Getting Rid of Excess Fats in People With Disabilities

Bulging Belly Image from dailymail.co.uk

I remember when I was in a physical therapy clinic for my rehab training; the therapist noticed that my belly was starting to bulge. He asked me, “Is that because of beer?” It was a little embarrassing for me because I don’t drink beer. I just said, “No, I don’t drink beer.”

I’ve realized that a bulging belly doesn’t really look very good. It doesn’t seem to show a sound lifestyle. It seems to give an impression of being undisciplined especially when it comes to eating. At least, I have an excuse: I can’t do enough physical activity that would be enough to make my body get rid of the excess fats. You see, paralysis has affected not only my lower extremities but also my upper body. It’s a bit frustrating.

mini bike image from amazon

However, I believe that physical activity doesn’t necessarily entail gym work out for people with disability like me. We just have to be creative enough to improvise some muscle building exercises that can help us get rid of excess fats. Like for example; I work out with mini exercise cycle and dumb bells. Maybe, those are not enough if you want to build huge muscles but those are enough to make the body less sedentary.

In an article I’ve read before, the writer recommends starting exercise early in the morning before eating breakfast. It helps burn fats three times more than in any other time of the day. He explains that when we’re asleep, the body uses the carbohydrates in our body as energy source. By the time we wake up, our body has used up all our carbohydrates so it starts using our fats as energy source. I guess, that explains why we get thin when we fast. Doing exercises at this time will burn fats easily. In addition, morning work out elevates metabolism for the whole day, which means we’re likely to burn more calories and lose more fats in the process.

If it works for able-bodied people, it will also work for *PWD’s. It isn’t easy in many respects but the benefits far outweigh the hardship.

*PWD: People With Disabilities