Getting rid of belly fat

[Sir Topham Hatt]

A good thread at the right time for me.
I am a small guy, was a 28(cm) waist, but in the last two years or so, I have put weight on and now have a 32/34 waist.  I don't mind having a bigger waist but there is a significant bulbous look to my belly area which I'd prefer to lose or turn into muscle elsewhere.
 
Glad I don't have to give up meat, but I do need more salad!
 
Do you think cutting out cheese would be good too?
Surely oven chips are okay?



 

i take every morning after weigh in
 
2 fish oil 1200 mg & 360 mg omega-3 
1 potassium 595 mg
1 multi vitamin
 
and i have lost this by not working out

I have these pills but stopped taking them a good few months ago.
With the fish oil do you take more than the recommended daily amount?
Also, you couldn't link to the actual products you use? It would be interesting to see if they are the same as what I have already.

 

There's an interesting article on the UK's Daily Mail website about Omega 3 and how much a Doctor suggests you should take, which is more than the RDA on the bottle.

[Steven P. Administrators]

A good thread at the right time for me.

I am a small guy, was a 28(cm) waist, but in the last two years or so, I have put weight on and now have a 32/34 waist.  I don't mind having a bigger waist but there is a significant bulbous look to my belly area which I'd prefer to lose or turn into muscle elsewhere.

 

Glad I don't have to give up meat, but I do need more salad!

 

Do you think cutting out cheese would be good too?

Surely oven chips are okay?

I also do Oven chips (fries for the US) :p The only thing I hate about them is that they are so "dry" my fat frier broke down and I cba to get a new one, that's the reason :p Going on about 3 months now I think.

 

BTW I'm also around 6'2 and weigh about 265 last time I checked.

[game_over]

I'm in the same boat, lost some weight but stuck with a bit of a gut, i've just started my action plan:

 

- bought a bike and plan to go out at least twice a week doing between 10 and 20 miles 

- bought a cross trainer, haven't used it as much as i'd hoped, i hate static exercise, so boring, but still try to use it as much as pos

 

Food: just because you are busy it doesn't mean you need to eat quick fatty foods.. i've drastically cut my diet and i'm not enjoying it one single bit, my days at the minute consist of:

 

morning: 1 low fat cereal bar

 

mid-morning: another low fat cereal bar, piece of fruit

 

lunch: another low fat cereal bar, low fat yoghurt, cassava snacks (like crisps, only 80 calories, taste AMAZING), another piece of fruit... if i'm feeling really hungry i'll eat some chicken or baked potatoes

 

mid-afternoon: nothing, or maybe some fruit if i'm feeling hungry

 

evening meal: mainly 2 eggs scrambled, no milk or anything else plus a small pot of low sat & sugar baked beans and then more fruit for after. I'll have one or two 'cheats' where i may eat some mashed potatoe with peas and sausages, or a low fat meal..

 

I hate salads, veg, fish, most meats etc so it's been hard for me to settle on this diet... i'm happy though because my old diet would consist of bread, i'd eat bread with every meal and was having up to 6 slices per day, sausage rolls, crisps, chocolate bars, fries, lots of cheese, super noodles, pizza.. generally just anything crap.

 

I've also cut out sugar from cups of tea and dropped my evening tea and biscuits in favour of water and fruit.

 

Here is my plan it may help some of you.. i haven't really been sticking to as i've tried to cut out potatoes as well since i'm not doing as much fitness as i should and it's no good loading up on carbs if you are not exercising or it will turn to fat... absolutely no carbs after 7pm because it's likely the time you'll be resting for the evening and will just store it....

 

 

[Dinggus]

I see you stated you eat junk food. I ended up swapping my junk food cravings out for fruit.

[MikeChipshop Member]

Sounds exactly like me, i'm only short at 5' 4" and my family has a history of pot bellies.

Unfortunately for me when my daughter was born six months ago i went in to overdrive working (web developer) and sitting that desk all day meant i put on 3 stone in 6 months!

Only 2 weeks ago i went back to doing the 5:2 diet (two days a week of 600cals and normal eating the rest of the day. I also started swimming and cycling again and there's been a noticeable shrinkage in my belly and i've started feeling lively again rather than sluggish. Not weighed myself as yet but i will do and post what i've lost!

[Duffydemon]

started my diet 5 or 6 weeks ago went from 355 to 316. my goal is to be around 200 to 225, i focus on calories & sodium

 

i take every morning after weigh in

 

2 fish oil 1200 mg & 360 mg omega-3 

1 potassium 595 mg

1 multi vitamin

 

and i have lost this by not working out

 

btw i am 6'2

Losing weight if easy for us tall guys (6'4 here), but gaining weight is pain in arse. And working out helps in making your body strong, there is a difference between losing weight and being fit.

[x-scratch]

Are those pills? And did you change your diet to lose that much

 

 

yes to both. i look for food that is low in calories. eat lots of fruits & veggies 

 

 

and to simrat i will be hitting the gym once i hit the 300 mark 

[Steven P. Administrators]

Losing weight if easy for us tall guys (6'4 here), but gaining weight is pain in arse. And working out helps in making your body strong, there is a difference between losing weight and being fit.

Wait till you're over 30 :P

[Carbon Fiber]

What I did when I was in the US: go to a big fitness center and say to an employee you are interested in buying a membership. Then, they will assign you to a coach and he will give you some initial feedback about a diet that fits you, what your body fat is, what exercises you should do etc.. All free but professional advice :D You can of course buy the membership after all, but this is what a friend and I did at least.

Good luck all!

[Praetor]

wow such quality responses! thanks guys!

 

anyways, I'm trying to get more spare time; without time it's impossible to lose weight or stay fit, meaning bad health.

 

btw: I'm 6'2 and 225 pounds (online converter rules) / 1,87m and 102Kg... :blush:

It took me 7 months to shred all extra fat. but i had to go to gym regularly. I dont eat junk food as all, as i live with family and eat proper vegetarian home cooked food (meat is not allowed in house so i have to eat it outside). Rest dead.cell has explained the steps really well. You can surely follow it!

 

thanks both, very thoughtful info; it's kind of hard to be healthy in a unhealthy environment as my job demands too much from me (more than 12 hours of work per day, almost no time to eat lunch, incredible stressful environment...). I'm seriously considering changing jobs because this isn't doing no good to me.

[Steven P. Administrators]

wow such quality responses! thanks guys!

 

anyways, I'm trying to get more spare time; without time it's impossible to lose weight or stay fit, meaning bad health.

 

btw: I'm 6'2 and 225 pounds (online converter rules) / 1,87m and 102Kg... :blush:

Don't fret, I'd love to be 102kg right now. Weighed myself this morning and I'm 122kg (down 4-5kg in about a month due to different diet and less beer)

Edit: My scales go up to 125kg and a month ago the needle went way over  :blush: now it doesn't, which is improvement in my book :)

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

I'm in the same boat. When the scales showed 99.5 kg (I'm 1.74 m short, for reference), I knew something had to be done. 

 

By avoiding candy, soft drinks, eating less and healthier alone I managed to lose about 5 kg within six weeks. 20 kg more to go until I'm happy with my weight.

[Steven P. Administrators]

I'm in the same boat. When the scales showed 99.5 kg (I'm 1.74 m short, for reference), I knew something had to be done. 

 

By avoiding candy, soft drinks, eating less and healthier alone I managed to lose about 5 kg within six weeks. 20 kg more to go until I'm happy with my weight.

Same, cut out potato chips and candy altogether which I always had at home, cut going out drinking down to just mostly 2 times a week instead of 4 or 5 :p and keeping what I eat in check much more. Still a ways to go, ideally for my height (190cm) 95kg is optimal, but I'll take 100-105 anyday, that means at least another 20kg to go :s.

[x-scratch]

Same, cut out potato chips and candy altogether which I always had at home, cut going out drinking down to just mostly 2 times a week instead of 4 or 5 :p and keeping what I eat in check much more. Still a ways to go, ideally for my height (190cm) 95kg is optimal, but I'll take 100-105 anyday, that means at least another 20kg to go :s.

 

 

you can still eat chips like for example if you go to subway & get a veggie 6 inch & bag of chips you will be fine

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Well, I've started.

 

Started taking the vitamins I already bought over a year ago (Cod liver oil, multi-vitamins, zinc, Omega 3 as well as a daily medication tablet I take).

Also, figured if I bought pre-prepared salads from Asda at ?1 a day, then it isn't that much compared with buying a loaf of bread, cheese and such.

 

I can't really stand salad at the best of times but lettuce is okay.  The salads are "chicken caesar"and "chicken and bacon".

 

Cutting down on cheese too.

[typu]

So I'm just about done P90x (one week left) and I'm really happy with the results, BUT I'm still having a hard time losing the fat around the belly and I'm looking for an excersise or workout that would help lose it.

 

I have a fairly healthy diet and I don't eat very much, I drink mostly sparkling water and black coffee so I don't think the problem can easily be fixed with diet alone.

 

Any suggestions to what would help burn off the extra? It's not a lot, but I feel like my core muscles are a lot stronger than they used to be and I would like to be able to see them ;)

 

- stick to your healthy food (fruits, vegetables, very little bred stuff, more fish, chicken)

- avoid coffee, drink tea (no sugar or stevia etc)

- stick to your excercising as a good routine to your life style

- there is no exercise in this world that can help to burn fat at a specified body part, e.g. the belly. dont believe anyone or anything that promises that. its a lie.

- just keep burning more calories a day that you eat. but watch out that the spread is not too high. otherwise this can be a little damaging to your health or even counter productive as your body shuts down in "little calories burning mode" :-)

- avoid any kind of vitamins, supplements, marketing crap products all together. the most simple food is always the best. nothing else needed, believe me :-)

 

-> in the end: its all about food. you can easily "fix" your issue with the right food alone. but dont be extreme, use your common sense. i lost a couple of kg myself in the last 9 months and my BMI is now 21. before it was like 26.

 

good luck :-)

[Haggis Veteran]

I am 1.7m tall or roughly 5ft 6

 

I used to play rugby, being so small i have to be big in other ways so i bulked up (muscle) i was around 19.5 stone or 273lbs at my heaviest

 

I then crashed a motorbike was in hospital for a long time and the muscle started to turn to fat

 

I am getting back into my diet now and currently weight 17stone which is 238lbs so have lost around 35lbs which is just under 16kg

 

I intent to  get down to around 11 stone (154lb or 70kg) and i will be happy then

 

Its a slow process but i was always told if you lose the weight slower there more chance of keeping it off

 

Once i get down to a decent weight i will start back into my weights again

 

If i cn turn it to muscle i would be happy at around 13 stone :)

 

Liking beer through college was a killer though lol

[typu]

I'm in the same boat. When the scales showed 99.5 kg (I'm 1.74 m short, for reference), I knew something had to be done. 

 

By avoiding candy, soft drinks, eating less and healthier alone I managed to lose about 5 kg within six weeks. 20 kg more to go until I'm happy with my weight.

 

the lower you get in kg the harder it becomes to lose weight. you might know this already, but being mentally prepared for that is very important. otherwise you get too frustrated and lose your focus.

 

also the fact that its getting harder and harder to recognise visually the progress can be a motivation killer. at the beginning all is so quick and smooth (thou most you lose is water only...). especially the last 5kg are a killer...

 

good luck :-)

[Salty Wagyu]

Used to be 15 stone (6ft 2in in height) then lost 2.5 stone over the course of 6 months doing indoor rowing 4 times a week, 30 minute sessions. It's supposed to be the best cardio workout, but my arms and wrists have got to the point where it's thin, showing veins as well but disappointingly my belly fat had only slightly slimmed down. I'm dead-center of Normal in the BMI chart now and usually eat what I want (including processed food) but with the aim of not trying to finish the plate.

 

Guess I gotta restart with the cardio to kill that remaining belly (and some thigh) fat but taking a break due to the heatwave in the UK right now!

[Kami-]

Used to be 15 stone (6ft 2in in height) then lost 2.5 stone over the course of 6 months doing indoor rowing 4 times a week, 30 minute sessions. It's supposed to be the best cardio workout, but my arms and wrists have got to the point where it's thin, showing veins as well but disappointingly my belly fat had only slightly slimmed down. I'm dead-center of Normal in the BMI chart now and usually eat what I want (including processed food) but with the aim of not trying to finish the plate.

 

Guess I gotta restart with the cardio to kill that remaining belly (and some thigh) fat but taking a break due to the heatwave in the UK right now!

The heatwave will help ;) get out there and run!

[TCA]

Switching to more vegetarian food, leafy vegetables, no egg yolk, proper gymming and running, is what worked for me. I have shredded lots of weight, and it took time to do that, but was worth it. Plus assuming you are an app developer, so i guess you spend lots of time on coding on your applications, sitting. So try to do "abs" exercises. Ask your gym coach for supervision. :)

Edit : comparison (before and after switch)

 

Looking fit man!

[(Account no longer active)]

I would ride a bike instead of running - much more to see on the way, and easier on the knees. Go for a three hour ride at least. Don't go at your own pace - push yourself a bit. It would probably take twenty minutes to "warm-up".

[Duffydemon]

I would ride a bike instead of running - much more to see on the way, and easier on the knees. Go for a three hour ride at least. Don't go at your own pace - push yourself a bit. It would probably take twenty minutes to "warm-up".

I would recommend both, both have their own advantages, Cycling helps you shaping your thigh and calf muscle, makes them strong for sit-ups. On the other hand, Running affects your whole body, plus increases your overall stamina.

 

 

Looking fit man!

Thanks Mate :)

[ACTIONpack]

Diet and exercise is the key to fat loss. The lower body fat you have the hard it takes to get rid of it. Keep the cardio up and eat less plus stay away from sugars and process foods when you can. If your having trouble losing weight then your caloric intake is too high. Start counting your calories in your food and you can abject the mood you need to loss fat.