Belly fat-won't go away

rippy cripple wrote:

ickybana5 wrote:

I went from eating 1,500 calories a day and gaining weight to eating 2,500 calories a day and losing weight so fast that I couldn't believe it, especially in my stomach region.

IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You could not be any more wrong in that point in time. It's not AT ALL impossible if you know how science and nutrition works! Ickybana is absolutely right! If you stop stressing your body out your body will stop producing stress hormones which will in turn decrease central adiposity (belly fat). When you don't eat enough your body senses it and slows down your metabolism to compensate (it's saying, "uh-oh. Not enough food. We gotta conserve what we have."). Eating more actually stimulates your metabolism and as long as you're still exercising you CAN LOSE WEIGHT FROM EATING MORE!

People these days are so stuck in their ignorant, quick-fix, uneducated mindset that eating less = losing weight (not true for long term), doing abs gets rid of belly fat (not true), or that you are just stuck with what you have (also not true). People believe anything they want to hear from TV. You notice how Ickybana's reply is so long? That is because it is full of truth. Unfortunately, it takes that long to say what is really going on so people don't listen. People want to know in 15 seconds what they can do to lose weight. Companies are more than willing to give people what they want. They know it's hard to convince people eating more will help you lose weight. They also have a product to sell so they need to make you think you can't lose weight unless you buy the product. It takes is eating healthy, natural foods, not starving yourself, and some exercise. No, there is not one answer to this. Sorry, but if you really want to do it right, you'll do it through a true understanding of how your body works. Pick up a good anatomy and physiology book, or some scientific nutrition book (not one sponsered by any company, or a dieting book, but written by an actual scientist!) and you'll start to realize that most Americans have it all bass-ackwards.

POSSIBLE wrote:

People want to know in 15 seconds what they can do to lose weight. Companies are more than willing to give people what they want. They know it's hard to convince people eating more will help you lose weight. They also have a product to sell so they need to make you think you can't lose weight unless you buy the product.

Not to mention that diet companies set up their diets to work fast and then FAIL! (No, this is not a conspiracy theory. It's backed by hard science that proves diet companies are either evil geniuses or complete idiots, and I doubt they are idiots) That's right, the diet companies want you to see quick results so you feel like the product or regimine is working (you usually are just losing water weight in the first few weeks). But think of what would happen if everyone who ever went on a diet NEVER gained weight again? The diet companies would go bankrupt. So they set it up so that the diets stop working after a while which makes you think it was your fault for not succeeding ("it must be me since I was losing weight at the beginning," you say). That way you will try to get on their product to lose weight again only for the same thing to happen.

rippy cripple wrote:

ickybana5 wrote:

I went from eating 1,500 calories a day and gaining weight to eating 2,500 calories a day and losing weight so fast that I couldn't believe it, especially in my stomach region.

IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's not impossible... I should mention however, that just because you can eat more and lose weight, doesn't mean you can eat processed crap. And it shouldn't be an all at once deal, either. Start adding food back gradually, eat more protein and fat and much less sugar. Keep exercising, eat often, and eat lots of fruits and vegetables, don't gorge yourself, don't starve yourself. That's it. All I am saying is that if you keep your blood sugar in check, you you'll lose body fat, even though you are eating more. No, you won't lose 5 pounds in a week, but you will lose more than that over the span of a longer time and keep it off for the rest of your life. Some people may find that 2,000 calories a day is what works for them. That's still fine. 2,500 is just what worked for me. I am a medical student and have been running competitively for a very long time (I am a female with a 16:28 5k PR), so I do have a little bit of credibility. I didn't think up this concept, but it sure did work for me. Do some research (in actual medical textbooks, not Good Houskeeping) and you'll see that I am indeed right. Go ahead and google the words "insulin" "cortisol" and "weight gain". It's hard for a lot of people to get their heads around this concept, but let me ask you this: Doesn't this seem more reasonable than cutting out entire food groups, eating only grapefruit (or lemonande!) or taking calorigenic drugs?

Best health advice I've ever heard in a public setting, ickybana!

why are you trying to get me to leave? This is ridiculous. You invite me in, make me feel at home, and NOW you're kicking me out? Maybe I put on a little extra weight you shallow jerk, but it doesn't mean I can't work it off I swear. I LOVE YOU, I love you....

|2ambo wrote:

I think you should give your little buddy some respect.

He's obviously fought long and hard to be your belly, and at this point deserves his place in this world. Why keep fighting such a courageous belly.

All the girls I've known dig the abs before the biceps. I agree with this poster though, the little guy has fought through some serious adversity to get where he is, let him just be.

Here's the good kind of beer belly:

You can do all the sit ups and ab work in the world, but it's not going to get rid of the body fat. You have to eat right, run more, lose the fat first...then maybe you can see the 6-pack abs underneath.

I think, by the way, that the "belly fat" everyone is referring to is called the greater and/or lesser omentum.

serious question - do you have man boobs when you weigh more? could be low testosterone and or high cortizol.

LIFT wrote:

there isnt going to be any muscle there if you dont strengthen that area.....in other words do some abs

Completely inaccurate. Everyone's ab muscles would be clearly defined if they lost the fat hiding it. The abdominal muscles don't disappear, nor do they get too small to be seen. Although ab exercises as not by any means a bad thing, it is 100% wrong to suggest that without doing them you won't see your ab muscles.

Assuming you are Caucasian and male ~ You NEED YOUR BELLY FAT! Your ancestors had to learn to survive at the foot of the glacier while other peoples frolicked in the sun. Your fighting spirit originated from scratching life from the foot of the glacier. You kept warm – like a walrus – because of your blubber. Don’t turn your back on your fat rolls. Embrace them! They are a distinct part of your ancestry.

On another note – you should probably drink more distilled spirits. I addition to FAT, your ancestors survived by drinking huge amounts of distilled spirits. Hell they invented the distillation process to keep warm. They learned a long time ago that water makes your insides rust. So stop drinking water! Drink more scotch, gin and vodka! And have another jelly donut!

Fats in!

Run more, eat better and less. Cut out alcohol and refined sugar. Lean proteins only. Lots of fruit and vegetables. Drink water. You will loose the belly fat. It has nothing to do with your age - the guy who said if you are over 40, you will always have it is spouting nonsense. Same with the hormone excuse. Men retain fat in their mid-section when they eat too many calories to burn off. When you reverse the equation, the belly fat comes off.

The problem is that you can't simultaneously run more and eat less. As soon as you increase the mileage, you'll start getting a lot more hungry. The question then is how long you can diet before you go crazy from thinking about food 24/7. I haven't found the solution to this, but I assume that either running more (with slow increases in mileage) and eating the same OR eating less (decreasing intake very very slowly) and running the same will avoid this.

Also, as many have pointed out, doing abs will not get rid of the fat any more than running or weight lifting because you cannot select where you lose fat.

Probably the easiest way to start losing weight is to eat better, not more or less. Still, though, trying to lose weight in general is going against your body. We evolved to store fat efficiently, not to burn it quickly. The hormone "excuse" is completely valid--it is not so simple to just eat less than you burn because your body does its best to counteract weight loss.

hi, i am quite sure i know what i'm talking about here.

i am very sure that the number of fat cells you have will not be changing much no matter what you do. the number of fat cells are determined up until the age of about 16, then it will never change throughout the rest of your life. what you can do, however, is to do lots of cardio and aerobic exercise (eg, swimming, jogging, cycling, dancing)to strip away the fat in the fat cells. so you will not be fat but it will still be easier to gain weight once you start pigging out or whatever. hope this helped!

The Only way to lose Belly Fat is with a Diabetes diet for PEOPLE WITHOUT DIABETES. MANY ATHLETES NO THIS SECRET. A french Study showed a Specialized diabetes diet reversed Belly fat without exercise. It was the number story on Yahoo News for 4 weeks. It also was on Empowered Women. The diet simply works

See here

http://www.empowher.com/community/share/type-2-diabetes-diet-helping-non-diabetics-lose-weight

THE ONLY WAY TO LOSE BELLY FAT IS WITH A SPECIALIZED DIABETES DIET FOR PEOPLE WITHOUT DIABETES...THIS SECRET WAS REVEALED ON YAHOO. IT IS KNOWN BY TOP ATHLETES

CLICK HERE

http://www.phillyburbs.com/your_news/blogs/how-to-lose-weight-fast-yahoo-tells-you-a-secret/article_d3553c4c-d32a-11e0-b05d-0017a48e13f8.html

Anna431 wrote:

MANY ATHLETES NO THIS SECRET.

Anna, you sound intelligent.

Foot of the glacier wrote:

Assuming you are Caucasian and male ~ You NEED YOUR BELLY FAT! Your ancestors had to learn to survive at the foot of the glacier while other peoples frolicked in the sun. Your fighting spirit originated from scratching life from the foot of the glacier. You kept warm – like a walrus – because of your blubber. Don’t turn your back on your fat rolls. Embrace them! They are a distinct part of your ancestry.

On another note – you should probably drink more distilled spirits. I addition to FAT, your ancestors survived by drinking huge amounts of distilled spirits. Hell they invented the distillation process to keep warm. They learned a long time ago that water makes your insides rust. So stop drinking water! Drink more scotch, gin and vodka! And have another jelly donut!

Fats in!

So when is your book coming out--"Born to drink distilled spirits and have belly fat?"

this thread is a broscience magnet

I wonder if the issue isn't fat, but more with how your core holds itself together. Maybe the inner ab muscles aren't strong enough. Doing sit ups tends to only work the superficial ones. I did some exercises called stomach vacuums that I noticed tightened up my midsection. Genetically I do think I store more fat there, but by doing the stomach vacuums, it helped me look more trim.