defeating the dreaded beer belly

[johnnyo]

I'm just about to start the P90. I haven't worked out for awhile so, I thought I'd better tone up first. I have a couple of buds that have done the P90x and they say it's a kicker, but, it works and it gets rid of the beer belly, if you're motivated.

[aarrggh]

      I can only assume if you guys are determined too get rid of your beer bellys . .
  Your also gonna STOP drinking BEER ! ! !

[Kojak]

Be patient, start lifting weights and build as much lean muscle as possible.  The more lean muscle you put on, the higher your metabolism.  Don't consume any liquid calories, with the exception of the occasional booze and milk in your protein shakes.  Eat nothing but fruits, vegetables and lean proteins.  Get sweaty 5 times a week.  Do this 95% of the time and have patience and you'll drop weight. 

There is no way to only lose fat around your belly.  You need to drop fat everywhere. 

This is the plan that has always worked for me.

[schro]

      I can only assume if you guys are determined too get rid of your beer bellys . .
  Your also gonna STOP drinking BEER ! ! !

I made that pledge a couple of weeks ago. I need to drop about 15 (this year has been hell for me). I just came off a couples' party weekend in Lake Tahoe that I knew was going to be an eat & drink fest (it was). So, my pledge (effective yesterday at 2pm) was...

NOT A DROP OF ALCOHOL UNTIL I'M UNDER 200 LBS.
In addition to that, I'm going to seriously concentrate on eating better.

Unfortunately, my time available to workout has been severely limited, so that's a contributing factor. I'm planning on getting up an hour early and walking 4 miles a day, several days a week. I know it's not huge, but that's all I can do right now. Once things slow down, I may up it a bit.

This is going to be tough because I enjoy my cocktails and wine with The Lovely Mrs. Schro. But, it's something I have to do.

I'll keep everyone posted of my progress.

[D.A.L.U.I.]

I'm planning on getting up an hour early and walking 4 miles a day, several days a week. I know it's not huge, but that's all I can do right now. Once things slow down, I may up it a bit.

Don't make "lite" of the walking, I met a guy during Jazz Fest from Napa who had dropped well over 150# just walking and watching what went in his mouth, in just under one year.  He was obsessive about walking, nothing, wind, rain, etc. stopped the walk, everything was moved to include the walk.  The "power of walking" is not recognized for the healthy activity it is by most.  Of course that "pushing back from the table" exercise, that's tough, really tough.  Good luck.

[Magoo]

Walking and all exercise is good ,but to loose weight eating less is the only thing that really works.

[Razor X]

Unfortunately, my time available to workout has been severely limited, so that's a contributing factor. I'm planning on getting up an hour early and walking 4 miles a day, several days a week. I know it's not huge, but that's all I can do right now. Once things slow down, I may up it a bit.

One hour several days a week should be sufficient workout time.  Why not spend the time doing something besides just walking, though?  I know it seems to work for a lot of people so I'm not criticizing anyone's choice of exercise, but it doesn't work for me.  I need something more intense than that to get any results -- and I imagine that you would see some results a little quicker if you put together a routine with a little variety -- push ups, sit-ups, jump rope, bike riding, some moderate-weight dumbbell exercises -- all things you can do without going to a gym. 

I've had a horrendous work schedule the past week or so and only got in two workouts last week.  I am going to the gym at lunchtime tomorrow come hell or high water.  It's the best stress reliever I've ever come across and Lord knows I need it.

[FightFan]

I'm planning on getting up an hour early and walking 4 miles a day, several days a week. I know it's not huge, but that's all I can do right now. Once things slow down, I may up it a bit.

Don't make "lite" of the walking, I met a guy during Jazz Fest from Napa who had dropped well over 150# just walking and watching what went in his mouth, in just under one year.  He was obsessive about walking, nothing, wind, rain, etc. stopped the walk, everything was moved to include the walk.  The "power of walking" is not recognized for the healthy activity it is by most.  Of course that "pushing back from the table" exercise, that's tough, really tough.  Good luck.

I am a newly qualified personal trainer so if anybody has any questions dont be afraid to ask or shoot me a PM anything for a bald brother. Dont worry my course wasnt some micky mouse thing with multiple choice questions, i had to sit a 3 hour written exam  so I know my stuff!!!

But this is excellent advice. To lose FAT walking is one of the best exercises. People find this hard to understand they think, the harder they work the more calories you burn the more fat you burn. I dont want to go too in depth but Well when you work out at different intensities you use different muscle fibres and different energy systems. By power walking working at a heart rate of 125-135 bpm you are using more FAT as fuel as you are aerobic whereas if you work at higher rates such as a spinning class or interval training yes you will burn more calories but less will be fat because you are using your phosphagen system and lactic acid system so rather then using predominantly more FAT as a fuel you use liver glycogen, pyruvic acid, creatine phosphate blood sugar etc

If I was you I would do a power walk before breakfast have a black coffee, no sugar or milk and then eat when you get back I wouldnt go for much longer then 30- 45 minutes because you will start breaking down lean tissue unless you have a high quality protein shake before you walked then an hour would be fine.

I know that sounds long winded and complicated but it gets alot more intense. Like I said if anyone has a question ask here or shoot me PM. Free advice just because you're bald, great isnt it lol

[schro]

^^^^^

Right on Fight Fan! That's great information.

There's no way I am making light of running, I've just had some issues recently in which I've lost flexibility (used to be able to placed my hands flat on the ground with my knees locked), and am fighting a bruised heel that prevents running. I used to routinely run 5 miles at a clip (8:00 pace) at a 155-160 bpm rate. The sad thing is, despite my reduction in activity, I've continued to eat at previous exercise levels.

I'm not going to kid myself that I can regain my marathon running levels, but I plan to ease back into a fitness level that would be ideal for a 44 yr old male that doesn't want to bulk up (messes up my golf swing, I'm a 3 handicap).

Ideally, I'd like to get back to 195.

[schro]

UPDATE:
OK, it's been six days and I have not had a drop of alcohol and you want some irony? We had an NCGA (NorCal Golf Assoc.) Team Match on Thursday and one of my teammates made a hole in one during the match (our team won, I shot 72 ). When we got done, he asked me "OK Schro, what are you drinking?" When I said "Diet Coke", you could have heard a pin drop in the bar. Drinks were flowin', all my buddies were partyin', and I stuck to my commitment.

My diet has been OK, I've been getting in some moderate exercise, and I've remained dry. Granted I probably came home a bit bloated from the couples' party weekend, but the good news is that I've dropped 6 pounds since returning from Tahoe.

Slowly but surely, I'll slim down.

[Sgt. Pate]

If you have dunlops disease... where your belly dun-lops over your belt, and I do, the fat you see isn't as big of a problem as the fat you can't see.  Fat around your internal organs and heart.  I am getting older and I too can no longer afford to blow it off.

Diet, no... eating lifestyle change, YES!  If it's a diet, you'll go back to your old eating habits. You, and I , need a lifestyle change!  I'm gonna Google "Paleo diet" to learn more about the foods that are poisoning me. 

[Kojak]

If you have dunlops disease... where your belly dun-lops over your belt, and I do, the fat you see isn't as big of a problem as the fat you can't see.  Fat around your internal organs and heart.  I am getting older and I too can no longer afford to blow it off.

Diet, no... eating lifestyle change, YES!  If it's a diet, you'll go back to your old eating habits. You, and I , need a lifestyle change!  I'm gonna Google "Paleo diet" to learn more about the foods that are poisoning me. 

You hit the nail on the head about the internal fat. Diet combined with exercise is the only way to go.
Google "Interval Training" and learn the concept. It is the beat way to do cardio for fat loss, bar none. It can be applied to any form for cardio that you use and it shortens the time you need to do cardio.
The major benefit is that you continue to have a much higher and much longer boost to your metabolism than standard cardio, such as walking at the sale pace on a treadmill.
Add resistance training to your exercise routine so that you retain and gain additional lean body mass.

[FightFan]

If you have dunlops disease... where your belly dun-lops over your belt, and I do, the fat you see isn't as big of a problem as the fat you can't see.  Fat around your internal organs and heart.  I am getting older and I too can no longer afford to blow it off.

Diet, no... eating lifestyle change, YES!  If it's a diet, you'll go back to your old eating habits. You, and I , need a lifestyle change!  I'm gonna Google "Paleo diet" to learn more about the foods that are poisoning me.  

You hit the nail on the head about the internal fat. Diet combined with exercise is the only way to go.
Google "Interval Training" and learn the concept. It is the beat way to do cardio for fat loss, bar none. It can be applied to any form for cardio that you use and it shortens the time you need to do cardio.
The major benefit is that you continue to have a much higher and much longer boost to your metabolism than standard cardio, such as walking at the sale pace on a treadmill.
Add resistance training to your exercise routine so that you retain and gain additional lean body mass.

Hey mate not trying to shoot you down, just educate a fellow sly guy. Your body can only use a chemical called ATP for energy. So if anyone says they are burning calories they're wrong, you eat food i.e calories which are stored or used only after the body converts it t ATP. During different intensities your body converts different fuels into ATP. So in low intensity such as power walking more fat is broken down and turned into ATP but during high intensities such as interval training your body can only use carbohydrates, these will be in the form of muscle glycogen, liver glycogen and blood sugars.

 Interval training is great for improving lactic acid thresehold and improving your RQ1 and cardiovascular effiecency, as you will actually grow new cappilary beds in the lungs etc but is the worst exercise for fat loss. The reason for this is when you go to your RQ1 which is when you go anerobic such as interval training your body can only use glycogen from the muscles and liver as well as blood glucose. NO fat is burned in this training zone. Your body goes through a process of anerobic glycolysis that creates ATP which you use as energy this process causes a compound called pyruvic acid to be made which if not dispersed turns into lactic acid. Another thing to think about is glycogen is 3:1 ratio of water to sugar so you lose alot of water weight too.

For example if you work at a heart rate of 160 bpm such as a spin class depending on height weight etc you will use 9.2 kcals a minute with 2.8 kcals a minute using fat as a fuel substrate so that 30 % go past 170bpm then you burn no fat what so ever. But if you power walk with a heart rate of between 125-135 you're burning only 7.6 calories but 5.5 calories a minute will use fat as fuel which works out at 72%.

If anyone is really interested google something called trainsmart , they will find what your VO2 max is but can find your different training zones on the way i.e your best fat loss zone, your lactic acid threshold and your RQ1.

You are absolutely right about increasing lean tissue, an increase of 10 lbs of lean tissue equates to you using 400 calories extra a day by doing nothing, just staying in bed.

[Kojak]

If you have dunlops disease... where your belly dun-lops over your belt, and I do, the fat you see isn't as big of a problem as the fat you can't see.  Fat around your internal organs and heart.  I am getting older and I too can no longer afford to blow it off.

Diet, no... eating lifestyle change, YES!  If it's a diet, you'll go back to your old eating habits. You, and I , need a lifestyle change!  I'm gonna Google "Paleo diet" to learn more about the foods that are poisoning me.  

You hit the nail on the head about the internal fat. Diet combined with exercise is the only way to go.
Google "Interval Training" and learn the concept. It is the beat way to do cardio for fat loss, bar none. It can be applied to any form for cardio that you use and it shortens the time you need to do cardio.
The major benefit is that you continue to have a much higher and much longer boost to your metabolism than standard cardio, such as walking at the sale pace on a treadmill.
Add resistance training to your exercise routine so that you retain and gain additional lean body mass.

Hey mate not trying to shoot you down, just educate a fellow sly guy. Your body can only use a chemical called ATP for energy. So if anyone says they are burning calories they're wrong, you eat food i.e calories which are stored or used only after the body converts it t ATP. During different intensities your body converts different fuels into ATP. So in low intensity such as power walking more fat is broken down and turned into ATP but during high intensities such as interval training your body can only use carbohydrates, these will be in the form of muscle glycogen, liver glycogen and blood sugars.

 Interval training is great for improving lactic acid thresehold and improving your RQ1 and cardiovascular effiecency, as you will actually grow new cappilary beds in the lungs etc but is the worst exercise for fat loss. The reason for this is when you go to your RQ1 which is when you go anerobic such as interval training your body can only use glycogen from the muscles and liver as well as blood glucose. NO fat is burned in this training zone. Your body goes through a process of anerobic glycolysis that creates ATP which you use as energy this process causes a compound called pyruvic acid to be made which if not dispersed turns into lactic acid. Another thing to think about is glycogen is 3:1 ratio of water to sugar so you lose alot of water weight too.

For example if you work at a heart rate of 160 bpm such as a spin class depending on height weight etc you will use 9.2 kcals a minute with 2.8 kcals a minute using fat as a fuel substrate so that 30 % go past 170bpm then you burn no fat what so ever. But if you power walk with a heart rate of between 125-135 you're burning only 7.6 calories but 5.5 calories a minute will use fat as fuel which works out at 72%.

If anyone is really interested google something called trainsmart , they will find what your VO2 max is but can find your different training zones on the way i.e your best fat loss zone, your lactic acid threshold and your RQ1.

You are absolutely right about increasing lean tissue, an increase of 10 lbs of lean tissue equates to you using 400 calories extra a day by doing nothing, just staying in bed.

I see your position and can understand how you would draw your conclusion, but I have to agree to disagree with you on this. I too am a certified personal trainer and have researched this extensively. Many scientific control lab test have proven that High Intensity Interval Training achieves greater results in fat loss compared to traditional Cardio.

Here are some links that point this out.
http://naturalbias.com/cardio-a-waste-of-time-and-energy
http://www.burnthefat.com/high_intensity_interval_training.html
http://www.builtlean.com/2010/06/04/high-intensity-interval-training-hiit-best-cardio-to-burn-fat/

[FightFan]

Glad to have a fellow sly PT to bounce ideas off. Now dont take anything I say as a personal attack I'll admit its been known for me to be wrong on more then one occasion and im always willling to learn something new so I keep an open mind.

Now im not against interval training i have lots of clients do it for the reasons outlined in the article

 Increased Aerobic Capacity – The amount of oxygen your body can use (oxygen uptake) is increased, so your overall aerobic capacity can increase faster than with just jogging

• Increased Lactate Threshold – Your ability to handle increased lactic acid buildup in your muscles substantially increases

• Improved Insulin Sensitivity – Your muscles more readily suck in glucose, instead of the glucose going to your fat stores


Do you have the links to those studies? The three links you provided just say high intensity training will burn more fat then slow steady state cardio and there's alot of pseudo science in a few paragraphs on those pages and provide no other science behind it other then 1 study of about 20 participants.  

Its true about the the fat burning zone being a myth i.e it being 60-75 % of maximum heart rate, as VO2 max has no base on maximal fat burning zone but you can find out optimal fat burning zone by doing a VO2 max but the numbers are independent.

The last article is probably the best and most accurate and most well written so i'll focus on this. Many off the claims are correct but if you notice all the articles say is high intensity exercise will burn more calories after workout.

 'As an added bonus, there’s also an “afterburn” effect known as EPOC (excess-post exercise oxygen consumption). You burn more calories for up to 24 hours after interval training, whereas going for a jog burns almost NO calories after'


Is this such a good thing? No one should be looking for weight loss but fat loss unless you're some crazy sportsman needing to drop lean weight for a weight class or something but 99 % of the general public want fat loss. Now if you train at a lower intensity using your aerobic system in your optimum fat burning zone you will burn fat but no calories after that. Thats great as those calories if your diet and training is correct can go towards building muscle. It is easily possible to build muscle and lose fat at the same time. I agree high intensity training is better for weight loss but not fat loss.

They make statements with no evidence to back it up

Yes, you burn more fat relative to glycogen when going for a walk, but what we care about is total fat burn. At higher intensities, you are burning far more fat, even though the fat/glycogen ratio is lower. In addition, Interval training allows you to exercise at very high intensities for a much longer period of time than steady state, so you burn more fat.

Higher intensities? If they mean interval training then how can this be? If you are doing this right you will be using your phosphogen system ATP/ ATP-CP. You burn ZERO fat in this high intensity. AS you know once you hit RQ1  you are burning 100% sugar (glycogen). After high intensity workout with your glycogen stores depleted you will burn more calories and yes from fat but you will also use amino acids i.e either the protein you est or more muscle tissue, pyruvic acid. Also if you are doing high intensity work properly how are you able to do it longer then slow steady state cardio? After a certain amount of time you are going to release cortisol and break down muscle, blunt testosterone production and blunt leptin production.

I would check out trainsmart http://www.trainsmart.com/ these guys work with elite athletes and have literally thousands of case studies to back up their findings.

Im not saying im right or you're wrong we have different opinions on what works best which I think is great as it will keep scientific research thrusting forwarding and new things come along all the time, in 20 years probably be found out we were both wrong so i agree we'll have to agree to disagree lol