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[Stuggernaut]

the gut!!

I started going to the Y 3 times a week where I mainly do cardio & fat burn stuff for now. Eventually I will probably start into swimming and weights. I eat fairly well and ride a bike or walk a couple of miles a day (to and from work).

Overall I am not too far overweight but I hate "the belly"...and as I get older I know it will be hard to get rid of.

I have seen that a lot of you here try to keep in shape, or at least talk the talk

So...

Are their certain types of foods to avoid in this situation?

Aside from the obvious exercises that strengthen & tone the abdominal area, anything else that is good for trimming that area?

Any other tips would be appreciated.

I am not in any rush here, I just want to be headed in the right direction.

 

[Meatpuppet]

Bear in mind that you can't lose weight from a specific area by training the muscles underneath it. If you do a lot of ab work, but shift the flab elsewhere, all you are going to do is make the flab even more prominent.

Cut down your portions, eliminate all snack food, and do a reasonable amount of exercise. That should see the flab drop fairly quickly, thouhg its easier said than done.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

take the 'lite' option for all your favourite foods, you'll notice there isn't actually that much of a taste sacrifice most of the time, sugar free sodas (one of the worst). Is there anyway you can walk places instead of drive? (Please tell me you have footpaths, when I stayed in the states my neighbourhood had no footpaths :\) take the stairs at work instead of the lift.

Basically try and cut sugars out of your diet, try and eat smaller at night and bigger in the morning and do lots of cardio, maybe up it to 4 times a week if you can? I find a good way to do that is go hard early in the week, try get monday tuesday and wednesday at the gym, then it seems like you have forever to go one more day.

Do heaps of ab work after your cardio, Swiss balls are really really good. Leg raises, Crunches all that kind of stuff.

I don't have all the answers but that is basically what I am trying to do, as I have discovered that the days of riding my metabolism are winding up now.

 

[fart]

binge and purge man!

 

[way more]

If you don't need to lose weight fast I suggest simple, major lifestyle changes. Less fatty food, more fruits and vegetables. Do a bunch of cardio and weight lifting. You'll get used to both and come to appreciate your new lifestyle much more. But maybe you don't know that, I guess it matters how buff you want to be.

 

[Drexon]

PS. There's no such thing as loosing fat at one particular body.. zone. Eh, period. =)

 

[Stuggernaut]

Thanks for the posts so far...

At home I eat fine, lots of veggies, almost no junk. Work is where I am weak...we get a lot of garbage here. Some days I resist, others I don't. My biggest area for improvement is there.

As it stands I walk/ride to work every day, never drive...so that helps.

I am already doing the portion cutbacks...and couple with the extra workouts, I am losing the weight, just none from the midsection yet...guess that will be last

 

[Phoenix]

Crunches, and lots of them. Reasonable diet. And sex lots of it - probably the most entertaining way to lose calories.

 

[Stuggernaut]

PS. There's no such thing as loosing fat at one particular body.. zone. Eh, period. =)

Yes...but I was hoping there were others things that would HELP one area

 

[videogamer]

Also, drink lots of water.

I actually lost about 40 pounds over a course of a summer (I was 160 or so). The other postsers have posted lots of good comments. However, don't be afraid if you become lethargic. Cut down on the food and keep exercising. After a while, it can become a part of your life. Just set lower and lower calorie goals for yourself. Don't be afraid of going below 1000 calories. You might be hungry most of the time or feeling lightheaded/dizzy, but if you keep going at it, you will probably lose lots of weight.

 

[Meatpuppet]

Also worth noting that fruit is fairly sugar heavy, so binging on it and thinking you are being "healthy" since its not sweets or similar is a crock.

Also, keep an eye on sauces. I noticed my hoi-sin sauce was 50% sugar. Tasty as hell admittedly, but not really the sort of thing I need at the moment.

 

[Stuggernaut]

Ok...cutting back on sugars is something I can easily do...hopefully

I only drink milk/water anyway, so drinking lots of water is not a problem.

So lots of steady exercise, watch the calories & sugars...got it!

I'll hopefully be feeling/looking a little slimmer by the end of the summer

 

[DJ Sl4m]

There's very good advice in this thread, I particularly like the 'drink only water', 'lots of cardio', and 'no such thing as losing fat in a particular erea' comments.

All you have to do is stick with it, good luck with your current goal.

 

[effzee]

You can try this, http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article/0,2823,s1-1-0-0-967,00.html if you do that with a strict diet, you should do just fine.

 

[AssMan]

Dieting doesn't work. All you do is gain even MORE weight back. =)

 

[slayn]

is it really that hard to eat less than 1000 calories for most people?

I'm trying to lose weight too and I was only eating like 1200 calories BEFORE going on a diet =\

now my usual goal is ~600 calories a day but I usually crack and eat some crackers or peanuts at night

 

[videogamer]

is it really that hard to eat less than 1000 calories for most people?

I'm trying to lose weight too and I was only eating like 1200 calories BEFORE going on a diet =\

now my usual goal is ~600 calories a day but I usually crack and eat some crackers or peanuts at night

WTF you must have the metabolism of a snail. Staying below 1000 was not sustainable for me once school started. I mean, when all I did was watch TV and occasionally walk around school it was ok.... but later all that hunger distracting me during study drove me to eat.

 

[Greekboy]

Aside from the obvious exercises that strengthen & tone the abdominal area, anything else that is good for trimming that area?

Any other tips would be appreciated.

1. Cardio..cardio..cardio...especially on an empty stomach in the morning if possible.

2. Strict dieting.

2. Ab exercises especially with weight resistance if you are able to handle it at this stage.

 

[slayn]

WTF you must have the metabolism of a snail. Staying below 1000 was not sustainable for me once school started. I mean, when all I did was watch TV and occasionally walk around school it was ok.... but later all that hunger distracting me during study drove me to eat.

I maybe ate as much as 1500 calories a day when I was playing tennis for 3 hours a day in highschool...? =\ (was still gaining weight -_- )

 

[OmniGamer]

Going too low in calories will put your body in a starvation mode. Also, it's better to eat smaller, more frequent meals....it boosts your metabolism.

Btw, i'm up to 54 pounds lost since Jan of this year and i'm close to having a visible sixpack for the first time EVER in my life.

 

[Mumbles]

At home I eat fine, lots of veggies, almost no junk. Work is where I am weak...we get a lot of garbage here. Some days I resist, others I don't. My biggest area for improvement is there.

That's usually easy to solve. Bring your own food, store it in the fridge if you have one available. Of course, if you don't, that'll make it tougher.

You may want to work out more often, too. 4-5 times per week is good. Most (but not all - I don't for example) will lose fat if they cut the junk out of their diets, end work out more.

s it really that hard to eat less than 1000 calories for most people?

Anything below 1200 is usually considered to be starving, and not at all good for long term.

 

[slayn]

I weigh like 160, and if I eat every time I feel hungry, up to the point where I no longer feel hungry, it would still only amount to maybe 1000 calories unless I just eat sugar all day.

I'm weird I guess.

edit: I mean, bowl of cereal for breakfast, ham and cheese sandwhich for lunch with a diet coke, lean cuiseine and similar for dinner with water or diet coke. I would consider that almost plenty and thats like 750 calories.

my question then is how to people manage to lose weight? I mean I know it happens but it doesn't make sense to me. If you eat like 1500 calories a day don't you then have to burn off 1500 calories just to break even? That is a HUGE amount of exercise. If I run like 3 miles, thats only like 3-400 =\

 

[OmniGamer]

I weigh like 160, and if I eat every time I feel hungry, up to the point where I no longer feel hungry, it would still only amount to maybe 1000 calories unless I just eat sugar all day.

I'm weird I guess.

edit: I mean, bowl of cereal for breakfast, ham and cheese sandwhich for lunch with a diet coke, lean cuiseine and similar for dinner with water or diet coke. I would consider that almost plenty and thats like 750 calories.

my question then is how to people manage to lose weight? I mean I know it happens but it doesn't make sense to me. If you eat like 1500 calories a day don't you then have to burn off 1500 calories just to break even? That is a HUGE amount of exercise. If I run like 3 miles, thats only like 3-400 =\

The body burns most of the calories during rest...and it burns calories throughout the day for other things that you probably don't realize(walking for instance). Simply put, you need energy to live and maintain your body, so you don't need to burn 1500 calories with cardio to lose 1500 calories.

 

[videogamer]

I weigh like 160, and if I eat every time I feel hungry, up to the point where I no longer feel hungry, it would still only amount to maybe 1000 calories unless I just eat sugar all day.

I'm weird I guess.

edit: I mean, bowl of cereal for breakfast, ham and cheese sandwhich for lunch with a diet coke, lean cuiseine and similar for dinner with water or diet coke. I would consider that almost plenty and thats like 750 calories.

my question then is how to people manage to lose weight? I mean I know it happens but it doesn't make sense to me. If you eat like 1500 calories a day don't you then have to burn off 1500 calories just to break even? That is a HUGE amount of exercise. If I run like 3 miles, thats only like 3-400 =\

Some of those 1500 are used up by the body simply supporting itself. I remember reading somewhere that 25% of the body's ATP is used by the Na/K pump, which is all over the body and working like all the time.