Loosing belly fat

lemme

Hey folks

I'm a 40 year old male. I'm 5'7 and having checked on a site my right waist size for my height it is 31 inches, i'm 37 inches at the moment (measured an inch above my belly button). I'm not overweight on the rest of my body and have developed a beer gut over the last 10 years or so, but i've read that belly fat is a big cause of heart disease.

So since january, i've quit the drink, been eating healthily??, and exercising each day (1 hour walk)

So i'd just like anyones opinion on what i'm eating and what i could maybe change in my diet to be healthier. I'm vegetarian but eat cheese and have milk on my cereal. I'm a fairly boring eater and don't really change my diet from day to day.

ok since january

Breakfast -

2 slices of mccambridge whole wheat bread with old time irish marmalade (no butter)
a bowl of fruit and fiber with milk (was eating crunchy nut cornflakes but changed a few days ago)
about 500ml store bought 100% orange juice

Lunch

2 slices of same wholewheat bread with salad spread and white dubliner cheese.
A cup of vegtable 'cup a soup'
2 pieces of fruit (either apple, pair, plum, bananna)

Dinner

Boiled white rice
half tin chooped tomatoes, kidney beans, butterbeans, carrots, peas, sweetcorn, tomatoe paste, salt, herb.
this helping of rice and veg is almost a full plate as im hungry at this stage.
a pint of water

over the day i pick at some more fruit( grapes), and cashew nuts and peanuts (salted)

I also have 3 capsules of udo's omega 3,6,9 with my dinner

anything i should leave out/add here to help loose the gut, maybe get unsalted nuts instead?

i'd appreciate any advice, thanks

hardCopy

You'll need to work out how many calories your consuming with a calculator like fitday.com or myfitnesspal. Then make sure you're eating less than you burn.

I'd drop the orange juice for a start, it's mostly sugar and you're getting vitamins in your other fruit.

You're lunch sounds quite big and you haven't said how much nuts and fruit you eat as snacks.

paulcummins

remove orange juice

trade white rice for brown rice, the dinner looks good otherwise

what kind of milk? consider a lower fat choice or supermilk

walnuts are the best kinds of nuts to eat and not salted


overall your diet is not too bad. you need to be working out 3 times a week though at least, in the gym

lemme

thanks folks

hardCopy wrote: »

You'll need to work out how many calories your consuming with a calculator like fitday.com or myfitnesspal. Then make sure you're eating less than you burn.

I'd drop the orange juice for a start, it's mostly sugar and you're getting vitamins in your other fruit.

You're lunch sounds quite big and you haven't said how much nuts and fruit you eat as snacks.

about 4 pieces of fruit and a couple of handfulls of nuts

I worked it out on one of those calorie sites. this is everything i listed for the whole day.

Calories - 2235
Carbs - 395
Fat - 49
Protein - 70

paulcummins wrote: »

remove orange juice

trade white rice for brown rice, the dinner looks good otherwise

what kind of milk? consider a lower fat choice or supermilk

walnuts are the best kinds of nuts to eat and not salted


overall your diet is not too bad. you need to be working out 3 times a week though at least, in the gym

cool i'try the brown rice

i'm a bit weird with milk and my cereal. its normal milk, i usually let the cereal soak for a minute and then pour off all the milk

i'll change to unsalted nuts too

going to the gym is not an option for me. i don't have a bike, but at a push i could get one in a couple of months. originally i was thinking sit ups for the stomach but i read that it does nothing for loosing the fat from it.

thanks

also is there any juice you would recommend thats not high in sugar as i like it in the morning with breakfast?

RyanTubs

To be honest I don't think that diet is great. If you want to lose weight you have to be taking in as little calories as possible while maintaining a healthy diet.

Try eggs for breakfast! If you don't like them you can use the egg whites with protein powder to make a shake without the egg taste. They're high in protein and will fill you up nicely until lunch.

The bread has to go if you're going to take this seriously. Lunch should be similiar to dinner - a high protein meat source (chicken, turkey, salmon, pork) & veg. Try to eliminate carbs with dinner. They're fine with lunch. What I've started to do lately is mash brocolli and cauliflower and it's nice. Have that with 1-2 more veg and your meat covered in spices or a tablespoon or two of soy sauce.

Salted nuts are worse than the bread. Very bad. Change to unsalted nuts but only use them to snack on. A handful should be enough for a day's snacking so try spread an avg sized pack over 3-4 days.

Fat oils are very good especially in aiding fat loss funnily enough.

The main thing I would try do from your diet is replace everything at breakfast with 2-3 eggs and water/green tea. That alone should have you making progress in no time.

RyanTubs

lemme wrote: »

going to the gym is not an option for me. i don't have a bike, but at a push i could get one in a couple of months. originally i was thinking sit ups for the stomach but i read that it does nothing for loosing the fat from it.

There's plenty you can do from home to help but be fully aware that it is 99% diet. Exercise will help with your state of mind and motivation and I'm sure helps fat loss in some way but fixing the diet will see results over a couple of weeks.

lemme wrote: »

also is there any juice you would recommend thats not high in sugar as i like it in the morning with breakfast?

Most juices are very high in sugar - that's probably why you enjoy them so much. Fruits generally aren't good for fat loss - they're high in sugar and carbs. Get your 5 a day through veg imo.

RyanTubs

RyanTubs wrote: »

There's plenty you can do from home to help but be fully aware that it is 99% diet. Exercise will help with your state of mind and motivation and I'm sure helps fat loss in some way but fixing the diet will see results over a couple of weeks.

Meant to say some more after this :rolleyes: Check out Transform's video in the Home Workout thread found through Everything you need to know sticky. He gets a solid workout in that is easy to do. If you don't have the skipping rope you can still do the majority of it. I do something similiar twice a week; pushups, sit ups, squats, burpees 5 sets of 15.

lemme

Thanks ryan tubs

But I don't eat eggs or meat. i know its good for protein though.

i'll definatly cut out the salt on the nuts though. and orange juice

and good idea for the green tea in morning instead

i really didn't think diet would be that high on its own, so i guess if i improve my diet as recommended my hour walk a day should suffice.

RyanTubs

lemme wrote: »

I'm vegetarian but eat cheese and have milk on my cereal.

Clever me. Sorry about all the irrelevant info. Tofu is a good protein source that you could have for lunch/dinner. I would still recommend you cut out the OJ, change to slimline milk (can be bought in a lot of shops), start taking protein shakes, green tea is good for weight loss could replace the OJ.

lemme

RyanTubs wrote: »

Meant to say some more after this :rolleyes: Check out Transform's video in the Home Workout thread found through Everything you need to know sticky. He gets a solid workout in that is easy to do. If you don't have the skipping rope you can still do the majority of it. I do something similiar twice a week; pushups, sit ups, squats, burpees 5 sets of 15.

I'll check that out thanks, good idea with the rope too

cutting out the orange juice and salted nuts to walnuts brings me to


calories - 2069
carbs -333
fat - 60
protein - 65

RyanTubs

lemme wrote: »

i really didn't think diet would be that high on its own, so i guess if i improve my diet as recommended my hour walk a day should suffice.

Yup cleaning up the diet means weight loss. Guaranteed. What proper exercise will do is give you shape, rather than a flat skinny figure. You should consider introducing the circuit home workout Transform has if you want to get a bit of shape while dropping weight - just find a way to increase protein intake post workout.

lemme

RyanTubs wrote: »

Clever me. Sorry about all the irrelevant info. Tofu is a good protein source that you could have for lunch/dinner. I would still recommend you cut out the OJ, change to slimline milk (can be bought in a lot of shops), start taking protein shakes, green tea is good for weight loss could replace the OJ.

lol no worries
not mad for tofu but i guess i need to keep my protein intake up.
a few years ago i used to drink one of those Ensure drinks a day. would they be recommended?
a bit pricey from what i can remember

Kimia

My 2 cents is that your diet looks massively heavy on carbs and very low on protein. I'm the type of person who holds all my weight on my belly too and if I eat a high carb diet, forget about it. I'm bloated and my stomach just expands. Try 2 weeks of eating high protein, moderate fat, low (ish) carb. So you could have for example:

Breakfast - protein shake (berries + spinach + water + protein powder) and some greek yoghurt.

Lunch - huge salad with tofu/fish (if you eat fish), or lentils/beans etc. Avocado, chickpeas etc.

Dinner - Veggie stir fry, heavy on veg, much lighter on rice. You could cut the rice out even.

Snacks - you will need to add calories as eating the above would be pretty low. Nuts, fruit, dark chocolate as a treat.

Exercise! Walking for even 30 mins a day would do the world of good and the weight would just fall off you.

Man of Aran

Fresh fruit only in mornings til noon .... tough but important step.
Drink some apple cider or lemon juice (teaspoon) in water after wake up.

Fruits should be eaten 20~30 mins before a meal, not after.

Food combinations - dont mix proteins, veg with carbs in same meal - so that means you can have meat and veg or veg and carb but not all 3 together.
Generally cut back as much as you can on carbs - rice, potato, breads.
White bread is worst of all. Eat some "gruel" - porridge or oatmeal in water, no milk.

Try stick to 3 meals per day. No deep fry or oily stuff. Grilled or steamed.
More fish and chicken, less red meats.

Last meal at 9pm.
No late night snacks on chocolate or nuts either - if you must have something, then munch on some fresh fruit or veg again -sorry but necessary!

Brisk walk every day for about 1 hour if you can. Walk steps and stairs when you can, no lifts or escalators ( unless you live on 45th floor somewhere, in which case get out on 35 and walk last 10).
Less alcohol, no smoking.

Some of these are extracted wisdoms from "Fit for Life" by the Diamond couple plus "Fit or Fat" by Covert Bailey. Worth reading frequently!

You'll be cantering like Nijinsky & skinny as the Long Fellow Piggott in a few weeks ....;)

EdenHazard

better than 90 per cent of peoples diets, spread the lunch into 2 meals i'd say and mayb ditch one of the fruits and just have 1. my diets terrible so i dunno but that diet is obviously grand

EdenHazard

better than 90 per cent of peoples diets, spread the lunch into 2 meals i'd say and mayb ditch one of the fruits and just have 1. my diets terrible so i dunno but that diet is obviously grand, luckily im in good shape

lemme

Thanks a lot folks for all the great advice, i've taken it on board. Got myself a pack of green tea today to substitute for the juice, and a pack of walnuts. I'll get brown rice next week. I will report back in a few weeks to let you know how it has worked out for me.

Just as a separate matter, someone mention apple cider vinegar earlier. for years i used to get heart burn and got caught into a loop of taking rennies etc. someone told me to take a shot of apple cider vinegar next time (the one with culture/mothers) and it worked a treat. it also seemed to break a cycle which seems to be created by taking antacids, as in i didn't have to take a shot of apple cider every day.

esperanza1

lemme wrote: »

Breakfast -

2 slices of mccambridge whole wheat bread with old time irish marmalade (no butter)
a bowl of fruit and fiber with milk (was eating crunchy nut cornflakes but changed a few days ago)
about 500ml store bought 100% orange juice

Hi there! Sounds okay, but have you tried porridge oats for breakfast instead of the fruit and fibre? I find breakfast cereals too packed with sugar and one bowl is never enough, whereas one bowl of porridge oats mixed with some low-fat natural yoghurt (so much more filling than milk) and a fruit of your choice keeps hunger locked up til lunch time! How long can you last without eating after your breakfast by the way?

Oh, and ditch the juice - fruit juice is much higher in calories, than fruit itself, so maybe go for a piece of fruit instead.

esperanza1

lemme wrote: »

Lunch

2 slices of same wholewheat bread with salad spread and white dubliner cheese.
A cup of vegtable 'cup a soup'
2 pieces of fruit (either apple, pair, plum, bananna)

I'd suggest eating more green veg for your lunch - perhaps you could throw in a few spinach leaves or broccoli flowers into the soup. Green veg is rich in vitamins and minerals so will help you feel less hungry.

Is the cheese low-fat? Cheese can be quite fattening, so if you can find a tasty low-fat one all the better.
Good luck with your new lifestyle!

Fruit can inhibit weight loss because it's packed with sugar - so just have one piece with lunch. I love bananas as they fill me up very quick - especially with a couple of spoons of low-fat yoghurt - really effective at satisfying hunger and keeps me away from the biscuits. Bananas are also rich in magnesium which is essential if you're also exercising a lot. They may be more calorific than most other fruits, but I manage to lose weight while eating two bananas a day. Everyone is different!

esperanza1

Of course, if you really want to lose belly fat you need to do cardio a few times a week, every day would be ideal but we have to be realistic. Running, cycling, swimming - whatever takes your fancy - just as long as you work up a sweat for a min of 20 minutes.

Take a read of this article as well, it's very informative:
http://www.truthaboutabs.com/abdominal-fat-dangers.html

lemme

esperanza1 wrote: »

Hi there! Sounds okay, but have you tried porridge oats for breakfast instead of the fruit and fibre? I find breakfast cereals too packed with sugar and one bowl is never enough, whereas one bowl of porridge oats mixed with some low-fat natural yoghurt (so much more filling than milk) and a fruit of your choice keeps hunger locked up til lunch time! How long can you last without eating after your breakfast by the way?

Oh, and ditch the juice - fruit juice is much higher in calories, than fruit itself, so maybe go for a piece of fruit instead.

thanks for that esperanza

no i haven't eaten porridge oats since i was a kid. i guess i was thinking fruit and fibre was a healthy option. i never liked eating porridge without a spoon of sugar in it back then. but i will give it a shot again after my box of fruit and fibre is gone. i usually go about 4 hours now after breakfast and i'm getting hungry then.

as of today i've cut out the juice and bought some green tea, yet to taste it, fearing the worst

esperanza1 wrote: »

I'd suggest eating more green veg for your lunch - perhaps you could throw in a few spinach leaves or broccoli flowers into the soup. Green veg is rich in vitamins and minerals so will help you feel less hungry.

Is the cheese low-fat? Cheese can be quite fattening, so if you can find a tasty low-fat one all the better.
Good luck with your new lifestyle!

Fruit can inhibit weight loss because it's packed with sugar - so just have one piece with lunch. I love bananas as they fill me up very quick - especially with a couple of spoons of low-fat yoghurt - really effective at satisfying hunger and keeps me away from the biscuits. Bananas are also rich in magnesium which is essential if you're also exercising a lot. They may be more calorific than most other fruits, but I manage to lose weight while eating two bananas a day. Everyone is different!

good idea on mixing the soup, i shoul really make a homemade pot and freeze portions for the week.

the cheese is the white dubliner, i'm keeping it in because as a vegatarian i need b12, maybe i should switch to super milk for that too.

yes i find banannas fill me quickly, i also found out that the walnuts i bought are high in magnesium too

esperanza1 wrote: »

Of course, if you really want to lose belly fat you need to do cardio a few times a week, every day would be ideal but we have to be realistic. Running, cycling, swimming - whatever takes your fancy - just as long as you work up a sweat for a min of 20 minutes.

Take a read of this article as well, it's very informative:
http://www.truthaboutabs.com/abdominal-fat-dangers.html

i gave the article a read there. the body fat i get is right in front of my belly, almost like a bloating, the rest of my body is ok i guess, not toned or anything but not really fat.

up until six months ago i was abroad and i worked as a pushbike courier for 4 months. i was the weight i am now before i started but cycling almost contantly for 8 hours a day it fell off, my leg muscles were pretty toned, but i still had a beer gut. having said that my diet wasn't as good as it was now, not terrible, but lots of beer and pizza on the weekend.

i seem to have a pretty good metabolism, but i have very little in reserves, as in if i miss a meal i get pretty weak fairly fast. i always put it down to me not eating meat. thought i might be borderline diabetic for a while. but recently had a medical from doctor for a licence (eyesight, pulse rate, urine test) and he said everything seemed fine.

thanks again for your input

Man of Aran

lemme wrote: »

Just as a separate matter, someone mention apple cider vinegar earlier. for years i used to get heart burn and got caught into a loop of taking rennies etc. someone told me to take a shot of apple cider vinegar next time (the one with culture/mothers) and it worked a treat. it also seemed to break a cycle which seems to be created by taking antacids, as in i didn't have to take a shot of apple cider every day.

Being serious, you can read a lot of good reference material online about the benefits - important minerals and trace elements in it. Believe it or not.
Many of the ould people set great stor by it too.
Blood pressure, cholesterol, troubles with the diet & weight loss, digestion or indeed the "exhaust manifold" - like Draino is to a plumber, it can help there.

Get the one with the bloom or 'mother' in it , not distilled stuff.

Like the soup ad used to say, " you'll be runnin' 'round the gaarden in no time"