Looking to lose a small beer gut

The Wild Bunch

Hi guys

Recently become very insecure about a smallish beer gut that has developed. I'm 6'2 and 13 stone, straight up, straight down apart from a small bulge on my tummy which has become apparent to me lately.

Since I started a new job 6 months ago, I've been living too well - probably go out on average of 2 nights a week, usually have 8 pints in a sitting so about 16-18 pints a week.

My daily food intake is as follows-

6am - No breakfast, just a coffee

11am - coffee

2pm - low fat bolognese or lasagne (about 300 cals), banana, yoghurt

8pm - baby jacket potatoes (8), baked beans, fish/chicken/steak/pork chops

9.30pm - bowl of corn flakes

Maybe a few munchies before bed like a bag of popcorn or some biscuits.


I rarely if ever have take away but don't get a lot of exercise as I work quite long hours. Gonna start walking to work as opposed to taking the bus but I'm guessing the root cause of the gut is the beer consumption?

Any advice most welcome

RedemptionZ

First and foremost you're drinking way too much. The only way you could get in decent shape while drinking that much is if you were a proper fitness freak burning 1500+cals a day. I'm assuming from your OP that you'd just like to lose weight(easy) rather than lose weight and gain muscle(much harder)

In general, weight loss/gain is determined by a calorie deficit/surplus. Find out your TDEE(Total Daily Energy Expenditure), on the phone now so can't post a link but give it a google and you should find a calculator. There's no way to lose fat in one specific area, so you've just got to lose weight in general in order to lower the bodyfat percentage. Find out how much calories you burn a day, then reduce it by 500 and eat/drink that amount per day and you'll lose weight.

Exercise can only do so much, particularly because you'll have to build up fitness, at first you might only be able to burn 1 or 200 calories. Your diet isn't particularly balanced but it's not terrible.

Beer has a lot of calories in it and it really does add up, not to mention the negative effects alcohol has on the body. If you halved your drink intake for the week and started exercising to burn say 300 a day you'd lose the weight quick enough. Obviously if you want quicker results just cut the drink out completely, but I'm guessing that's not realistic? I would suggest gradually cutting back so that you can get used to drinking less, because if you take 2 months off and lose the weight you'll only gain it back once you get into the same drinking habits.

smcgiff

So, active and fasting 8 hours and don't have breakfast until 2pm (not counting the coffee).

That cannot be good for you.

As said above you cannot spot reduce - you need to lose weight all over. It's possible you're skinny fat and need to build up more muscle.

Also, I read an article lately that "beer belly" has more to do with the binge eating that goes with increased appetite around drinking alcohol.

The Wild Bunch

RedemptionZ wrote: »

First and foremost you're drinking way too much. The only way you could get in decent shape while drinking that much is if you were a proper fitness freak burning 1500+cals a day. I'm assuming from your OP that you'd just like to lose weight(easy) rather than lose weight and gain muscle(much harder)

In general, weight loss/gain is determined by a calorie deficit/surplus. Find out your TDEE(Total Daily Energy Expenditure), on the phone now so can't post a link but give it a google and you should find a calculator. There's no way to lose fat in one specific area, so you've just got to lose weight in general in order to lower the bodyfat percentage. Find out how much calories you burn a day, then reduce it by 500 and eat/drink that amount per day and you'll lose weight.

Exercise can only do so much, particularly because you'll have to build up fitness, at first you might only be able to burn 1 or 200 calories. Your diet isn't particularly balanced but it's not terrible.

Beer has a lot of calories in it and it really does add up, not to mention the negative effects alcohol has on the body. If you halved your drink intake for the week and started exercising to burn say 300 a day you'd lose the weight quick enough. Obviously if you want quicker results just cut the drink out completely, but I'm guessing that's not realistic? I would suggest gradually cutting back so that you can get used to drinking less, because if you take 2 months off and lose the weight you'll only gain it back once you get into the same drinking habits.

Thanks for your reply

I did the TDEE there and it says '1985cals metabolic rate' and '2867cals total energy expenditure' - 8 hours sleeping, 3 hours standing, 13 sitting.

I have no idea what this means

I WOULD ideally like to get toned up as the next part of the process, but my priority for now is just getting rid of the beer gut.

As you said, I don't think I'd have it in me to give the beer up completely but just 1 night a week is definitely realistic

The Wild Bunch

smcgiff wrote: »

So, active and fasting 8 hours and don't have breakfast until 2pm (not counting the coffee).

That cannot be good for you.

As said above you cannot spot reduce - you need to lose weight all over. It's possible you're skinny fat and need to build up more muscle.

Also, I read an article lately that "beer belly" has more to do with the binge eating that goes with increased appetite around drinking alcohol.

That's the thing - out of sheer guilt the following day from going on the beer, I actually don't pig out and binge on food, I'd probably eat even less than normal

Alf Veedersane

The Wild Bunch wrote: »

Thanks for your reply

I did the TDEE there and it says '1985cals metabolic rate' and '2867cals total energy expenditure' - 8 hours sleeping, 3 hours standing, 13 sitting.

I have no idea what this means

The 1985 is what your body needs to function. The 2867 is the total you burn in a day. Eat the latter to maintain weight or between the two to lose it.

You don't really need to lose weight, per second, but fat. You could cut back a bit on the beer. Not that there's anything wrong with potatoes and in the absence of knowing the full picture of what you eat, 8 sounds like an awful lot. Consider subbing in some veg for a few of those.

Try something a bit better than cornflakes as a snack at night.

Start using MyFitnessPal to track what you eat and drink. It will give you an understanding of what you're eating and where to make changes.

nice_guy80

stop drinking alcohol
cut way back on bread
stop eating crap cereals
eat more veg and lean meat

exercise more

The Wild Bunch

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

The 1985 is what your body needs to function. The 2867 is the total you burn in a day. Eat the latter to maintain weight or between the two to lose it.

You don't really need to lose weight, per second, but fat. You could cut back a bit on the beer. Not that there's anything wrong with potatoes and in the absence of knowing the full picture of what you eat, 8 sounds like an awful lot. Consider subbing in some veg for a few of those.

Try something a bit better than cornflakes as a snack at night.

Start using MyFitnessPal to track what you eat and drink. It will give you an understanding of what you're eating and where to make changes.

Cheers for that. Gonna remove bread completely, no more snacks and only 1 night of beer a week plus alot more exercise

Skuxx

What's in a low fat bolognese??

The Wild Bunch

Skuxx wrote: »

What's in a low fat bolognese??

Not enough!

SoulTrader

Can't believe you don't eat between 9.30pm and 2pm the next day.

I really recommend having a bowl of oatmeal at the time of your first morning coffee. It's a cliche, I know, but your metabolism is like a fire. If you're not throwing fuel on it (food), it will burn out. The reason you can go so long in the morning without eating is because your metabolism has shut down so you don't feel hungry, and you need that to burn calories.

Have the bowl of oatmeal at 6am and I guarantee you will start feeling hungry again by about 10am. That's because your metabolism is now active. You can have a healthy snack to tide you over until lunch.

I won't repeat what other people have suggested but one other thing to mention is that the walking will help you.

Alf Veedersane

SoulTrader wrote: »

Can't believe you don't eat between 9.30pm and 2pm the next day.

I really recommend having a bowl of oatmeal at the time of your first morning coffee. It's a cliche, I know, but your metabolism is like a fire. If you're not throwing fuel on it (food), it will burn out. The reason you can go so long in the morning without eating is because your metabolism has shut down so you don't feel hungry, and you need that to burn calories.

Have the bowl of oatmeal at 6am and I guarantee you will start feeling hungry again by about 10am. That's because your metabolism is now active. You can have a healthy snack to tide you over until lunch.

By that rationale you wouldn't get hungry at all because your metabolism would have shut down.

You don't need/have to eat first thing in the morning.

SoulTrader

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

By that rationale you wouldn't get hungry at all because your metabolism would have shut down.

You don't need/have to eat first thing in the morning.

I should have said slowing down not shutting down.

You don't have to eat first thing in the morning, but I found it helped a lot in my experience. 16.5 hours, per the OP, is a very long time to go without food.

Alf Veedersane

SoulTrader wrote: »

I should have said slowing down not shutting down.

You don't have to eat first thing in the morning, but I found it helped a lot in my experience. 16.5 hours, per the OP, is a very long time to go without food.

For you.

But it's not a big deal if you don't.

Studies on it have shown it makes no difference, positive or negative.

SoulTrader

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

For you.

But it's not a big deal if you don't.

Studies on it have shown it makes no difference, positive or negative.

Can you share any of those studies please?

Alf Veedersane

SoulTrader wrote: »

Can you share any of those studies please?

Title: The effectiveness of breakfast recommendations on weight loss: a randomized controlled trial.

That's just the most recent one I've read.

But in relation to the OP, what he needs to tackle is the quality of food, not when he eats it.

And plenty of people eat within a relatively small window, eg 8hrs. It's not hugely important.

Edit: not having a go, just breakfast before x o'clock makes very little difference

Oregano_State

The Wild Bunch wrote: »

Cheers for that. Gonna remove bread completely, no more snacks and only 1 night of beer a week plus alot more exercise

Removing bread is realistic, although if you're not gluten intolerant, the odd slice of brown bread won't kill you. The main thing is that it's not very filling for the calories and the nutrition value isn't great.

Cutting out all snacking is very difficult, and with your calorie allowance you've room to snack now and again, just try try to make healthier choices with your snacks. Peanut butter on rice cakes is a good one for starters. There is loads of advice out there on nutrition if you do a bit of poking around the nutrition forum here, as well as the web in general.

Try downloading the myfitnesspal app on your phone and log EVERYTHING you eat for a few weeks, it will really open your eyes as to what you need to watch as regards your diet.

Btw, cutting back to 1 night a week drinking (assuming you drink 8 pints of lager per night at 230 kcal per pint) takes 1840 kcal off your weekly calorie intake straight away. That's the same as consuming 263 kcal less per day, so even if you just did that and started walking to work you'd probably start seeing decent improvements.

SoulTrader

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Title: The effectiveness of breakfast recommendations on weight loss: a randomized controlled trial.

That's just the most recent one I've read.

But in relation to the OP, what he needs to tackle is the quality of food, not when he eats it.

And plenty of people eat within a relatively small window, eg 8hrs. It's not hugely important.

Edit: not having a go, just breakfast before x o'clock makes very little difference

Thanks. Interesting read and something new I learned.

tenifan

The Wild Bunch wrote: »

probably go out on average of 2 nights a week, usually have 8 pints in a sitting so about 16-18 pints a week.
Switch to bottles of corona

My daily food intake is as follows-

6am - No breakfast, just a coffee
i started drinking water with (jif) lemon juice.. bit of a detox and stops me starting on the coffee so early

11am - coffee
no milk or sugar?

2pm - low fat bolognese or lasagne (about 300 cals), banana, yoghurt
can't argue

8pm - baby jacket potatoes (8), baked beans, fish/chicken/steak/pork chops
lot of carbs but no veg?

9.30pm - bowl of corn flakes
i think cereal is a bad job for dieters and you don't need so many carbs in the evening. so definitely consider something else in the evening. .some eggs maybe

Maybe a few munchies before bed like a bag of popcorn or some biscuits.
nuts instead of biscuits


I rarely if ever have take away but don't get a lot of exercise as I work quite long hours. Gonna start walking to work as opposed to taking the bus but I'm guessing the root cause of the gut is the beer consumption?

I think it's a combination of the beer and lack of exercise. Your diet could probably be a bit better, and you'll definitely need to improve it when you do start exercising

Bruno26

The Wild Bunch wrote: »

Hi guys

Recently become very insecure about a smallish beer gut that has developed. I'm 6'2 and 13 stone, straight up, straight down apart from a small bulge on my tummy which has become apparent to me lately.

Since I started a new job 6 months ago, I've been living too well - probably go out on average of 2 nights a week, usually have 8 pints in a sitting so about 16-18 pints a week.

My daily food intake is as follows-

6am - No breakfast, just a coffee

11am - coffee

2pm - low fat bolognese or lasagne (about 300 cals), banana, yoghurt

8pm - baby jacket potatoes (8), baked beans, fish/chicken/steak/pork chops

9.30pm - bowl of corn flakes

Maybe a few munchies before bed like a bag of popcorn or some biscuits.


I rarely if ever have take away but don't get a lot of exercise as I work quite long hours. Gonna start walking to work as opposed to taking the bus but I'm guessing the root cause of the gut is the beer consumption?

Any advice most welcome

The harsh reality is your diet is fairly horrendous. Eat some breakfast (eggs and bacon, cheese, spinach, Greek yogurt and berries).

There is no need to eat anything low fat. I presume the low fat bolognese is processed crap. Give up all the processed rubbish (cereal, baked beans, popcorn, biscuits etc.) Start cooking. Live on meat, fish, veg, dairy, some fruit, some nuts, coffee.

You drink far too much. If you actually want to make changes you will drink far less. If you continue the binge drinking you aren't committed to changing.

tenifan

Bruno26 wrote: »

I presume the low fat bolognese is processed crap.

Hopefully the op meant low-fat mince as opposed to a low-fat jar of crap (bolognese will be low in fat anyway, but those jars of stuff can add a lot of sugar).

Really, all that should be in it is lean mince, an onion, a tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, some salt, pepper and sugar, and some extra veg like peppers, mushrooms, celery, carrot, garlic, etc.

SoulTrader

Stumbled across this while reading Mens Health, from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (benefits of eating breakfast for weight loss):

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2010/10/06/ajcn.2010.30101.abstract