Reducing Fat Around The Middle

[dclaryjr]

Eating fat doesn't make you fat.

Thanks for cheering me up

He's right. The body doesn't absorb fat unless insulin is present and if you eat carbo's low on the glycaemic scale, you can eat proteins which contain fat and not gain an ounce. I lost 50 pounds this way several years ago and have never come close to gaining it back.

Yep, I've lost 45 pounds and my diet runs about 60% fat. Most of it comes from healthy oils (like olive and coconut), but also from meat, eggs, and nuts.

[Robski]

Try doing the plank 3 times 1 minute everyday.

It looks easy and the the first 1 minute might be but it gets harder and it's a great way to tone up and improve your posture.

[dclaryjr]

Try doing the plank 3 times 1 minute everyday.

It looks easy and the the first 1 minute might be but it gets harder and it's a great way to tone up and improve your posture.

And combine that with a side plank (on each side).

[JSixpack]

Try doing the plank 3 times 1 minute everyday.

It looks easy and the the first 1 minute might be but it gets harder and it's a great way to tone up and improve your posture.

And combine that with a side plank (on each side).

So that, after a few months, you are entitled to the secret pleasure of knowing that underneath your fat, imperceptible to anyone but yourself, does lie a bit of muscle.

Edited July 2, 2008 by JSixpack

[dclaryjr]

So that, after a few months, you are entitled to the secret pleassure of knowing that underneath your fat, imperceptible to anyone but yourself, does lie a bit of muscle.

Yep, the "show" part of the benefit won't be there if the fat isn't shed. But there's no need to wait until it's gone to start doing some muscle development. The overall responses above are pretty obvious--diet is the key.

[Robski]

Yes and also posture helps significantly in improving not only how you look to others but how you feel about yourself.

[MaximumSecurity]

Can you better define what you mean when you say exercise regularly? What is your body fat percentage now?

The best fat burning I've found has been High Intensity Interval Training on an elliptical trainer machine. This means 4 minute warmup then 30 second sprints at 80% of your fastest possible rate, then rest for 2 minutes and repeat. Try for eight sprints in one session. Do this three times a week. You can alternate with a day of 15 second sprints at 100%. This will crank up your metabolism for the next 24 hours or so compared to 45 minutes running which might burn more during the session but then stop burning calories a couple hours later.

On three other days, lift weights, aiming for low reps and high weights. Do full body workouts, meaning use every muscle in your body at each session. Only rest 30 seconds between sets, and stretch between sets. The science behind this is that the more muscles you use, the more calories it will take to "repair" them. Maintaining muscle uses more calories than maintaining fat, even when you're resting so the more muscle you have the faster you will burn the fat.

Do not diet, ie cut your calories drastically as this will signal to your body that it is starving and it will begin to "digest" muscle for energy and hold on the fat as an emergency measure. Instead, change your diet to shock your body. Cut out bad carbs like bread, rice, cereals, pasta for one month. Then eat only whole grains, like brown rice, whole wheat pasta and bread etc. Don't drink fruit juice, eat the fruit instead. Don't drink alcohol, cut out dairy products except 0% fat milk or yogurt, don't eat desserts, don't drink any soda that isn't 0 calories. For a nighttime snack, drink protein powder with water. The chocolate whey protein from GNC is great.

Eat as much fatless protein and vegetables as you want. Fish is best but not shell fish or shrimp. White meat chicken, no skin. Grilled food is good. Fried food bad. Even wok food will be bad if it is from a food stand since they almost all use palm oil. Use canola oil when you cook at home. Dark color vegetables are better except carrots which turn to sugar which then becomes fat.

You can also take supplements like chitosan which prevents fat absorption; garcinia cambogia which prevents sugar from being converted to fat; kelp which reduces accumulated fat; inositol which emulsifies fat; L-lysine which metabolizes fat; L-carnitine which burns fat for energy; and taurine which prevents fat absorption.

Hope this helps!

[dclaryjr]

Use canola oil when you cook at home. Dark color vegetables are better except carrots which turn to sugar which then becomes fat.

First of all, there are a lot of better choices than canola oil to cook with. Palm and coconut oil are two good choices. Here's a good post outlining the benefits and downfalls of many oils:

Oils

Look around Scott's site and you'll find a wealth of information on healthy eating.

There is no reason to avoid carrots. ALL carbohydrates are broken down into sugar during digestion. If you eat a lot of carbs, then insulin will cause the excess to be stored as fat.

The best advice I can give you on diet is to look beyond TV for diet advice! A lot of what I see being posted here repeats old conventional wisdom which is being challenged today. It will take a long time to overcome the phobia that has been created around dietary fat but you can find lots of credible sources out there battling the bad science behind it.

Here's one thing to chew on: for the last couple of decades, the government sponsored "food pyramid" in the U.S. has promoted a diet base on grains and declared fat to be bad for you. During that timeframe, the incidence of obesity and Type II diabetes has reached near epidemic proportions.

[JSixpack]

the U.S. has promoted a diet base on grains and declared fat to be bad for you. During that timeframe, the incidence of obesity and Type II diabetes has reached near epidemic proportions.

The obese and diabetic pay not the least attention to any government advice. Or to anyone else's for that matter: they eat whatever they like. Often.

[dclaryjr]

the U.S. has promoted a diet base on grains and declared fat to be bad for you. During that timeframe, the incidence of obesity and Type II diabetes has reached near epidemic proportions.

The obese and diabetic pay not the least attention to any government advice. Or to anyone else's for that matter: they eat whatever they like. Often.

Yes they do. Maybe not directly but the government's support of the grain industry definitely filters down via advertising and the selection of products on grocer's shelves. Also, school menus are based on government guidelines. My point is to not blindly accept the conventional wisdom of the last two decades concerning low fat diets, cholesterol, dietary fat, and most of what passes as mainstream nutritional advice. I highly recommend reading Gary Taubes's book Good Calories, Bad Calories or Google him and find one of his video presentations. Even if you don't agree with his conclusions, he makes a great case that much of what we do believe is based on bad science.

[Firefan]

Dclaryjr (dam_n - what a name - had to recheck 3 times and probably STILL mispelled it ) has a good point.

From an evolution point of view it makes little sense that the foundation of our diet should be grains/bread as shown as the foundation of the food pyramids we see.

Nope; our bodies have not changed evolution-wise from the days when we were having veggies/roots/fruits/plants/berries/nuts/seeds as the foundation with smaller prey thrown in (a frog here, a bug there, a snake there, a bird there, a small fish here, some eggs there).

We were certainly not grinding hard little grains into powder/cereals.

Even the "good" grains can be questioned as it adds to the carbohydrate overload we see in our diets today - but it is an easy way to get those fibers we do not get as we do not get anough fiber rich veggies, and at least does not give the insulin spikes that the processed carbs (white rice/flour/suger Etc.) does. Oatmeal is still part of my diet for that reason.

Anyway; it has been said here already: for fatloss diet+exercise WILL work(no matter where the fat it). I like interval training myself - better results and faster, combined with weight training.

Cheers!

Edited July 7, 2008 by Firefan

[Ulysses G.]

the U.S. has promoted a diet base on grains and declared fat to be bad for you. During that timeframe, the incidence of obesity and Type II diabetes has reached near epidemic proportions.

The obese and diabetic pay not the least attention to any government advice. Or to anyone else's for that matter: they eat whatever they like. Often.

What total bullsh*t. I eat 3 healthy meals a day with no snacks. If I ate what I wanted, I would be twice the size I am now.

[dclaryjr]

name='Firefan' date='2008-07-07 05:32:44' post='2073724']

Dclaryjr (dam_n - what a name - had to recheck 3 times and probably STILL mispelled it ) has a good point.

LOL! One time I decided to use my middle name spelled backwards for a username in a golf forum. Try typing "lawrence" backwards with straining your brain!

From an evolution point of view it makes little sense that the foundation of our diet should be grains/bread as shown as the foundation of the food pyramids we see.

Bingo! My whole philosphy on eating and exercise is based on this concept. Mark Sisson (www.marksdailyapple.com) calls it following the Primal Blueprint.

Anyway; it has been said here already: for fatloss diet+exercise WILL work(no matter where the fat it). I like interval training myself - better results and faster, combined with weight training.

Likewise although I throw in long, easy to moderate activity in as well. If you put this in the paleo framework, our ancient ancestors spent long hours trekking across the plains, but with some intense effort to catch game or to perhaps avoid being caught by predators themselves. The majority of us don't have time to go for 3-4 hour hikes every day so I try to do hour long walks at a decent clip. On weekends I do my best to replicate my hunter-gatherer ancestors by walking for several hours over green fields while hunting and gathering the golf balls I hit into the rough!

[mommysboy]

eat less.

[GaiYaang]

eat less.

Thank you very simple two words.

Most people really have a hard time, they need to develope a new eating habit.

[JSixpack]

the U.S. has promoted a diet base on grains and declared fat to be bad for you. During that timeframe, the incidence of obesity and Type II diabetes has reached near epidemic proportions.

The obese and diabetic pay not the least attention to any government advice. Or to anyone else's for that matter: they eat whatever they like. Often.

What total bullsh*t. I eat 3 healthy meals a day with no snacks. If I ate what I wanted, I would be twice the size I am now.

You're obese/diabetic now? And you got that way by eating 3 healthy meals a day w/ no snacks?

BTW, healthy according to what definition?

[Steve2UK]

I see that several people say "no fruit juice" - and that puzzles me. I drink a fair amount of various Tipco orange juices - the ones "not from concentrate" and with no added sweetener. Similarly, Tipco apple juice - made from concentrate but also with no added sweetener.

What I can't understand is why the juice should be bad (fattening?) yet the fresh fruit is supposed to be good and I should eat as much as possible? I appreciate that some of the fruit "goodness" (and fibre, obviously) is likely to be lost during the processing, but that would just make it less good (than fresh whole fruit) rather than actually bad - or not?

On a separate point, I read long ago that lecithin is supposed to be good for helping (most?) fats to metabolise - is that actually the case? If so what kind of daily dose is appropriate?

[Tolley]

Some fruit juices have more calories than sodas so they are definitely fattening.

High sugar fruits eaten whole if eaten without any other foods may not necessarily be the best option nutrionally either.

Your blood sugar levels can be adversely affected if you don't eat the fruit with some protein.

I think the point about grains is a good one.

If you just ate protein, vegetables and fruit without grains i am sure you would lose weight quickly.

[Turnkey]

Many thanks to all who have posted here in particular:

shawndoc, sendbaht,Jsix,sendb,jetjock,cccp,cobra,GaiYaang,ULYG, rob etc, Mobi, Tammi,adam.MM NK.PP.oldman river, wong, robski, MAximum Security esp, firefox, mommysboy,claryri, tolly, firefox, steve2uk, koto, and anyone else not mentioned.

Several very helpful and astute info given to me!

As this is an ongoing posting(to reduce my gut) I welcome all further tips.

From 1st July I have started to implement many of the suggestions (eating and exercise regime)and I am keeping a daily diary/notebook, and I will report back in about 6-8 months and give details of my progress.

Rather than talk about it, I am at it so to speak....

Again thank you and all postings gratefullly received now and in the future.

Edited July 10, 2008 by Turnkey

[Old Man River]

For me, although I originally lost most of my excess weight through diet, to keep it off I use the elliptical trainer (it has already been mentioned) 5 times a week for at least 45 minutes at a time. This exercise machine, which is in almost every gym, melts weight off exactly where you want to lose it. I do this because my knees can't take jogging (which melts weight off around the middle quicker). Hence, as you have already surmised, diet and exercise is the only healthy way to do this. Unfortunately, there is no easy way around it.

[JSixpack]

What I can't understand is why the juice should be bad (fattening?) yet the fresh fruit is supposed to be good and I should eat as much as possible? I appreciate that some of the fruit "goodness" (and fibre, obviously) is likely to be lost during the processing, but that would just make it less good (than fresh whole fruit) rather than actually bad - or not?

Fruit juice contains LOTS of natural sugar. It ain't the same as fresh fruit because concentrated. If you eat an orange, you don't get nearly as much juice as you do when you drink a glass of pure juice. So basically you should eat oranges, not drink orange juice.

If you must drink fruit juice, you really should dilute it with water, at least 50/50. It's not bad once you're used to it. Grape juice is one of the best fruit juices since it confers much of the benefit of red wine.

Better would be to drink unsalted tomato juice if you can find it. (Forget about low-salt V8 in Thailand.) Tipco makes one, and I hope it isn't discontinued because Thais won't drink anything unsalted, unfattening, or unsweetened. Already it seems not as plentiful as before on the store shelves.

[dclaryjr]

From 1st July I have started to implement many of the suggestions (eating and exercise regime)and I am keeping a daily diary/notebook, and I will report back in about 6-8 months and give details of my progress.

If you'd like to try an online tool for tracking your progress try fitday.com. You can track your food intake, exercise, keep a diary, get reports, and more. And it's free!

[dclaryjr]

This exercise machine, which is in almost every gym, melts weight off exactly where you want to lose it. I do this because my knees can't take jogging (which melts weight off around the middle quicker).

Believe this if it helps you but make no mistake--there is NO SUCH THING as targeting fat loss from a particular part of the body other than invasive methods.

[Steve2UK]

What I can't understand is why the juice should be bad (fattening?) yet the fresh fruit is supposed to be good and I should eat as much as possible? I appreciate that some of the fruit "goodness" (and fibre, obviously) is likely to be lost during the processing, but that would just make it less good (than fresh whole fruit) rather than actually bad - or not?

Fruit juice contains LOTS of natural sugar. It ain't the same as fresh fruit because concentrated. If you eat an orange, you don't get nearly as much juice as you do when you drink a glass of pure juice. So basically you should eat oranges, not drink orange juice.

If you must drink fruit juice, you really should dilute it with water, at least 50/50. It's not bad once you're used to it. Grape juice is one of the best fruit juices since it confers much of the benefit of red wine.

Better would be to drink unsalted tomato juice if you can find it. (Forget about low-salt V8 in Thailand.) Tipco makes one, and I hope it isn't discontinued because Thais won't drink anything unsalted, unfattening, or unsweetened. Already it seems not as plentiful as before on the store shelves.

Thanks JS - interesting points.

[Old Man River]

This exercise machine, which is in almost every gym, melts weight off exactly where you want to lose it. I do this because my knees can't take jogging (which melts weight off around the middle quicker).

Believe this if it helps you but make no mistake--there is NO SUCH THING as targeting fat loss from a particular part of the body other than invasive methods.

I have heard that, but then another way to look at it is the elliptical trainer helps you burn off fat wherever you have it without the pounding on the knees that occurs while jogging. Since the OP states he wants to lose fat around the middle, that is probably where he will lose it.

[JSixpack]

the U.S. has promoted a diet base on grains and declared fat to be bad for you. During that timeframe, the incidence of obesity and Type II diabetes has reached near epidemic proportions.

The obese and diabetic pay not the least attention to any government advice. Or to anyone else's for that matter: they eat whatever they like. Often.

Yes they do. Maybe not directly but the government's support of the grain industry definitely filters down via advertising and the selection of products on grocer's shelves.

You mean, my obese/diabetic friends' gorging on double bacon cheeseburgers, fries, potato chips, sausage, garbage pizzas, biscuits & gravy, KFC, bbq ribs, ice cream, shakes, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups--it's all owing to a government conspiracy to support the grain industry, not their taste buds? It's mind control?

I love the entertainment here afforded by our forum conspiracy theorists. A health-related topic always brings 'em out, too.

My point is to not blindly accept the conventional wisdom of the last two decades concerning low fat diets, cholesterol, dietary fat, and most of what passes as mainstream nutritional advice.

Oh, but my obese/diabetic friends totally agree with you! Talk to them about low fat etc. and they'll laugh in your face. They live for eating exactly what they like; any substitute will just ruin their day. Their doctors, families, nutritionist (!) and I myself have urged them to stop eating all that junk but they pay no mind. I tell them, non-fat potato chips (as are readily available now in the States) taste as good as regular--and they really do, though they also represent salty empty calories--but they try one, insist it tastes "wrong," wrinkle their noses and refuse to eat any more.

In the meantime, they've got their knees replaced and keep takin' their insulin shots . . . I fear they won't be with us much longer.

[dclaryjr]

I love the entertainment here afforded by our forum conspiracy theorists. A health-related topic always brings 'em out, too.

No conspiracy...just pointing out that advice from the government that is turning out to be questionable. We are being bombarded in the U.S. to eat "whole grains"--a result of the infamous food pyramid. That's not a conspiracy--that's fact. You can choose to believe the advice of the last 20 years--be my guest. Again, I'm just suggesting people do some research. You can believe the advice of the last 20 years, or read the growing body of evidence suggesting that it's wrong. Read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes with an open mind and then tell me that there is no room for doubting was has passed for nutritional advice the last couple of decades.

I tell them, non-fat potato chips (as are readily available now in the States) taste as good as regular--and they really do, though they also represent salty empty calories

Potato chips are crap--fat or fat free. Nice advice.

In the meantime, they've got their knees replaced and keep takin' their insulin shots

Sure...from eating a lot of junk food...like those chips you recommended. Eat REAL FOOD! Meat, eggs, vegetables, some fruit, nuts & seeds, AND get some exercise.

[JSixpack]

Potato chips are crap--fat or fat free. Nice advice.

Which I said, so you're just blowing the anticipated smoke at this point. And it is nice advice, thank you! Since they MUST have their chips fix, then it's a start in introducing them to the notion that food with fewer calories can be edible.

You see, for them to eat most anything with fewer calories has got to be an improvement. This is not to go into the effects of your typical fats in regular potato chips . . . . And by the way I do think they'd be much better off following the latest gov't guidlines (that you insist are to support the grain industry) than their own "guidelines."

Edited July 12, 2008 by JSixpack

[dclaryjr]

And by the way I do think they'd be much better off following the latest gov't guidlines (that you insist are to support the grain industry)

You're putting words in my mouth now. The way you stated it, you're saying I think the government came up with the food pyramid for the purpose of supporting the grain industry. I didn't say that--that IS the stuff of conspiracy theorist. But the existence of the pyramid DOES help promote the sale of grains.

(Do a little research on farm subsidies and then you'll see some real government support for the grain industry--but that's another topic).

[ZZZ]

My fat burning advice would be following:

1. Never drink any cold drinks.

I know that some people advice the opposite as the body needs to heat the liquid to body temperature and thereby burn calories.

My belief is that the brain will interpret the cold inside the body as if cold has entered thru the skin and will then use all available fat to build a protective insulation layer to prevent further cold to enter.

I believe a great deal of the obesity in America is due to Americans addictions to ice cold drinks.

(Sure, I like my beer cold and some ice in my gin tonic but take the rest of the drinks warm)

2. Never drink with meals.

Much nutrition require saliva to be properly absorbed, by drinking while eating you are washing away or diluting the saliva and much of the nutrition will be lost and the food will not be properly digested.

Much food require a certain acidity to be present in the stomach, this acid will also kill some germs and parasites. By drinking while eating you are greatly diluting the acidity in your stomach and the food will not be properly digested.

If you have to have a soup with your meal have this, like the Chinese, at the end of the meal for same reasons.

An added benefit is that you can sometimes cut half the cost of a meal if you don’t have a drink.

(Sure, I do like a glass of wine or a beer with my meal but only occasionally; all “routine” meals are without drinks.)

3. Fasting.

I know that many people say that if you fast you will only train your body to store fat and you will not lose any weight only add fat. My belief is that if this was true everyone would be skinny as we presently don’t train our body to store any fat as we are never more than a few hours from our next meal.

The thing is that our bodies are perfectly trained to store fat, just have a look around. The thing with fasting is that it will train our bodies to BURN stored fat, something most people have never experienced.

Fast 2-4 days a week for a month and you will notice a great difference. Only drink (warm or room temp) liquids during the fast, vegetable juices are good. For the days you do eat try to stick to a vegetarian (raw) diet as much as possible. Avoid any kind of grains and dairy products. The first day will be the hardest after that it’s usually easy to go a few more days as the stomach shrinks and the hunger feelings disappears.

4. Exercise.

I’m too lazy and undisciplined to go to the gym. I also think the gym is dangerous as most people tend to over do it and injure them self.

The better way is to live an active life. Walk when possible, if you have to use a transport walk the first kilometer, use a bicycle, don’t use the lift or get off a few floors early, make your home a “gym” where you have a few work out stations where you do a few exercises whenever you have a minute to spare, swim in the pool, play games you enjoy.

In all, don’t make exercise a chore you hate, make it part of your daily life.

Get your heart pumping 5 times a day, no need for 10km runs, just a quick walk up the stairs, a 50m dash or some quick push ups will do.

All this help me maintain a BMI of 22 without any great effort.