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I have a gut.

9K views 171 replies 42 participants last post by  ASCSurveyor 
#1 ·
I have a gut. A big one. It's been growing alot. I don't like it and have decided I need to get rid of it.

Besides eating right and general exercise, is there any specific exercise I could do to "speed things up"?

No, liposuction is not an option.
 
#69 ·
cardio and situps

that's what i'm trying anyway. I look at it this way: fat forms over the muscles that get the least use, hence most fairly active people don't have fat forearms or calves.
The prevailing knowledge in the exercise world is that you can't "spot reduce" your body fat. Fat forms over your entire body, its just that on men it tends to form first on the belly. So it may appear to form over the muscles that get used least, but thats misleading. You need to reduce overall body fat to get rid of belly fat. Crunches do form muscle, but your six-pack will always be hidden by belly fat if you don't reduce your overall body fat.

Weight lifting, not just cardio, is best.
Correct. Many studies have shown that resistance training and cardio is the best combination for reducing body fat.

Coffee is my big downfall though. :( Although it's always black. Or very, VERY little sugar.
A cup of black coffee is only 5 calories, so no big deal there. Caffeine is a diuretic, so it will make you more thirsty. As long as you drink water and not soda, this shouldnt be an issue either. Of course caffeine has other health impacts unrelated to weight, so too much is not a good idea.

Here's the simple math: 3,500 calories equals one pound. If your body needs 2,500 calories per day, and you eat 3,000 per day, you will gain one pound per week (500 calories X 7 days = 3,500 or one pound). Same if your body needs 2,000 and you eat 2,500 per day. Similarly, let's say you need 2,000 per day, and typically eat 2,500. Then you need to burn that excess 500, plus an additional 500 each day in order to lose one pound per week. 1,000 calories is about 50 minutes on the treadmill for an average joe...EVERY DAY. I think this is why diet is so important. Its much easier to reduce intake then to burn it off after its consumed. As others have mentioned, if you can find enjoyable ways to exercise it helps, or maybe you enjoy the treadmill. If so you're a sadist.

If you want other great ideas and inspiration, check out the Fatties unite thread. My advice: Get a handle on how much you eat. I'd say that 80% of the issue is diet, and 20% exercise. You can eat all the rice, chicken, veggies, etc. that you want, but if it adds up to 3,000 calories per day you're going to gain weight. Vici and I have both had good luck using thedailyplate.com, but there are many like it out there

First step is to enter your personal info (age, sex, etc.). This generates an approximate calories per day that you need to maintain your weight. Next step is to set your weighloss goals (1 lb per week, 2 lb per week, etc.). Then they tell you how many calories you can eat per day. Last, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, you track every single thing you eat during the day on the website. You can do this all manually, but the web site is a useful interface. The site (and others like it) have a large database of most foods with caloric content. Most people find it shocking how many calories they consume in a day.

Now for a testimonial: I've lost 22 lbs, targeting 1,500 calories per day (no...i definitely do NOT hit that every day) without really changing my exercise much at all. As Silver mentioned, its not quick. My biggest week was a 3-lb loss. Most weeks are 2 or 1 lb (partially due to my own lack of discipline in not hitting 1,500 calories). I had 40 to lose, and they come off easier at first, so I'm pretty sure I'll have to add more exercise as I approach my goal. Good luck. Its disheartening at times, especially if you do weekly weigh ins and lose zero pounds. Keep us posted.

Oh and another thing: You need to eat something about every 3 hours to keep your metabolism going. You should aim for 3 meals and 2 snacks every day. Snacks should be about 80 - 150 calories to give your body something to chew on. (cheese stick, yogurt, apple, large banana)...all good choices Otherwise, your metabolism slows way down in between meals. I target about 400 calories for breakfast, 150 snack, 500 lunch, 400 dinner, 100 snack. Most days I dont feel hungry at all. As silver said, its about eating right, not eating less. If you want to have all veggies for dinner, you could gorge yourself and still hit 400 calories (but you should eat some protien also). Its all about smart food choices and getting your caloric intake correct.

Once you achieve your goals, you can up your caloric intake to the level that your body needs to maintain itself.
 
#11 ·
Weight lifting, not just cardio, is best.

Free weights/resistance bands are better than regular machines, they will help build stabilizer muscles. However, you need proper body positioning and understanding what the specific exercise is supposed to do. If you go to a gym, don't follow what people are doing as most people do things wrong.

Gut won't go down a lot until you lose the fat. Don't worry about your *weight* so much because when you start exercising again you'll start building muscle. Your weight may stay the same or decrease a little, but not as much as you like. However, measure your girth and body fat % and it should shrink. Muscle weighs more than fat, so don't get discouraged by that.
 
#12 ·
Figuring out ways to be generally active is a huge help. Skip the elevator. Ride a bicycle to the store if you just need a few things and it's 2-10 miles away and walk if it's closer.

Drink water instead of any type of soda or tea or coffee. Seriously, try it for a month and see what you think.
 
#13 ·
If me or mike skipped coffee we wouldn't be conscious enough to operate a computer.



WAIT a minnit! that's your evil plan, ISN'T IT??

;D

srsly, dropping sodas is a great way to lose a lot of empty calories. Coffee isn't too bad if not laden with sugar or cream
 
#14 ·
I do try and do little things like you said, Shaggy. I don't drink pop at all... maybe once a month, if that. Coffee is my big downfall though. :( Although it's always black. Or very, VERY little sugar.

I always take the stairs, and always walk to the mailbox after work. But I need to do more. Since I'm not riding to work, I need to throw the bicycle in the back of the truck and start stopping by the battlefields in the afternoons.
 
#18 ·
I'm one of the PT leaders for my unit, and the guy I report to (he's a health freak, the number of degrees on his wall are ridiculous) just got back from a week long We're a Bunch of Crazy Professional Health Junkie's conference. So he gets all us all together for a briefing about some of the new studies in weight lose exercises.

Everyone knows cardio is the name of the game. It used to be 30-60 min of a fairly vigorous exercise, running or what-have-you. Well some docs decided to try something new. They started measuring the metabolism of people who only did 10-20 min of high intensity exercise (hardcore circuit training, lots of burn outs with weights) and they found time after time that those people daily, burned 300 more calories even while at rest. The high intensity work outs sped up the metabolism aiding in weight loss.

Sorry for the rant, but that would be your best bet for weight loss. Try sprint drills, circuit training, things like that. If you're willing to spend a little money I'd look into P90x, it's a pretty hefty work out routine that also does short, high energy sessions. A few of my guys follow it and it's been working out pretty well for them. If you would prefer to do this on the cheap, it wouldn't hurt to look into Crossfit. It's a very very hardcore training program with short, difficult exercise routines. I believe the founder is a Marine that wanted people to develop more "useful" muscle, not just the crap you see in competitions.
 
#21 ·
^-- This is true and isn't exactly new. It is why interval training for 20 minutes beats long endurance steady runs for effectiveness.

However, when you combine that with actual weight training you will see much better results. Especially if you stretch properly afterwards.

Don't forget the stretching! It helps build new muscle fiber as well as flexibility, and it gets your joints lubricated and moving.
 
#22 ·
Swimming, if you have a place to go, such as a decent YMCA or local gym, is a fantastic all around work out. Both cardio and muscle building. And while you sweat your ass off, you get to be cooled by the nice refreshing water.
 
#29 ·
I have been doing 150 sit ups a night for three nights, take a one day break. Also a bunch of arms and shoulder work outs with free weights and bands. I try to do a 3 mile walk with the dogs every night if not every other night and a lot of basketball. Just shoot around with my kids but an active game. I have had a slow and steady improvement seen and unseen over the last 2 months. With quitting smoking, drinking pop and cutting out junk food and this activity I have been feeling great.

Just make the commitment to yourself and do it and don't stop. Cardio, weights and proper diet.

You could always go over your neighbors and get some martial arts training. ;D
 
#30 ·
MOUNTAIN BIKING!!!!

Seriously, I had a 700+ Triglyceride count, was pre-diabetic / hypertensive and weighed 170 lbs when I started. I'm now at 140 lbs and more muscular than I can remember.

I got my Brother in Law started. He had high cholesterol and high blood pressure. He was on lypitor and other nasty meds. He lost 40 lbs and kicked all the meds.

Only bad thing was that I had to sell all my riding gear and start from scratch. I want to be around for my kids, so I started just before my wife got pregnant.

tk
 
#38 ·
;D

Frontman:


Backman:


Bunkered:


Questions?

Plus, it's a good release for all that pent up rage. You won't have to dispose of so many bodies. Better yet... don't play speedball, play 24 hour scenario games... it's like camping! Except people shoot at you...
 
#39 ·
Walking is one of the best exercises for you. Start walking, then work up to fast walking, then intermixing that with jogging intervals, etc... key is to work up to it, don't just jump into it or you can injure yourself and make you worse off than before.

Running can also damage your knees over time.
 
#46 ·
well...don't run on hard road then.

trail running is an alternative...that is... going up the hill. Down hill on any terrain is worse than going up hill on your knees.

Did you know humans are the only species that walk/run heel then toe?? that's one of the reasons why it's bad for your knees...all that impact at the heels transfer to your knee.
 
#43 ·
I used to play paintball a lot. Not competitive, but with friends or cow-orkers. I was always up in the front. Most of the guys were always pussies. The girls that came to play usually were worthless and often shot friendly fire. :mad:

I hate running/jogging and I hate the gym, too. I end up doing other activities like kitesurfing or martial arts. However, I do love hiking. The problem is getting fit enough in order to do the activities you like, though.
 
#51 ·
Coming in late and didn't read every post. But I still have a gut but it's getting smaller.

Weights, cardio, crunches, eating healthy. I've lost 50 lbs, work out 3 times a week, cut out a lot of red meat but eat it now and then. Cut out soda and sugar. I've hit a plateu for past month but I'm a bit more defined now.

Still have 20lbs to go and I absolutely hate cardio. I can't stand treadmills but elypitcal is OK. But I bought a heavy bag and beat the snot out of it for 20 to 30 minutes on my off nights from the gym. Good cardio workout and stress reliever. Good luck!
 
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