Pot belly shame
Discussion
Historically I’ve always been slim. However, ageing, marriage, parenthood, and lockdown/WFH seem to have brought an end to that. I’m 36, male, 6ft tall, and virtually inactive. I’m 13 stone 13 lbs, and my BMI is 26.4 which is classed as overweight. I have a huge pot belly and look 9 months pregnant. No clothes look good on me and I feel ashamed of my body and what it says about me. I have no time for gym or exercise. I can’t cook and rely on family to feed me. I do get plenty of decent/healthy meals, but I also have lots of McDonalds, Dominos, takeaway fish and chips and pizzas etc. Lately, I tend to have a bottle of lager or two each day. I snack between meals out of boredom.
Is my health in jeopardy? What do I need to do to fix this? I don’t care about building muscle or being ripped. I just want to be slim and have a flat stomach. Please advise.
Is my health in jeopardy? What do I need to do to fix this? I don’t care about building muscle or being ripped. I just want to be slim and have a flat stomach. Please advise.
Difficult one as everyone stores fat differently.
I've always been slim and at mid thirties, naturally started developing a pot-belly.
To avoid that 'skinnyfat' dad bod - I try and do an hour a day (midweek) on upper body weights. Chest, biceps, upper back, shoulders, triceps.
And reduce carbs - try and cut out bread/pasta.
I know you've said you've no time for gym, but try and spare an hour a day midweek.
Broadening your shoulders, firming up your pecs and toning your arms as you slowly lose the stomach will make you feel loads better.
Obviously, the more walking/exercise you can do the better too.
I've always been slim and at mid thirties, naturally started developing a pot-belly.
To avoid that 'skinnyfat' dad bod - I try and do an hour a day (midweek) on upper body weights. Chest, biceps, upper back, shoulders, triceps.
And reduce carbs - try and cut out bread/pasta.
I know you've said you've no time for gym, but try and spare an hour a day midweek.
Broadening your shoulders, firming up your pecs and toning your arms as you slowly lose the stomach will make you feel loads better.
Obviously, the more walking/exercise you can do the better too.
You need to make time and put in effort, it won’t be easy so you’ll need to really want it. If it was easy everyone would do it.
Get a pair of trainers and look up couch to 5k. And your local park run. Those are too good places to start, even if you have to run before work early doors.
Food wise you know what you have to do, cut out the fried rubbish. It’s a lifestyle choice and your body will thank you for it.
Get a pair of trainers and look up couch to 5k. And your local park run. Those are too good places to start, even if you have to run before work early doors.
Food wise you know what you have to do, cut out the fried rubbish. It’s a lifestyle choice and your body will thank you for it.
Your bored but you can't find time to exercise bit odd, anyway ditch the s
t and stick to the heathy stuff, you don't need to go to the gym or ride a bike or run, just a half decent walk every day should be surffice to get you started on losing the gut, and of course ditch the booze, carrying on like you are will lead to serious health issues in the not too distant future.
t and stick to the heathy stuff, you don't need to go to the gym or ride a bike or run, just a half decent walk every day should be surffice to get you started on losing the gut, and of course ditch the booze, carrying on like you are will lead to serious health issues in the not too distant future.AudiMan9000 said:
I have no time for gym or exercise. .
Garbage.If you've time to fill your face with Maccy D's and pizza then you've got time to exercise.
Stop making excuses.
I was in exactly the same boat as you until about 6 weeks ago when something just clicked in my head that action was needed before it was too late.
I'm eating less (&better) and moving more. 10lbs down already. More to go of course but if I can do it then anyone can.
Get off your backside and go get it.
Get a job early morning/all night shelf filler job at your local supermarket. The equivalent of 4 hours of hard gym workout, and you get paid for it. Walk to and from work as a bonus exercise. Get a pooch that needs lots of exercise, go for long walks. Buy a mountain bike. Food. One 'proper meal each day, 2 other light snacks.
Edited by robinessex on Wednesday 8th September 22:45
AudiMan9000 said:
I do get plenty of decent/healthy meals, but I also have lots of McDonalds, Dominos, takeaway fish and chips and pizzas etc. Lately, I tend to have a bottle of lager or two each day. I snack between meals out of boredom.
.
In addition to my detailed answer above - this is why it's happened..
You've had a good run of being slim - now it's caught up.
Cut out as much carbs as you can. Swerve the 7-10 beers a week. Just drink when you're out.
For me - I love my takeaways and it's not realistic for me to not have them. So I consider what I have.
Try and avoid Pizza, and Chips.
Try your local kebab houses and get Chicken Kebab with fresh salad, try to avoid the bread.
If going to Chinese, try a protein rich Char Sui Foo Yung with Beansprous instead of Fried Rice.
This isn't 'slimming' food but it's definitely better than loading on carbs.
AudiMan9000 said:
I should add, after meals, my stomach feels so bloated it could burst.
It's possible that this is due to an intolerance to something you're eating. Keep a food diary and see if it happens after eating certain things, then cut them out. I'm 46 years old and as slim as I was at 18. I eat healthily and exercise regularly but I have the same issue. After eating some foods my belly takes on the appearance of a spacehopper and and I'm in excruciating pain. For me, onions (unless they've been fried to within an inch of their life), cocoa and too much yeast seem to be the triggers.Also, make time for exercise and stop eating crap.
Furthermore, don't expect to see results immediately. It often takes a few months of culinary misery before you start to see any benefit at all. It's having the faith to not give up during that phase that's the challenge. Once the results start to show you'll be surprised how quickly you can build and maintain momentum.
A similar thing happened to me in my mid 30’s. Always slim, could eat anything and then the belly crept up on me. Only reached about 13.5 stone at 5’11” but the extra weight really didn’t sit right on me. I’m an ectomorph, so my legs and arms stayed skinny, and my shoulders narrow. All the fat went on my torso; belly, love handles, even a bit of moobage.
Anyway, I committed to sorting it. I ran, bought a cross trainer, ate better and lost the weight. But it didn’t quite work as well as I’d hoped. You see, I had shrunk but I had little muscle mass and was, well, soft. Like skinny, skinny fat.
So, change of approach. Pretty much abandoned cardio and started chucking weights around. Much better. Still a pretty small guy, and a similar weight to how I was after my first attempt at losing weight using cardio / HIIT, but with a bit more muscle and low body fat percentage.
But, and it’s a big but. It takes effort and commitment. Not just for a bit but ongoing. You need to consider it a lifestyle change, set goals. You have to want to change badly enough to put in the effort. There’s no magic pill unfortunately.
Best of luck.
Anyway, I committed to sorting it. I ran, bought a cross trainer, ate better and lost the weight. But it didn’t quite work as well as I’d hoped. You see, I had shrunk but I had little muscle mass and was, well, soft. Like skinny, skinny fat.
So, change of approach. Pretty much abandoned cardio and started chucking weights around. Much better. Still a pretty small guy, and a similar weight to how I was after my first attempt at losing weight using cardio / HIIT, but with a bit more muscle and low body fat percentage.
But, and it’s a big but. It takes effort and commitment. Not just for a bit but ongoing. You need to consider it a lifestyle change, set goals. You have to want to change badly enough to put in the effort. There’s no magic pill unfortunately.
Best of luck.
Heathwood said:
A similar thing happened to me in my mid 30’s. Always slim, could eat anything and then the belly crept up on me. Only reached about 13.5 stone at 5’11” but the extra weight really didn’t sit right on me. I’m an ectomorph, so my legs and arms stayed skinny, and my shoulders narrow. All the fat went on my torso; belly, love handles, even a bit of moobage.
Anyway, I committed to sorting it. I ran, bought a cross trainer, ate better and lost the weight. But it didn’t quite work as well as I’d hoped. You see, I had shrunk but I had little muscle mass and was, well, soft. Like skinny, skinny fat.
So, change of approach. Pretty much abandoned cardio and started chucking weights around. Much better. Still a pretty small guy, and a similar weight to how I was after my first attempt at losing weight using cardio / HIIT, but with a bit more muscle and low body fat percentage.
But, and it’s a big but. It takes effort and commitment. Not just for a bit but ongoing. You need to consider it a lifestyle change, set goals. You have to want to change badly enough to put in the effort. There’s no magic pill unfortunately.
Best of luck.
Sounds exactly like me.Anyway, I committed to sorting it. I ran, bought a cross trainer, ate better and lost the weight. But it didn’t quite work as well as I’d hoped. You see, I had shrunk but I had little muscle mass and was, well, soft. Like skinny, skinny fat.
So, change of approach. Pretty much abandoned cardio and started chucking weights around. Much better. Still a pretty small guy, and a similar weight to how I was after my first attempt at losing weight using cardio / HIIT, but with a bit more muscle and low body fat percentage.
But, and it’s a big but. It takes effort and commitment. Not just for a bit but ongoing. You need to consider it a lifestyle change, set goals. You have to want to change badly enough to put in the effort. There’s no magic pill unfortunately.
Best of luck.
Still storing a bit of fat around the tummy and always will - however I've trained Chest and Upper back to widen my top half, and increased shoulders and arms - whilst slimming down a bit.
I'm a much better shape now.
AudiMan9000 said:
Historically I’ve always been slim. However, ageing, marriage, parenthood, and lockdown/WFH seem to have brought an end to that. I’m 36, male, 6ft tall, and virtually inactive. I’m 13 stone 13 lbs, and my BMI is 26.4 which is classed as overweight. I have a huge pot belly and look 9 months pregnant. No clothes look good on me and I feel ashamed of my body and what it says about me. I have no time for gym or exercise. I can’t cook and rely on family to feed me. I do get plenty of decent/healthy meals, but I also have lots of McDonalds, Dominos, takeaway fish and chips and pizzas etc. Lately, I tend to have a bottle of lager or two each day. I snack between meals out of boredom.
Is my health in jeopardy? What do I need to do to fix this? I don’t care about building muscle or being ripped. I just want to be slim and have a flat stomach. Please advise.
That is not true, make some time.Is my health in jeopardy? What do I need to do to fix this? I don’t care about building muscle or being ripped. I just want to be slim and have a flat stomach. Please advise.
I am no health freak but for me today I walked to tennis (3km), played tennis for 1hr, walked home again. Later that day I ran a mile as I'm trying to improve my mile pace during September.
Also as others must have already said, weight loss is mainly diet so that does need sorting. For me cutting out sugar has always resulted in significant weight loss albeit I can't do it for too long a period as a find a sugar free diet very bland!
TX.
Great advice guys. I don’t see me doing any kind of strength training/muscle building, but I will make the necessary changes to my diet. I can refrain from eating/drinking all the crap referred to, but how do I make it through the inevitable hunger pains? My body now expects copious amounts of rubbish being shovelled into it to fuel the furnace through the long days of WFH.
I get / had the pot belly much like you (30's, inactive job, was eating junk) - I've got quite a slim build and if I ever put weight on, it's the belly. I started cycling two years ago and it was surprising how quickly the weight dropped off. I can still enjoy a few beers and a take away, I just don't take the piss.
Buy some weights and build a home gym. Saying you have no time for exercise is a load of rubbish. Do you ever read books, play computer games or watch tv? If so then you could be exercising. A lot of times I get back from work, put the kids to bed then workout for an hour afterwards. Often knackered but do it anyway. If you haven’t got room in the house have your weights equipment outside. Pull-up bar and dip station both very cheap and very good even before you get any weights.
Running takes very little equipment.
Watch cookery programs. Jamie Oliver makes simple meals. Learn to cook. Saying you can’t is daft as well. You learned to read and write. You can learn to cook. Maybe talk to your wife about it to start to move towards healthier stuff together.
If you just eat less and do no muscle building you’ll be skinny and soft. I know someone like this. Get fat, crash diet for a while, get skinny fat and weak, start to get fat again and the cycle continues. Never in good shape because no muscle tone at all to hold everything together. It is no good. You don’t have to emulate Thor but muscle will hold you together better. Look at Jeremy clarkson and his pot belly. If he exercised it would hold together better but his belly is not only there because of fat but because he has no core strength so everything just sags and his belly pushes out.
Basically stop making excuses and get on with it otherwise you’ll get worse. It is really hard but unfortunately if you don’t do it then you’re the one that will suffer long term so you’ll have to make a choice of exercise and diet or just carry on as you are.
You do get into the habit to some degree once you get started though once you start seeing some results it hopefully will motivate you. It will never be easy but the later you leave it the harder it will be to claw back.
Good luck!
Running takes very little equipment.
Watch cookery programs. Jamie Oliver makes simple meals. Learn to cook. Saying you can’t is daft as well. You learned to read and write. You can learn to cook. Maybe talk to your wife about it to start to move towards healthier stuff together.
If you just eat less and do no muscle building you’ll be skinny and soft. I know someone like this. Get fat, crash diet for a while, get skinny fat and weak, start to get fat again and the cycle continues. Never in good shape because no muscle tone at all to hold everything together. It is no good. You don’t have to emulate Thor but muscle will hold you together better. Look at Jeremy clarkson and his pot belly. If he exercised it would hold together better but his belly is not only there because of fat but because he has no core strength so everything just sags and his belly pushes out.
Basically stop making excuses and get on with it otherwise you’ll get worse. It is really hard but unfortunately if you don’t do it then you’re the one that will suffer long term so you’ll have to make a choice of exercise and diet or just carry on as you are.
You do get into the habit to some degree once you get started though once you start seeing some results it hopefully will motivate you. It will never be easy but the later you leave it the harder it will be to claw back.
Good luck!
Edited by Douglas Quaid on Thursday 9th September 07:54
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