My Health and Fitness Blog

Ah, to be young again. Not that I’m all that much older than the good old days - I’m only approaching my late 20’s and early 30’s. However, back when I was 18, it was much easier for me to stay in shape and keep myself healthy, while maintaining a nice, tidy flat stomach. Now that several years have past, it’s not so easy anymore. Frankly, I never thought my time would come as I always figured favorable genetics would always be on my side. After all, both my mother and father have relatively thin body types. My mom in particular is as skinny as a stick and my dad (with his chicken legs) isn’t too far behind. While there was a time period in his life when my dad did balloon up in body size due to over-eating, stress, and lack of exercise, his overall skinny genetics ultimately allowed his body to shrink back to his standard youthful size.

But genetics can only help us so much and time eventually catches up to us all. We all have different genetics and we’re born with different predilections to certain body types, with different innate strengths, inherent resistances, and weaknesses to a variety of diseases and conditions. Some of us are simply able to better maintain thinner bodies, while others are more susceptible to frustrating growth issues like big pot bellies, thunder thighs, or massively large butt cheeks. There’s nothing we can do but accept the fact that we can only work with the cards that we’ve been dealt with in life. There’s no sense moaning and groaning about our current body shapes, or pointing our chubby fingers at our overweight parents and blaming them for passing on their so-called fat genes on to us. All we can do is take matters into our hands now and shape ourselves the way we want to be. While due to genetics, losing weight in the right places may be easier said than done for some people than for others, it can be done - but it takes dedication, sacrifice, and perhaps a good dose of natural endorphin pain (from exercise and sore muscles). Remember, no pain no gain, and no guts no glory, and no risk no reward - take your pick in cheesy expressions - but they’re all true.

A Big Problem Area Of Mine - I Have A Stubborn Little Pot Belly That Just Won’t Deflate and Leave Me Alone

They come in all shapes, sizes, and dimensions. No, I’m not talking about beanie babies - I’m referring to the timeless symbol of bodily decadence - the human potbelly. Some of us even opt to give them cute nicknames and refer to them with funny euphemisms - everything from lower belly pooches, personal life preservers, spare tires, love handles, to beer bellies. But let’s not sugar coat it and forget what having a saggy or flabby pot belly really is - it’s a sign that you have excess weight and a chunk of unhealthy body fat.

While I have an overall skinny genetic predisposition, and on first glance you might immediately assume I was skinny all the way around and otherwise in shape, if I pulled up my T-shirt, you might think differently. Hidden under my shirt is a jiggly treasure trove of human belly fat - perfect for some fun loving squeezing and a show of wealth perhaps in some poorer countries, but to me, it’s a sad reminder that I’m out of shape and have been hitting the ice cream cartons and Asian carryout meals a bit too hard.

It wasn’t always like this. I used to be a very avid runner. I ran cross country in high school and consistently ran and exercised with heavy weights back in college. I even challenged myself and successfully ran a 10 mile half marathon race only a few years ago in the Cherry Blossom Run of Washington D.C. But ever since I left graduate school and started working hard in my job and eventually transitioning into my work at home routine, things have started to sag - especially my lower belly region. I may be a skinny guy from afar - but I have a baby Buddha belly in the making. I refuse to allow this to happen and have recently promised myself to do whatever it takes to get my body back in healthier shape, and ditch the excess stomach pooch. My plan is to start my aerobic and weight training today, 60 minutes every day until this extra spare tire of mine deflates.

It’s not just for aesthetics either as I’m really not vain at all. While most people would agree that a body with a flat stomach generally looks better than one that exhibits signs of being overweight, I’m more concerned about the long term future health implications. Despite my parents’ generally skinny genetics, my dad and some of the other male members of his family have had difficult histories of battling conditions like diabetes and various cardiovascular diseases caused by living unhealthy lives. I’m determined not to relive the same mistakes of the past.

The Risks, Dangers, and Truths About Having Belly Fat

While some people will say that’s it’s more important to love your body, be comfortable in your own skin, than it is to perpetuate the benefits of having a certain body type, I disagree. Losing that belly is not just about looks, the sex appeal factor of having a flat stomach, or avoiding the embarrassment of having a belly fold that just hangs out, it’s also the important health benefits gained by not having it. Ultimately, body fat is simply excess energy stored in the body for use later. If the fat is not consumed through physical activity, the deposits have a tendency to accumulate over time. The way fat is distributed in our bodies has a serious effect on the types of diseases and conditions we may grow susceptible to. It’s a pretty well known and researched fact that people with apple shaped bodies (chubbiest in the belly area) have a greater risk of diabetes and heart disease than those with pear shaped bodies (fattest in the thighs, hips, and butt region). It’s no coincidence that those with apple shaped lower bodies tend to be at greater risk of these risky conditions than those with more favorable silhouettes. While the apple shape tends to hit men harder, women are certainly not immune as old age and menopause will gradually shift their body fat buildups towards the belly area as well.

The type of belly fat that is most hazardous to our health is not the subcutaneous belly fat that sits right underneath the excess skin that bulges out, or the flabby part our friends and family physically squeeze and tug on to annoy us. The most dangerous part in terms of health risk is the visceral fat, which lies deep in your belly and surrounds your internal abdominal organs. It’s the visceral fat deposits that are the primary triggers of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, breast cancer, and other serious metabolic insulin and hormone related ailments.

How To Battle the Belly Bulge and Keep The Stomach Fat Off

As we age, our body metabolism naturally slows down, making it easier for fat to accumulate. It’s unavoidable and a part of life so there’s no sense trying to stop it, but there are ways to slow down and perhaps manipulate the fat accumulation effects through proper diet and exercise. Belly fat is simply excess fat that has been built up and stored in our bodies. To get rid of it, you’ll need to force the body to consume up the excess energy to reveal the flat abs underneath.

The great news about stomach fat is that it is the first type of fat to disappear once you engage in a concerted effort to lose weight through improved diet and better exercise. While maintaining a healthy diet comprised of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and everything else your mom told you to eat when you were little, is important, perhaps consistent exercise is the most effective method of all. The solution to getting rid of that excess belly fat is through a combination of aerobic exercise and weight training. While some may rely only on running and other aerobic forms, research has shown that strength training greatly enhances the fat burning process.

1) Aerobic Exercise - Aerobic exercise is simply any type of physical activity that can get your heart rate up and make you sweat for a length of time. Aerobic exercise is important because it helps the body burn calories and fat. If you want to reduce that big belly, you must burn off your excess calorie stores. Strenuous physical activities like treadmill running, elliptical walking, stair climbing, swimming, and basketball fit the bill. Contrary to what my golf enthusiast dad says or thinks, golfing and putting a little ball, while riding around the course on a golf cart is not considered aerobic exercise - there’s a reason why plenty of aging male golfers still maintain their Santa Claus-like bellies.

Ideally, you need to exercise at least 60 minutes every day, 7 days a week. However, taking Sunday off has been recommended by some fitness instructors to give your body time to rest. For those new to aerobic exercise, 30 minutes of running per day may be appropriate to start. Personally, my planned workout regiment is to run on the treadmill for 30-60 minutes every other day, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and to lift  weights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

2) Weight Training - Strength training must be used in concert with aerobic exercise and is an important component of the fat burning process. Currently, too many men rely solely on lifting weights alone to burn fat. But without the addition of aerobic exercise, their efforts may ultimately prove to be futile. You don’t need to bench press hundreds of pounds to accomplish this. Any type of weight lifting, whether using dumbbells or press machines can help you grow muscle.

When you lift weights and exert pressure on your muscles, you essentially wear and break down existing muscles cells, forcing the body to rebuild itself and grow stronger muscle mass to compensate. Muscle mass helps to burn off fat and developing it is a must. For the women out there who are afraid and worried about developing huge unsightly muscles, don’t worry. Biologically and physically, your bodies are unable to bulk up to the extent that male bodies can. Women simply lack the higher testosterone concentrations found in male bodies that permit the enhanced muscle growth potential. In case you’re wondering, most of the female body builders out there that do bulk up significantly almost always consume special supplements and body enhancer substances to promote this type of extraordinary masculine growth.

3) Healthy Diet - I’m most definitely not an expert on eating a healthy diet and it’s an area I wish to greatly improve on. But a healthy diet is obviously comprised of nutritional foods like fruits and vegetables, which contain important complex carbohydrates and fiber. There really is no magical diet that can help you lose weight, although certain food products, like fish, contain important nutrients for healthier living. Try to lay off the simple carbs like white bread and refined pastas if possible. Remember, to shrink your caloric intake. To lose the belly, you’ll need to consume less overall calories than you burn off.

4) Spot Toning and Crunches - This is probably the least important and least effective way to lose belly fat. Doing crunches and the exercise technique in which you repetitively suck in your belly numerous times to tone it, should only be practiced after all the above steps have been performed. Doing spot toning and sit ups to strengthen your belly won’t reduce the stomach size unless you lose weight. Excess bellies are simply excess fat that is covering up your internal abdominal organs. To get rid of that, you must engage in aerobic and strength training. Crunches only help to condition it further but should be the last step to a six pack ab, not the first.

Good luck on your way to a nice flat stomach. I hope to reduce mine in the near future as well. Looks like it’s time for me to hit the treadmill and the weight machine again.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 4:17 pm and is filed under Diet, Fitness, Goals, Weight Loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.