Beer Belly

LegacyUser

This is kinda personal to me but it probably is the same for a lot of
us.
I work all day at a computer desk and then all night i Game
whether Cs ,moh or whatever i also booze abit
The problem is I have grown a massive beer belly, now im not really fat anywhere else, I just have a big beer belly (no laughing!) while you might find this amusing , i did for a while,
its beginning to effect me now with lack of endurance, tired ness
and general lazyness

What i want to know off yee socially elite is how do i lose it?
without the typical answer of ..duh go to the gym.
Im thinking along the lines of an excercise machine for my room
till i can work off some and last longer than 10 min in a gym
without dieing.
Has anyone been in a similar predicament, what do i do ?
what machine do i buy? any fitness people out their ?

can i buy getting fit for losers? Cus while funny at first its now
gettiing depressing.

bombidol

The only thing that will get rid of a beer belly is Diet, pretty much any amount of excercise by its self wont help. Stop the beer for a few weeks, its not as hard as it sounds, cut down on the bread, pasta and potatoes, eat more veggies and rice , Not fried rice!
The belly is one of the hardest places to lose weight from, cause even the pull ups and other stomach excerises wont do much until the fat level is reduced, the muscles will get bigger and harder but the fat will burn off really slow, you need to let the body eat that off its self before you'll see any results in the gym

bomb

CodeMonkey

Yep, like what bombidol said. The easiest way is to go on a diet and stop drinking beer. A pint has typically about 200 calories if I remembered right from reading the Hacker's Diet a few months ago. Cut back on all those excessive calories and you will stop growing. Exercise and you'll burn off some of it but you have to do lots of exercise to actually loose a huge amount of excess body fat. Diet is really the the only option but don't just starve yourself. Read up on it and talk to your doctor or something.

photty

Theres no easy way out here. I also had a similar lifestyle to yerself (office job, cs at night, beer, beer, beer). However I found the best thing to start with is aerobic excercise. Dont worry about the belly until you improve general fitness level first. I suggest the following
- take up soccer or some sport with some lads from work
- walk(if possible) or cycle to work instead of bus/car
- stop playing CS now before it's too late!
- take some form of excercise that makes you sweat every single day. btw, sex is best for this

As an aside I have issues with paying inordinate amounts of money to a gym. I mean theres plenty of space outside to jog in. Plus you actually go somewhere when you move as opposed to pounding the treadmill thing. Stick with sports. Much more fun than the gym! However, you should do a few push ups and sit ups after a run or a cycle just to burn the upper body a bit. But take it easy to start and build up. Don't kill yerself and then get put off.

Lastly on the diet thing. Just eat sensible. One decent meal a day. No chips or crisps or any of that crap. Replace snacks like those with fruit instead. And for gods sake have a few beers at the weekend!! It wont kill you ...

good luck

Dr. Loon

I heard the other day, that they've come up with a new pill which stops the beer belly coming on!! No joke. I can't find any links or anything, I think it was in the Sun or mirror so there ye go! But ye may not even have to bother doing anything....

Enygma

It was a pill that removes the chemical that causes you to feel hungry. Of course eating when you're hungry is normal, eating when you're not hungry is the problem!

Yeah a belly is down to diet alone, eat healthy and excercise, it's not easy but once you get into it it's not that difficult either. And you'll feel 10 times better!

Shiminay

I went off the beer a month and a bit ago and already I've noticed my jeans/trousers are a little more loose. That's in a month - I didn't change my diet, just stayed off the drink.

It's actually not that hard - don't say you're off the drink, just say "I'm not drinking at the moment." Trying to kid yourself into not drinking again is silly, let yourself know you're going to keep drinking, but just not at the moment

BTW - I'm a fat bastid, so it's not just a beer belly - it's a beer body!

azezil

/me looks down at bulbous mass that was once a beautiful 6pack

yes i too know the shame of a beer belly, and it is just that a swollen gut formed from drink. When i started drinking ale i was warned it would happen but i didn't listen and now i ware it with shame

It's not too hard to get it under control tho, sit-ups'll sort it out in no time. Start with 10-20 per day n work your way up to 100+. i know it sounds daunting but hell if i can do it anyone can !!

amp

Try the patented amp two step diet to a leaner, fitter you:

1. Eat less.
2. Excercise more.

Simple no?

azezil

Originally posted by amp
Try the patented amp two step diet to a leaner, fitter you:

1. Eat less.
2. Excercise more.

Simple no?

Actually that would be a bad idea. Eating less would leave you sluggish cupple that with more exercise and you could do some serious damage to your health.

stereo_steve

For all those people that have been recommending lots of sit ups, unfortunately it doesn't work! You can't loose fat from just one area. When you excercise fat is removed from all over your body. Your stomache may appear to have lost weight because your muscles get bigger and give it more definition.

There is no easy way to loose weight. You just have to do it the hard way. Go to you local park and do a bit of excercise. Even a little bit helps! Gradually built it up. You'll feel so much better after a while, your body won't feel as sluggish.

Eat properly aswell! Eat three meals and NO munching inbetween. Much easier to loose weight if your stomach isn't constantly digesting! Hard at first but gets easier! Your stomach will shrink. Stay away from fatty foods! Stick to carbohydrates and protein! Lots of pasta, rice and tuna!

I'm not one to talk though for the last few months I've done nothing because I'm working for the leaving. This summer I plan to get really fit.

LegacyUser

Hi, I'm at my early teens.. 18
I can see a beer belly starting to come on myself, I want to burn it off, but the thing is right, I smoke.
I'm not a heafy smoker, on adveragell 10 smokes a day or less would do me,
I have been to the gym a few times but the thing is, since I am a smoker, is it actualy worth my time to go to the gym, will i get any healthier if I smoke, or will I just cause a lot of chest infections and bring on bad coughs?

LegacyUser

Just another quick question..
Does anyone know what the adverage weight is for people, or a site were I could check up to see if I am under/over weight or adverage?
thanks

rymus

Simple solution daniel san - have twice as much sex as beer....

chernobyl

Originally posted by Dr. Loon
II think it was in the Sun or mirror

Now lets do a little stereotyping:

Who reads the sun/mirror?
What physical characteristics can you apply to them?
What drink do they enjoy?
The Sun and Mirror invent stories to fill space....

amp

Originally posted by azezil

Actually that would be a bad idea. Eating less would leave you sluggish cupple that with more exercise and you could do some serious damage to your health.

Prove it, spamboy.

azezil

Originally posted by amp


Prove it, spamboy.

Well Satan's little helper monkey, if you bothered to enter a search like "dieting what not to do" into a search engine you'd find plenty of sites saying the same thing.

Here's two examples for ya: site one and site two

Gordon

...back on subject - personal jibes aside... try this body mass index calculator, however I'm sure there are better ones if you look on Google.

As for losing the gut, in addition to what people have said, may I suggest walking more than you do - don't get the bus - walk. And try some Alexander techniques for starters e.g. concentrate on your breathing, posture and centre of gravity while in motion. It's amazing how much of an effect your breathing has on your digestive system as does your posture for example.

You can still go to the gym if you smoke, many people do. However, if you want to maximise the effect - stop smoking!

OLDYELLAR

hey i went and had a look at that thing and it said i am normal /average , thats great because they usually say i am under weight .as for the beer belly , mine has been coming on with a while , its horrible , i`ve been told giving up the bulmers would help , but i dont seriously think that will ever happen .

Shinji

'Course, the other option is to realise that you like beer more than you like having a flat stomach. Like I did.

(Just did two weeks of a diet. I've also realised that I like food more than I like a flat stomach. Sod it. :P )

yellum

I've lost two stone since the end of January mainly due to a diet. I've gone from a 36in waist to a 30in waist. I lost the first stone and a 1/3 from diet alone. I then started in a gym and lost another few pounds since I started doing cardio work and weights.

azezil: That first link is bollox, diets do work, its fat lazy people who don't stick to diets that moan the loudest that diets and exercise don't work, the 2nd loudest are those selling the wonder solution.

Eating less does allow you to lose weight and is healthy if you eat the right food. It won't slow you down and make you sluggish at all. All you need to do is burn more calories than you take in. It doesn't need to be drastic.

As for that diet pill, I've heard about it and its very controversial, its got fda approval even though theres been over a dozen people died after taking it. More dangerous that ecstasy, I think it might be the same family of chemical.

Baldy

http://www.fitnessonline.com/

Try this m8. Its not and instance cure but you'll need to do alot of exercise and dieting at the same time to receive and quick results and yes motivation is a bitch to maintain.

TacT

If you want to build up your stamina and stretch out those muscles so you don't end up with knots all over I reccomend you take up swimming. It will improve you're overall fitness level and elongate your muscles (there's nothing more natural and healthier in the world) I reccomend you start drinking a lot more water, go to the gym and work your stomach etc in the weights room then go for a good swim and sauna or whatever else is there to relax your muscles and sweat off what ails ya

As for diet, the 3 bits of fruit and 3 veg with 2 small portions of protein will help, eat a banana on your way to the gym, it releases energy slowly and is 10 times healthier than a snickers or a mars bar.

You know that a Mars Bar has as many calories as a fully blown meal with a side of fat if you don't work it off right?

Eat fish, not red meat and make it something like cod (there are oily fatty fish like shellfish which will not help you're situation) cod/plaice Sea Bass and Salmon are the way to go. As long as you don't use a butter sauce to go with it Trim all visible fats from you're meats, don't fry grill, imo it's easy if you put your mind to it.

che

loosing weight aint that hard if ya put your mind to it. my secret is cycling. its a very enjoyable and relaxing way to travel and gets you around faster in rushhour. ive beaten a ferrai in a race from cabinteely to town (i was the only one doing the racing). so lots of bikes and a sit up bench is what keeps my lovely six pack in shape.

Dustaz

Originally posted by Shinji
'Course, the other option is to realise that you like beer more than you like having a flat stomach. Like I did.

Ditto


I used to be a bit of a jarvis cocker, but 8 years of sitting on my posterier all week and drinking at weekends has given me a lovely belly of the '2nd trimester' order:)

Im very much like the original poster, my fitness is shameful, i smoke and dont eat properly. I have found however that with a little bit of work i can keep the belly down to reasonable standards. I walked home from work for about a month and that alone helped. I play football during the summer which helps with the general fitness but funnily didnt reduce the belly that much.
If you want a travis style sixpack, you really have to do a LOT of work. Personally i cant be buggered:)

BTW, Stopping drinking doesnt work, at least it didnt for me. I went off the gargle for almost 2 months last year and didnt lose any weight.

On the diet side to things, im completly clueless about what i should be eating. While im not that pushed about my physique, i dont particularly want to fall over from a coronary any time soon. Can anyone post up good diet related links?

Gordon

Try this for starters

The Sweeper

I don't think you have to go to enormous and unsustainable life-changing lengths if you have time on your hands. I was carrying a stone and a half of excess beer and food flab at christmas time and it's gone now and I have done nothing particularly outrageous to achieve this.

What I have done is cut out visits to the chipper, (still horsing dinner into me every evening, but it's amazing the difference it makes when it's not a snack box) made a conscious effort to walk a bit more and started using the stairs in work instead of the lift. (Four flights from door to desk).

I could do with being fitter, but I tell you I'm far more likely to try getting to a swimming pool or the gym each week at the moment than I was six months ago.

Ronan|Raven

I had/still the same problem unregistered. I used and until recently spend best part of 12+ hours a day sat infront of pcs. Eating endless amount of crisps and other luberly things and drinking 6+ pints average a day just while either doing some work or gaming. Only way unfortunatly to loose the belly is diet, stop drinking and do some exercise. I tried these three things for 3 weeks and nearly died but I did loose some of the beer gut. But realised to hell with itd rather be a fat git than not have my beer and food I enjoy! hell who wants to live if ya cant have a sup of ale now and then or regularly.


So in short if your dedicated and really want to loose it then exercise and diet.

m0o|Dino

Playing soccer well help, like since i started playing soccer again from months and months of neglect of my fat cells, i feel alot healthier/sexier rar

adnans

instead of boozing in the lounge area and the bar, why dont you visit the dancefloor more often when you go out. instead of beer, drink something else, when was the last time you heard someone have a vodka-belly?

adnans

LegacyUser

Just like to thank everyone who posted , alot of good information
gotten out of it and its good to see so many like minded people
who appreciate the finer things in life , food and beer . But Im warning you it does seem to catch up on you in the end.

Ive decided to buy an excercise bike and start there , along with
cutting down on crisps and such and trying to eliminate the
fatty stuff .
Hopefully this will eliminate my sexy belly, and bring up my general
fitness then im going to try the gym.
anyway thanks

"dont mock me , I was once just like you " quote by my idol
Homer J

Lolo

Originally posted by adnans
iinstead of beer, drink something else, when was the last time you heard someone have a vodka-belly?

I had a 'beer' belly long before I ever drank beer (twas vodka and pernod in my goth days, ah the memories...) - it's just my natural shape and no matter much weight I lose or how much I tone up, I always have it. (I'm female, btw, so my beer belly is from Venus, whereas yours is from Mars). But it definitely worsens with alcohol intake, regardless of what kind of alcohol.

As for diets not working, it's not "fat and lazy people" not sticking to them that makes them not work, it's people sticking to a strict diet for a certain amount of time and then going back to their old chip-monster/ choccie-fiend ways. What you need to do is find a healthy way of eating that you can stick to, allowing yourself the occasional lapse so that you don't think of fattening foods and drink as 'forbidden'.

I'd definitely agree with cycling and swimming as the best forms of exercise outside of a gym. I hate the bleedin' gym, but I got really fit (by my lard-ass standards) and reduced the dimensions of my gut when I cycled everywhere and swam a cupla times a week. I also found Pilates (stretchy exercises similar to yoga) really good for toning up stomach and midrifff muscles.

(This is all in the past tense as I now live too far away from work to cycle, and haven't gone swimming or 2 a pilates class in about 8 months - but I plan to do something about it very soon, hopefully this thread will shame me into action!)

seamus

If you don't want to give up your drinking, and you don't mind looking like a girl, switch to spirits, preferably vodka. A normal shot of vodka is 50 calories, and once mixed with a diet drink (diet coke or such) stays at 50. Then you can get locked on a quarter of the calories.

Read the hackers diet, it's nothing new, but gives you an idea of WTF is going on. Best things to remember are - All diet drinks have zero calories. Caffeine is an appetite suppressant, so if you're feeling hungry, break out that coffee/diet coke. A normal amount of full fat milk (4 tblsp) in your coffee is still only 3 calories each time, so drink away!

photty

Originally posted by Unregistered
Ive decided to buy an excercise bike and start there , along with
cutting down on crisps and such and trying to eliminate the
fatty stuff .

you'd be better off with a real bike. It's much more interesting than cycling on the spot. I promise that if you take to biking around you will get in shape very quick. Go for 15k or more a day and try to take longer trips into the country at weekends. Say 50k or there abouts. But of course build up to it slowly over the weeks. Tree trunk legs of pure muscle can be yours...

Dustaz

.... not to mention haemoiroids the size of melons

thegills

I am 5'11" and was 15 stone. I started to play AstroPark once a week (start with going in goal).
Don't eat after 7.00pm which you probably do if you're online all night. Just eat 3 meals a day. It'll be hard for the first few days but you get used to it. Have lunch as your main meal and use dinner for lunch. Buy nice tasting fruit like stawberries or water melon and eat them if you get the munchies. Drink plenty of water. Cycling on an exercise bike is better that outdoors. You might get more fresh air, but half of your efforts go into fighting the wind. The same applies to jogging and walking - its bad for the joints whereas swimming is 100% good.
I'm down to 13 stone now after about 6 weeks. I've lost my sweet tooth, and more importantly I still have the odd beer.

Good luck.

SYL

I have come across this problem also, but have managed to avoid it as best I can. I am another unfortunate desk jockey who normally spends about 7 hours of my day in front of a shagging PC, working. Combine this with canteen food laden with fat for taste and sweetie machines dotted around the place and you have a potential receipe for disaster.

So what was my way of preventing a growing waistline???

Couple of things really;

1. Walking......walk as much as you can, walk everywhere. Overall, per working day, I spend about 1 hour 15 minutes walking outside of work. 15 minutes walk in the morning from my first bus to my second bus, 45 - 50 minutes walk from work to bus-stop, 15 minutes walk after bus-ride to home. Also, at weekends, walk to the shops, walk to your friends place...etc etc... Put simply, walking is the dogs bolloks to keep yer waist down, but make sure you make it brisk, plodding along is no good.

2. Diet - this was a tough one to master due to the shyte nature of the food at work. Well first thing I did was cut down on the sweeties; chocolate during work is a big no-no. Also, what has also helped lately is that I have started a course of Roaccutane, so I HAVE to cut down on fatty foods and very sugary stuff to avoid some possible negative health risks. Anyway, I digress. The diet thing is really a school of hard knocks - if you want to loose weight or keep yer waist in trim, then sacrifices have to be made. Cut down (or completely erase) fries, grills etc. from your diet. No more sausages and rashers, hash browns and fried eggs. If you can't manage this, at least designate one day of the week where you will have them, I used to have them on a friday morning when I ate them (can't eat them any more though).

Also, as trivial as it sounds, try to get into some good habits. Eat low-low instead of butter, low-fat milk instead of normal milk...I don't care what anyone says - THEY TASTE THE SAME. Eat more fruit, eat special K or Muesli, low fat yogurts etc...all these are great replacements for chocolate or sweeties although you will still get cravings from time to time.....which leads me onto my next point......

3. Will power. Its tough, but you have to make sacrifices. When you begin to loose some weight and notice yourself dropping a waist-size or two, you'll know its worthwhile.

4. Do your own food shopping where possible. Read the labels, anything with less than 7 grams of fat per 100 grams is deemed to be low fat. There is some decent low fat foods out there actually, that do taste great. Also, eat boiled rice instead of chips or fried rice. More salad (although I really hate salads, so I just eat more fruit). Find a decent fruit juice to drink in the mornings (there is one called Fruit 10, in a brown bottle, which rules). Pick up a decent multi-vitamin too, they help you stay more alert and active during the day.

5. Play some sports with your friends, football is the best because you can have absolutely no skill whatsoever and still do well at it by hacking the legs off everyone and kicking is as hard as you can at the goalie. Much fun to be had there.

6. Sex - speaks for itself really. Find a willing victi.....I mean, Lady and indulge in one or two all-nighter sessions and see the weight fly off.

7. Cut down on the grog, or at least change from pints to bottles. Try to resist to urge to graze on takeaways afterwards too. Make a sandwich when you get home instead.

8. Try doing some stretching in the evenings for about 6-8 minutes, that really worked wonders for me. Helps your flexibility too.

9. Don't be scared to do some manual jobs at home, hoovering, mowing the lawn and stuff like that are all deadly for a bit of exercise. Just slap in your headphones and away you go.

10. And finally, go to some concerts or gigs and have a bit of craic. Heavy metal one's are the best, Get into the pit or at least up the front and go crazy. If you did it right, you will come out of it pi$$ing sweat and feeling much better.....if you haven't been marmalised in the meantime, that is. Also, bit of air guitar at home is recommended too.

Hope this helps dude

JasAine

Beer Belly:

I was in the same mode as you are now for the last three years. I used to be a year-round athlete but after college I started working and then came the belly....and the ass....and the double-chin.

What did I do about?

I get everymorning and go for a walk. I started out at a mile and now am up to five a day. --take music with you or whatever--

But, the important thing to do is realize two things:

1. It takes a bit of time to loose it (although at first, if you keep at it, it will come off quickly) and there are no "quick" solutions that will offer long-term effects
2. Make sure for the next two to three weeks that you stick with your plan....it will become habit eventually

there you go and good luck!

elexes

im 5 11 was 15 stone size 36 waist i think stopped drinking for a month and cut back on all extra foods ( you know the ones where ur bored and eat just cause ur bored ) i walk about 2-3 miles a day ( morning for about 10 mins ) midday ( about 30 mins ) evening (about 30 mins)

now 13.5 stone not lost a lot but back down to 32 waist so its working slow and im not trying that hard


gota be blamed on my diet tho for a while it went to pure ****

Jackoman

What you really do depends on how your body works. Everybody has different metabolisms, so its not always the same answer for everybody.
I've heard as well that eating five or six smaller meals throughout the day instead of three big ones can be better for you as it makes digesting that bit easier.

Personall I was the same, once I turned 19 and went away for a summer drinking heavily everyday I watched my six pack slip away. Age, drinking, eating and not running around as much as when I was in school contributed to it all.

I used to do a lot of skipping and I bought a boxing bag. Cardio exercising is one of the best things you can do. Now I aslo go swimming whenever I can and jumping on a rowing machine is really good for you. The fitter you get then start moving on to some weights if you want to build muscle. I dont like cycling and running machines as I cant stand the feeling of not going anywhere, so if I were you I would just buy a bike instead of a cycling machine. But each to his own.

Also I have found that Mens Health always have some pretty damn good tips on losing your gut and they have great workout plans. Good luck. And I would advise not going near any weight loss drugs. If your gonna do that, then why not just head down to the Temple Theatre and pop 'em there - same effect!!! (Serious note: not advisable!)

Jackoman

Oh yeah - I forgot to add - drink about 2 gallons of water a day, give up the soft drinks. Not only is it better for you but it actually helps you lose weight. Proven!!!!