know how that sounds. Strange right? Fat has nothing to do with exercising. You can lose fat without training but you can’t gain muscle without training. Losing fat is all pegged on nutrition, all you need to do is change your nutrition to garnish that with a little training it will help speed up the loss of fat.”
Physique and Fitness Trainer Joseph Oyatta at Ultra Fitness Gym in Nairobi on July 14, 2023. PHOTO | BONFACE BOGITA | NMG
What makes many believe that the process of losing fat is much harder than moving a mountain is the lack of kitchen discipline.
“Kitchen discipline, which is basic nutrition, is the most difficult thing to do than even exercising. Working out daily but still eating garbage is like driving with your foot on the brakes. This is the number one reason for the ‘Why am I not seeing progress?’ starter kit.
You can’t out-train a bad diet. Understand that even someone who trains intensely at the gym barely burns 500 calories in one session.
That’s equivalent to two slices of pizza or two glasses of wine and you want to drink a whole bottle or squeeze in an entire pizza serving. How then do you expect to see progress?”
Sharing from his fitness virtuosity, the easiest way to burn fat is to go on carbohydrates scarce.
“Carbs are the only macros (carbs, protein and fats) that the body can do without. When you feel dizzy and tired, that’s your body saying it’s low in energy and when you are in such a state, then the body is forced to burn fat for use as energy. In the process you lose fat,” Mr Oyatta explains.
Another reason you could be struggling to lose belly fat despite having an active lifestyle is having a routine that your body adapts to.
“Your activity levels are also important if you intend to shade the stubborn belly fat. You could be going to the gym frequently and consistently but throughout the day there is no movement. It could be because of one’s nature of work.
An example is people who work in offices and find themselves always behind computers. I would advise you to try and do 10,000 steps. Move around in the office, take the stairs instead of the lift, pick up your long phone calls while standing or pacing around, and make it random so that your body doesn’t conform to some sort of routine or programme.
Besides your gym session, find ways to stay active though-out the day. Over time those small things add up, this has always been my hack because I rarely do cardio,” he says.
For an ectomorph who was once skinny weighing around 57kg standing at six-three, he now weighs 85kg of lean bulked muscle. Just like trimming belly fat, lean bulking is but yet another arduous assignment.
“Bulking is easy if you are eating anything and everything because of the high calories but is the complete opposite if you are into lean bulking because most clean foods are low in calories,” says Mr Oyatta.
So how does he do it?
“I force myself to eat five to six meals every three to four hours, it’s boring and tiring. Contrary to what most people see or think of me I’m a hard gainer, an ectomorph.
“To maintain all the gains, I have to take all those meals whether I feel like it or not. It’s monotonous but that’s just how it is."
His first meal of the day at 5:30 am is always a blended protein shake consisting of 70 grammes of oats, protein, bananas and milk that pump 1,000 calories into his gigantic frame.
“My second meal comes around 7 am, which is four whole eggs and half avocado. The next one is 10 am, which is my pre-workout meal which is usually rice, minced meat and peas. I will train at 11 am for one and a half hours. Around 2 pm I will do my post-workout meal which again is rice or potato or mince meat and peas. My last meal is around 8 pm or 9 pm, which again is the same meal. It could be beans or lentils with rice,” says Mr Oyatta.
