Getting rid of middle aged spread\belly fat

[Rock bus]

Hi all

Looking on some advice on best way of reducing my belly.

On the whole people would think I’m very slim BUT I know I have a bit of a belly.

Know I’m not alone as a middle aged man (45) but find it really annoying that no matter what i do I can’t shift it from there.

I’m pretty fit and run , play football as well as cycle.
Diet is ok, don’t eat much fruit and vegetables but on other hand don’t have a lot of bad/junk food.
I know alcohol can be a big issue but only drink at weekends - bottle wine or few beers.

Anyone have any tips and advice? Or do I just accept that’s what happens with age as I still want to enjoy life and not give up all nice food and drink!

 

[L Q]

How much exercise do you do?

I am 42 and had a fair size belly at the start of the year, I have lost a fair bit by commuting to work, I have done roughly 3000 miles this year as I can't commute every day due to family.

I have also started running.

It's taken a while but I have stuck with it.

I don't do portion control on my food either, I have no will power on that one.

I think once you get to a certain age it becomes more difficult to shift.

 

[Drago]

Eat better.

Eat less.

Exercise more.

I keep mine under check by not eating between meals, avoiding fizzy drinks, not eating any snack that can be eaten straight out of a packet that can be eaten with no preparation, and running every other day. You need an iron will and a rock hard determination to make it happen.

 

[sight-pin]

3 sets of 10 sit ups a few times a week for a while then increase it when you feel able.

 

[vickster]

No beer

Or liposuction

 

[cyberknight]

All the sit ups in the world are great to tone your abs but as said above you need to use the excess around the waist too.

 

[sight-pin]

A 20 lbs bar is also good across the shoulders whilst sitting, twist one direction then the other.

 

[MontyVeda]

I hoped that pedalling 50 miles a week on a very hilly commute would have got rid of mine... but after 12 months, it was still there. Got made redundant and the next job offer was from Aldi... six months running round that place and it's gone.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Belly fat like you describe, is the worst type of fat to be carrying. It won’t matter what exercises you do in isolation to try and flatten your stomach, until you shift the belly fat, you’ll have a ‘belly’. Try to make your exercise burn fat, so lots of high intensity intervals, making sure your heart rate is in a high zone for extended periods. Drinking booze is a good way to get a belly, and keep it. Alcohol isn’t just giving you the excess calories, it’s also interfering with certain metabolic processes, which is ensuring the fat is stored in the way it is. The simple answer is, up the intensity of your exercise, and stop drinking alcohol. It’s not fun, but if you want rid of the belly, you have to ditch the booze.

 

[oldwheels]

Eat less. I did not give up booze entirely but cut it down quite a bit. My exercise remaind about the same but mainly eating less ( and more veg.) I lost about 20 kilos in about a year. It seems a bit vague but I do not keep notes. I did however start to look at the calories on nearly everything I ate and cut out as much of the higher calorie count stuff.

 

[Rock bus]

Booo no magic answers! Not sure I can face a life without any alcohol

More details on what I currently do

Food wise, I tend to have porridge for breakfast, then meal deal lunch ie sandwich, snack and lunch, dinner is normally some sort of homemade curry, bolognaise, chilli etc with rice or pasta and then maybe some kind of snack eg couple biscuits.

At weekends me and wife will share bottle wine on a Friday and Saturday or few beers or gin and tonics

Exercise wise I am currently playing 5 aside and running 5k twice a week.

So damn frustrating as it’s litera only my belly and most people would probably say I could do with putting weight on!!

 

[Paul139]

I've got nearly 10 years on you and was feeling that I had to do something sooner rather than later. I've never been a drinker but loved the Coca Cola and junk food. I made the decision enough is enough. I did already cycle but decided to give the running a go as well. It's hard but combining the exercise and using the My Fitness Pal app has made a huge difference. It's a slog to find the enthusiasm to start with but once the results start to show it gets easier. Good luck.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Smaller portions and cut out the snacks. I cut out snacks in 2003 and over 3 months saw a two stone weight drop. I also had a lot more energy.

 

[Racing roadkill]

I was never a ‘belly fat’ carrier, but I switched from mostly Rugby ( prop ), with cycling for cardio, to just cycling / cardio, a few years ago ( ten years ago apparently ). I wasn’t screwing up the metabolic processes with either high fructose sugar syrup ( fizzy drinks ) or alcohol, but I had to eat loads to maintain the size / weight I needed. As soon as I didn’t need the weight anymore, it was on to MFP, calorie counting, and having a miserable 6 months.

Before.

After.

Knock the booze off, watch your calorie intake, job’s a good’un.

 

[12boy]

If you want to burn fat, eat fat. Avoid a lot of carbs and moderate veggies that have a high sugar content. If you are hungry a handful of nuts or a lump of cheese or a bunch of bacon will take care of that. I am 5' 8" and 68, and currently weigh around 160. Broke my pelvis 8 weeks ago and can only do resistance training as opposed to walking or biking so I have bulked up my upper body and put on an extra 5 lbs or so. As a pre-diabetic I adopted the above and lost 3 inches on the waist and 25 lbs. Also only eat food by which I mean no processed stuff. Avoid eating in front of a TV and pay attention to what you eat. Instead of thinking so much about what I can't eat I focus on eating what I should and am rarely hungry. Shifting to a fat burning machine has resulted in a higher more even energy level BTW.