Wanting to lose a beer gut

Andrew_Ryan_89

parking_question_chap wrote: »

Oh good grief.

Op, I know I am probably going to be outnumbered here. But please dont waste time with the 5:2. It might be a short term fix, but do you want that or a long term solution?

Just cut out junk food/beer as much as you can/want to and do more exercise.

Unless you plan to do the 5:2 until the day you die, please done bother. It is not sustainable and it certainly does not teach you good eating habits.

Agreed, diets do not work you need a lifestyle change OP. I would also consider some form of weight training as well. Whether it's resistance bands on doing 20 push ups a day.

Andrew_Ryan_89

parking_question_chap wrote: »

Depends which way you want to word it.

Muscle is heavier than fat per unit volume

Muscle is denser than fat per unit weight

Does it really matter which way they want to say it?

Either way, the above is bull when it comes to the everyday person. Unless you are The Rock or some other WWE wrestler, if you are overweight and losing weight through weight training, you will be lose weight overall.

ferrychristian

Exercise and gym can be a solution to the beer belly , once to start exercising your muscles will be in the shape and body will be perfectly toned .
Don't forget to do Brisk Walking

gfplux

ferrychristian wrote: »

Exercise and gym can be a solution to the beer belly , once to start exercising your muscles will be in the shape and body will be perfectly toned .
Don't forget to do Brisk Walking

Walking, the perfect way to start when you haven't excersized for some time. Make sure you go for a walk EVERY DAY

Malthusian

The Couch to 5k walk/run programme is quicker, less boring and just as achievable for all but the most morbidly out of shape.

I have great respect for people who manage to lose weight through walking alone. There's nothing wrong with it, except that in general you need to cover the same amount of distance as a runner to burn the same amount of calories, which means that it takes at least twice as long.

fted

Someones already said you can't spot reduce fat e.g lose it in one place. Sit ups can make you stomach look flatter but only because the muscles will pull stuff in, not because you have actually lost fat round the belly.

You need to lose weight overall to reduce the gut. Walking is one the best exercises, low impact for you joints, and you can get a bit of sun.

Just to say that if you want to make the change permanent, you need to change your lifestyle and not just diet. Good luck.

andygb

fted wrote: »

Someones already said you can't spot reduce fat e.g lose it in one place. Sit ups can make you stomach look flatter but only because the muscles will pull stuff in, not because you have actually lost fat round the belly.

You need to lose weight overall to reduce the gut. Walking is one the best exercises, low impact for you joints, and you can get a bit of sun.

Just to say that if you want to make the change permanent, you need to change your lifestyle and not just diet. Good luck.

Walkling is also a good exercise for older people, because as a weight bearing low impact exercise, it can help offset osteoporosis.
I sometimes practice tensing my abs as I walk - drawing in the stomach, sticking out my chest, which improves posture. It takes a while to get used to it, but now I almost do it automatically.

mj132

Does 5:2 actually work? You're surely never going to do it forever? When you stop the diet it'll all just pile back on.

Eat right, exercise, try HIIT workouts on YouTube.

Don't cut everything out otherwise you're setting yourself up for failure, you need compromise!

fairy_lights

mj132 wrote: »

Does 5:2 actually work? You're surely never going to do it forever? When you stop the diet it'll all just pile back on.

Yes it does, there used to be a big thread on here about it and a lot of people have had had fantastic success on it.
Some people do it forever, other people phase it out and gradually change to different patterns of eating. The idea that we need to eat three meals a day, everyday, isn't universal after all. There's no reason why the weight would come back unless you just switch back to old eating habits without any consideration.
I tried it and it didn't work for me because I got too hungry on the fasting days, it's not for everyone but for a lot of people it's a revelation.

Spirit_2

For me, the slimming world diet has been the best education i have ever had on eating. I have lost weight, drastically improved my blood glucose levels( type 2 diabetic) reduced cholesterol. We always ate well but had quite a lot of hidden calories in sauces, dressings wine. White wine is now always a spritzer so halved the alcohol and made up the quantity with sodawater. I can even fool myself that lime and soda is a glass of wine if I have it in a wine glass. Eating a lot more fruit, less bread, less cheese. Nothing banned, just a good understanding of what my food choices and portion sizes mean for weight gain/loss.

I am recovering from a major stroke so exercise is walking, physio and modified pilates. The pilates is helping my posture and flattening my tummy alongside strengthening and stretching overall.

As a side effect, my husband has lost some weight through my changing ingredients for healthier alternatives and is going to enrol in pilates to help his posture, bad back and emerging middle aged spread.