Read time: 3.8 minutes

The High Performance Journal - February 25th, 2025

The other day, I did a DEXA scan* at my spot in Toronto called the ​Bone Wellness Centre​.

I know the owner and she recently got a new body fat scanner that accurately detects visceral fat, so I jumped at the chance to try it out.

When I got my results back, I was relieved and happy.

My visceral fat numbers were almost undetectable, and I even gained a few pounds of lean mass (Woo-Hoo!)

Said in my Borat Voice: Very Nice!

This is all because I (and our clients) follow a few rules to eliminate visceral fat.

Today, I want to share those rules so you can get healthier and lose visceral fat.

You ready? Let’s go!

*A DEXA scan is the gold standard for measuring body fat, lean mass, bone density, and visceral fat. It’s relatively cheap ($100 per test) and gives you a good picture of your current metabolic health. Highly recommend.

7 Powerful Rules For Creating A Visceral Fat-Free Body

How Much Is Too Much Visceral Fat?

First, if you want to learn all about visceral fat (VAT) and why it's so dangerous, ​check out this guide​.

Long story short, it's the most dangerous type of fat and bad news for your hormones and long-term health.

Also, I get that I'm a fitness pro, and having healthy visceral fat levels should be mandatory.

So to make this more realistic, I'll share how we helped our client Jay drop 75% of his VAT (2.5 to 0.6 lbs) and go from 36% body fat to 16% in 6 months flat:

Jay went from 2.5 to 0.6 lbs, which is pretty damn good

You don't need to get your VAT numbers to zero, but you do want to be within these healthy ranges:

• Body fat percentage: VAT should be <10% of your total body fat
• Visceral fat rating scale (1-59): A rating between 1-12 is healthy
• Waist circumference: Women: >35 inches (88.9 cm), Men: >40 inches (101.6 cm)
• Waist-to-height ratio: Ideally no greater than 50%

Now let's dive into those 7 powerful rules that work...

#1 - Make Strength Training The Priority

Before Jay started working with us, he was the king of cardio.

Each day, he’d hit his bike for a grueling 30-minute workout.

The problem? This type of training attracts visceral fat like a moth to a flame.

Long-endurance cardio can raise cortisol, which can retain fat. When done excessively, it can burn muscle and destroy your metabolism.

So, we switched Jay’s workouts to focus on lifting weights using ​progressive overload​.

Since he was busy and didn't have much time to workout, we employed the superset workouts from our ​Lean Body 90 program​ to help him muscle (more on this later) while leaning out.

The result? He dropped 54 lbs of pure fat while gaining some muscle.

When his wife saw his new body, she was like...

#2 - Fix Your Sleep Hygiene

Poor sleep boosts cortisol and disrupts metabolism, increasing visceral fat. Good sleep regulates hunger hormones and fat breakdown.

With Jay, we focused on 2 things:

1. Quantity: 7-9 hours of sleep for recovery and hormone regulation
2. Quality: Using a sleep tracker to improve his sleep scores

This was the hardest part for Jay, as he had the sleep habits of a teenage gamer.

We focused first on getting enough sleep, then, month by month, applied various tools to increase his sleep scores.

The result? From shitty sleeper to okay sleeper. It's not perfect, but it's good enough.

#3 - Manage Your Stress Levels

Stress increases cortisol, which increases belly fat and visceral fat. It’s not that stress is bad; too much stress for too long becomes inflammatory.

For Jay, we...

1. Eliminated stress-inducing exercises like long-endurance cardio
2. Employed a 5-minute morning and nighttime ritual using NSDR (Non-Sleep Deep Rest)

Was he perfect? No. But he did it enough to see its value in his life.

For a 5 minute follow along NSDR practice, check out this video here:

#4 - ZERO Alcohol

This was a big one. Alcohol provides negative calories - your body prioritizes burning it first before anything else, which impairs fat burning and promotes fat storage around the belly.

Part of Jay’s business was wining and dining clients 3-5 days a week.

We agreed he didn’t have to give up alcohol for life, but during our lean body sprint, we would eliminate it.

Trying to drink alcohol while getting rid of visceral fat is like playing a video game on expert mode while being a complete beginner.

Now that Jay’s visceral fat is down, we’re bringing back alcohol but in moderate amounts.

#5 - Abide By The Nutrition Trifecta

You didn't think I'd leave out the food part, did ya?

Regarding food, we focused on the nutrition trifecta:

1. Calories: We cut around 500-700 calories from his diet
2. Macronutrients: Prioritized protein (at least 0.8g per pound of bodyweight) and fiber. We opted for a lower-carb diet (>200g), which helps speed up the process.
3. Micronutrients: Vitamins and minerals are crucial for supporting metabolism and hormone balance.

We employed a 90:10 ratio - 90% of foods from whole, nutrient-dense sources and 10% from fun sources.

#6 - Do These 2 Types Of Cardio

Instead of long, grueling cardio sessions, we switched Jay to:

1. Walking: We aimed for 10-15k steps a day. This was hard, so we got a treadmill for his standing desk and loved it.
2. High-Intensity Cardio (every 7-10 days): Vigorous cardio like ​sprinting​ and circuits to increase fat oxidation around the belly.

This cardio combo plus weights is the best exercise approach to eliminate visceral fat.

#7 - What You Measure Is What You Manage

The final piece is measurement. We measured his weight each day, his waistline each week, and his pictures each month. We also took DEXA scans every 12 weeks and his bloodwork every 6 months.

Not measuring your results is like trying to reach a far-off destination without a GPS or map.

If you're not tracking, you're not improving.

It Goes Deeper Than Getting Healthy

When Jay started using the rules above to eliminate his visceral fat something funny happened..

First, he started to make more money. Having too much belly fat can damage the parts of your brain responsible for decision-making and emotional control.

He said, "It was like a fog lifted from my brain."

Next, his wife started to give him that "look" again—his words, not mine.

Finally, his energy and confidence shot through the roof. This happens when you're not getting held down by 50+ lbs of fat on the body.

Not saying this will happen to you when you get rid of the fat, but I'm not saying it won't either.

Want to drop the belly and get healthy? You've got some rules to follow. Lemme know how they go on your quest to become the healthiest version of yourself in 2025.

Onwards and upwards. 🚀

- Dan

When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help:

1. The Lean Body 90 System: When you’re ready to get in great shape, Lean Body 90 is the obvious choice. You can get in great shape and reach your fitness goals in just 90 minutes a week. Lose weight and build muscle even without hours in the gym or highly restrictive diets. Join 1000+ students here.

2. Are you an entrepreneur who wants to get lean, boost energy, and get in your best shape? Apply for private one-on-one coaching here.

3. Promote yourself to 385,000+ subscribers​ by sponsoring this newsletter.

References

1. Khalafi M, Malandish A, Rosenkranz SK, Ravasi AA. Effect of resistance training with and without caloric restriction on visceral fat: A systemic review and meta-analysis. Obes Rev. 2021 Sep;22(9):e13275. doi: 10.1111/obr.13275. Epub 2021 May 16. PMID: 33998135.
2. Maillard F, Pereira B, Boisseau N. Effect of High-Intensity Interval Training on Total, Abdominal and Visceral Fat Mass: A Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2018 Feb;48(2):269-288. doi: 10.1007/s40279-017-0807-y. PMID: 29127602.
3. Covassin N, Singh P, McCrady-Spitzer SK, St Louis EK, Calvin AD, Levine JA, Somers VK. Effects of Experimental Sleep Restriction on Energy Intake, Energy Expenditure, and Visceral Obesity. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022 Apr 5;79(13):1254-1265. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2022.01.038. PMID: 35361348; PMCID: PMC9187217.
4. Daubenmier J, Kristeller J, Hecht FM, Maninger N, Kuwata M, Jhaveri K, Lustig RH, Kemeny M, Karan L, Epel E. Mindfulness Intervention for Stress Eating to Reduce Cortisol and Abdominal Fat among Overweight and Obese Women: An Exploratory Randomized Controlled Study. J Obes. 2011;2011:651936. doi: 10.1155/2011/651936. Epub 2011 Oct 2. PMID: 21977314; PMCID: PMC3184496.
5. Zhang W, Zhong W, Sun X, Sun Q, Tan X, Li Q, Sun X, Zhou Z. Visceral white adipose tissue is susceptible to alcohol-induced lipodystrophy in rats: role of acetaldehyde. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2015 Mar;39(3):416-23. doi: 10.1111/acer.12646. Epub 2015 Feb 19. PMID: 25703837; PMCID: PMC5896300.
6. Ozato N, Saito S, Yamaguchi T, Katashima M, Tokuda I, Sawada K, Katsuragi Y, Imoto S, Ihara K, Nakaji S. Association between Nutrients and Visceral Fat in Healthy Japanese Adults: A 2-Year Longitudinal Study Brief Title: Micronutrients Associated with Visceral Fat Accumulation. Nutrients. 2019 Nov 7;11(11):2698. doi: 10.3390/nu11112698. PMID: 31703461; PMCID: PMC6893766.
7. Robertson MC, Raber M, Liao Y, Wu I, Parker N, Gatus L, Le T, Durand CP, Basen-Engquist KM. Patterns of self-monitoring technology use and weight loss in people with overweight or obesity. Transl Behav Med. 2021 Aug 13;11(8):1537-1547. doi: 10.1093/tbm/ibab015. PMID: 33837792; PMCID: PMC8604273.

Disclaimer: This email is provided for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. The information provided should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, and those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician.