Thread: Pesky fat around the middle...

Originally Posted by I'm Trying

I have a problem always getting the fat around my midsection. Any recommendations on what I should do. I'm really frustrated. I have no problem losing fat in other areas but my damn love handles and gut is pi$$ing me off!!

1000% diet. I promise.


Cardio helps if done correctly.

Originally Posted by I'm Trying

I have a problem always getting the fat around my midsection. Any recommendations on what I should do. I'm really frustrated. I have no problem losing fat in other areas but my damn love handles and gut is pi$$ing me off!!

Yeah, its going to come down to diet, cardio, and how fast you wanna lose the stomach. If you are impatient and just wanna shed the fat, then you could go with a 500 calorie a day deficit, with the addition of 40-50 minutes of cardio 4-5X times a week. Your definitely going to lose some muscle, but the fat loss will be much more accelerated. It just depends how you want to go about it. It's entirely up to you. We could also start at the opposite end of the spectrum.

I agree with the diet & cardio - I am eating 100% clean, except for one cheat day every two weeks, 3X cardio (45min) and 4X weights per week and the results have been amazing! Eating all the non-processed and ff food is a little spendy, but well worth it!

Duh,,, well if I'm cheating at least one day, I guess that's not 100% is it ......

My big problem is diet planning. Deciding what I need to get to where I want. :o

Yeah, diet planning does take alot of preparation - I think that was my hardest task, pre-packing my food the the next day. But, it's getting easier - I try to use as much imagination as I can, rather than eating the same thing every single day....

Good luck and don't give up!!

Originally Posted by I'm Trying

My big problem is diet planning. Deciding what I need to get to where I want. :o

Well, if I can help or offer any suggestions and advice, then just ask. Good luck!

I'm afraid I have some good news & some bad news for you dude.

The bad news is, your body will store fat preferentially in certain sites depending on many factors

1) Hormones. Testosterone makes you store fat on your belly, estrogen makes it go on the hips & breasts. This is also modulated by how your body responds to that hormone. This is why guys get fat guts & women get fat arses.

2) Age. As you get older, the body stores less fat under the skin (subcutaneous) and more in the muscles & body cavities. All things being equal, a 18yo guy with 15% bf will look smooth, an 80yo guy with the same will look very sinewy. Training slows this process down quite a bit.

3) Location of fat cells. Some people just have a wodge of fatty tissue - usually just where they don't want it. My ex-wife was a skinny little oriental woman, with a thick roll of fat under her navel. She hated it. But her sisters all had it.

Basically, there is not a lot you can do about your body's preference for where it stores fat

But there is good news.

For years I worked out & kept my bf around the 12% mark. I looked lean & muscular, but not 'ripped'. I drifted out of the sport in 1996, and recently came back in with my bf around 20%. My waist had gone up from 32" to around 38", and I was starting to look like every other guy my age - pot-bellied.

In the past 3 months I've got my bf back down to about 14% - but it's almost all come away from my waist. Skinfolds on my arms are unchanged, but the roll of fat next to my navel is about half as thick.

If you have never cut down your fat properly before, try dropping down to 10% (drop to 190, but do it properly so you don't lose lean) you might find (as I have) that nearly all the fat comes out from your midsection.

I can't tell you how to do it - but just out of interest - here's how I did it :

Training. Mon - push, Tue - cardio, Wed - legs, Fri - back, Sat - cardio.

Diet : Brek (post workout) Oat & nut flapjacks, protein drink - p:50, f:25, c:125
Lunch : Tuna & loads of salad - p:40, f:5, c:10
Snack : Protein drink - p:40, f:5, c:15
Dinner : Lean meat, veg, glass of wine (medicinal) - p:40, f:15, c:20

Supplements : Not a lot - I use HotRox, which seems to work for me but has had mixed reviews, and have been using 6-oxo to boost my test level, which is working wonders for me (I'm nearly 40 and have slightly low test levels), but may do fuck-all for you.

You are bigger & younger than me, so this diet may be a bit restrictive for you, but the principle holds.

- Calorie intake is kept around 750 below expenditure
- Carbs are restricted all day & only topped up once a day. This means that the body is kept in an almost permanent state of mild glycogen depletion. Carbs only ever get turned into fat if your glycogen is topped up, (or if you eat loads of sugar & the body can't turn it into glycogen fast enough). However, if glycogen is depleted, your body starts feeding fat reserves through the Kerbs cycle to meet it's energy requirements.
- Dietary fat is kept low. Half my fat comes from nuts & seeds, and another quarter from fish oil. Plenty EFA's
- Protein is kept high. Many people here would suggest eating 6 times a day, but I can't get on with that, so I don't. You need to supply enough spare protein to keep the body in an anabolic state, and to make up for the amino acids that your body will inevitably burn on any diet that restricts carbs.
- Lots of cardio. I do a half hour of easy cardio (600cals/hr) after my workouts, and an hour of hard cardio (800cals/hr using a HIIT protocol) twice a week. This burns around 2,500 to 3,000 cals a week in the exercise.

This method has shifted about 7lb of fat in a month.

Good luck

Originally Posted by katt

I try to use as much imagination as I can, rather than eating the same thing every single day....

Strange - I find it easier to have the same breakfast & lunch every day - I've found something I like & that is easy to prepare, so I can throw the whole thing together in 15mins in the morning as I am getting ready for work.

Lunch for example is a can of tuna, mixed with some very-low fat mayo & chilli sauce, with some cherry tomatoes and about 6oz of leafy salad chopped celery. I have this every day - it's almost comfort food.

My breakfast is flapjacks
(aside - chop 3 apples & 2 bananas, and puree in a processor with half a pint of apple juice. Mix with 1lb oats & 4oz of mixed chopped nuts & seeds (I use an ounce each of flax, sunflower & pumpkin seed, and hazelnuts). Mix well, flatten into a tray & bake until golden. This mix does 4 days-worth of breakfast)
This is SO convenient - particularly as I can munch it while driving to work !

My wife cooks the evening meal & keeps that varied & interesting. Also I tend to eat differently at weekends - roast dinner on Sundays is a semi-religious event, just like getting pissed on Friday.

Not reccomending this - just saying what works for me.

Originally Posted by I'm Trying

My big problem is diet planning. Deciding what I need to get to where I want. :o

this is your problem. excess bf is a direct result of nutrition. post diet details if you want specific feedback.

What all are you doing for your cardio? What intensity level are you at? Do you use a HRM? Do you have acess to a pool? I have always done quite a bit of running and cycling with my lifting and never really got the entire six pack cut look until I added swimming to my routine. Can't say it is a fix all but it really took my sides off and finished off my mid section.