Stubborn belly fat in your forties

Unfortunately fresh fruit is my greatest dietary weakness and I can easily eat 12 pieces of fruit on a bad day. Presumably it is the fructose which keeps me going back for more.

If I’m going to snack on fruit I normally have some cheese and/or milk as well.  Mostly because I love fruit and cheese together but I wonder if it also helps alleviate the need to come back for more.

I eat 3 or 4 pieces of fruit and handfuls of nuts between meals at work.

Without sounding a bit factious, why are you eating all that? I’m not trying to have a go, but presumably you’re not on the brink of starvation? Why are you eating all that food when you probably don’t really need to?

Anyway belly fat can come as either subcutaneous fat – mostly harmless, mostly cosmetic, and visceral fat – surrounding your organs, and can lead to some unpleasant outcomes; high blood pressure, fat in your bloodstream, sleep apnoea, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and increased risk of death from all causes.

Anyway, eat less, drink less alcohol, prey that you have the right genetics. do some exercise, get some proper sleep. Get your mind set for it taking a loooong time to sort.

We are often told that we should snack between meals to avoid getting hungry.

Or, alternatively, don’t, and just be a bit hungry. If you’re not hungry by the time you eat a meal, why are you eating it?

Anyhoo, I’ve gained about half a stone since we had the dog put down in October (RIP René, you useless but lovely hair shedding ****), and I reckon that’s mainly dueto the fact that I’m now one hour’s walk a day down, exercise-wise (and I suppose a fasted one too, as I generally took him first thing in the morning, so it was a couple of hours between getting up and eating breakfast).

You can’t spot lose weight it’s an all over body thing and as previously stated belly fat is the last to go.

Im now 53, coming up for a year since I quit drinking for health reasons (physical and mental). Have been eating a low carb, low sugar diet. Intermittently fast most days. 16-20 hours usually.
I’m lucky enough to have a job where I walk about 10k steps a day and I do some resistance training at home. Kettlebells, chin up bar and doing the plank. I’ve lost 3 stone and am now maintaining my weight at about 11 stone 4lbs, I’m 6 foot tall. I have a six pack emerging from the depths of my core but guess what? I still have a little bit of fat on my gut. Hopefully if I continue to live the way I do it’ll go eventually. There are theories about autophagy which sound interesting. I’ll just keep at it.

I was always told that it was:

“Abs are made in the gym, but revealed in the kitchen.”

I am planning to go on a diet at the end of March.

Cut out all of the snacks, increase my cardio and protein intake and try to maintain the same level of intensity whilst strength training to give my muscles a reason to hang around.

I can normally do this for about 10 weeks and lose a stone and a half, but it does become hard work after that length of time.

I’ve lost a lot (for me) over the past year.

16 hour fast – 830pm to 1230pm. Include exercise at the end of the fast period. If you’re new to that, don’t be afraid of lacking energy.

Cut down on simple carbs – replace pasta, rice etc with legumes and lots of veg. I used to have a pile of sandwiches for lunch, now I eat a pile of kale, mushrooms and eggs with a spicy sauce of some kind.

Fasting will inherently cut out snacking but just avoid eating rubbish (i.e. UPF).

I eat a pile of kale,

Kale is inedible though, there’s no compelling reason why it should be part of anyone’s diet. I swear farmers grow it as a piss-take

I’m of Asian ethnic origin, so belly fat past your 40s is pretty much a given. Mine’s not too bad, but not helped by my penchant for beer. And nice food. I do exercise regularly, do lots of swimming and walking, but the truth is that as my metabolism has slowed, so I don’t burn fat like I did in my youth (when I could eat pretty much anything and not gain any weight). So a good bit of it is down to genetics. All the men in my family sprout a belly once past 40, some even earlier, regardless of how active they are. But it does require increasing amounts of effort as you get older, to keep in check. Ride your bikes more!

“Kale is inedible though, there’s no compelling reason why it should be part of anyone’s diet. I swear farmers grow it as a piss-take”

Kale is delicious!

And stuffed full of fibre…

Just start doing heavy deadlifts and squats.

Then it’s not unsightly gut fat, it’s a power belly!

Kale is delicious!

No, it is not. Kale is a punishment beating in vegetable form.

Grow lots of kale in the garden, it makes a fantastic pesto (might be the most middle class thing i’ve ever said after offering to smoosh, not smash, daughters avocado!)

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/kale-pesto

I so wish I had properly documented my ~20Kg weight loss to ~73Kg from June ’16 to August ’17 in my mid forties.

Now back up to ~93Kg, not helped by being unable to exercise anywhere near as hard or as often over the last ~16 months, as well as the medication I’ve been taking for the last year.

Kale is excellent in minestrone.

Kale is great in fish curries.

Kale is great in fish curries.

And in veggie curries

Kale is great just sat in a field where it grows. Who on earth was eating cabbage and thought – ‘you know what, we really need to eat something tougher and less tasty than this!’.

Kale sauteed in a bit of butter, olive oil, salt, pepper and a splash of balsamic vinegar is very tasty. My wife and kids like it baked and crispy with almonds and sesame seeds which aint bad.

Kale was apparently very popular in Scotland in the past as it’s so hardy and nutritios.

Kale is full of anti nutrients, lectins and oxalates. Humans can’t digest fibre so it basically passes straight through doing not much good in the process.

Have some eggs instead.

uh huh, but then the Scots pretend to enjoy porridge, so I’ll not be taking culinary advice from them.

Kale sauteed in a bit of butter, olive oil, salt, pepper and a splash of balsamic vinegar is very tasty.

Cabbage is very tasty sauteed in just butter.

The rest of the what you’re doing is hiding how shit Kale is! 🙂

Eat lots of celery and/or ice cubes.

Both of them have a negative calorific value.

Kale, garlic, butter, salt and a spash of white wine is a staple of our roast dinners!

Cooking kale in a way that disguises its flavour is perhaps not as compelling a reason to eat it as you think it is.

So, agreed then? The best way to get rid of belly fat is have a discussion about whether Kale is in fact just animal fodder, all the while you’re doing that, you’re not eating!

job jobbed…

Kale, cabbage (maybe except Savoy 😬), cavalo Nero, greens – they’re all great.

Especially Sprouts!

maybe except Savoy

What? Savoy is splendid.

Interesting thread to read while half-listening to a work webinar.

But seriously sit ups are god for belly fat, its just a hard exercise to do especially if youre going to have to do a lot of them daily.

I used to do 20 every morning, in addition to running twice a week, and had a decent enough 6-pack – but as someone else said, it was hidden under an inch or so of flab. Form is vital though: I stopped when I slipped a disc, which I think was contributed to by my (poor) situps.

Pilates can be a good one for tone; and as others have said, running is surprisingly good at shifting belly inches, especially if it involves more than just flat pavement.

Kale is full of anti nutrients, lectins and oxalates.

So are many other foods which is why they need preparation – aka cooking. The anti nutrient thing from what I have read causes issues when fed to lab rats in large quantities. In human beings, in normal quantities, it seems no great problem has been found other than some with particular medical issues, e.g. thyroid malfunction.

The kale is fairly indigestible with all that fibre so it helps cos it flushes the system pretty well

Why are you eating all that food when you probably don’t really need to?

Because I’m hungry. Not out of boredom, as a distraction or just happen to be passing the fridge, I am aware of the difference.

I read somewhere, probably in a recemt New Scientist, that low bmi does not correlate with longevity in older peeps. It was surmised that oldies need some energy reserves to cope better with the shit that happens to them through illness and accident, which can result in periods of low food uptake.

Ozempic is good apparently, though it’s not very targeted and apparently you’ll lose subcutaneous fat where you might not want to, eg. Cheeks, ocular and other facial areas – making you look haggard pretty quickly, leading to additional expense of aesthetic fillers to replump those areas

that low bmi does not correlate with longevity in older peeps.

Scientists are beginning to see that the new weight loss drugs (Wegovy and the like)  that are being prescribed in startling numbers to older folks in the USA (it is going to go bananas when its available through Medicaid) are causing some older folk who’re not doing weight or resistance work, to loose both fat and muscle. There may be some evidence of reduced bone density. In those cases; while the disease issues related to obesity are reducing, they are facing different health issues caused by frailty.

Sometimes it giveth…

Grow lots of kale in the garden, it makes a fantastic pesto (might be the most middle class thing i’ve ever said after offering to smoosh, not smash, daughters avocado!)

I had way too much parsley once and made a parsley and walnut pesto.

Tasted great but there was more trumping than a brass band.

Anyway, I’m not so sure the belly fat is stubborn as much as it is inevitable for those of us in sedentary occupations – unless you’ve following a regime like Lambchop’s above.

Everyone really is different, I don’t think you’ll find a single solution for the masses.

The majority here seem to agree on an ‘eat less, move more’=calorie deficit (abs are made in the kitchen) solution.

I had belly fat through most of my 40’s (I still have a little, but I’ve got clearly visible abs now).  My results came by cutting out booze (over a year ago for mental health reasons).

Once I cut out alcohol I lost 2 inches off my waist in about 4 months (putting me back to a 34″ waist which is what I was in my 20’s and 30’s), with no other changes in my life.

FYI I’m late 40’s, 6’3″ and weigh 85kg but want to get that to 90kg, I cycle and row for cardio, and lift weights for stress relief.

I walk my dogs an hour or 2 most days and I always aim to consume more calories than I need as I have a hard time maintaining weight, that’s why I think it was only the alcohol that caused the spare tyre.

I logged my food until I became good at knowing when I’ve got through 3K calories each day, so I can relate to grazing on nuts and fruit in-between meals.

My 2 brothers seem to have the same metabolism, however my older brother does loads of cardio and is leaner than me, and my younger brother doesn’t exercise and has a desk job and a fantastic beer gut! So genetics only get you so far!

I’d stick with what you’re doing, it should work!

People mentioned being pushed for time, and one of the best exercises for upperbody and core I’ve found, which is extremely time efficient, is the macebell.

I just do 360s with it, but it is surprising how much your core is involved, especially as you bring your feet together.

And I spend a fair bit of time walking the dog, so I’ve just tried rucking – starting with 8Kg in my rucksack. It certainly upped my work rate going up hill (did 15 mile and 2800 ft ascent) and I enjoyed it so much I’ve just bought a proper ruckiing rucksack and some weight plates to do it more often to make the most use of my dog walking time.

Fundamentally I think I am someone that needs to run (although I don’t enjoy it) and am waiting until I drop another stone before I start again to keep the stress off my 60 year old knees. There is something different about running vs cycling, and particularly for helping beat off depression (although it hasn’t worked for the guy across the road).