Have you ever wondered why every time you gain weight; you only seem to gain girth in just your belly? Big belly issues are extremely common in men especially when you take into consideration the modern diet and the issue becomes more serious when you count the fact that some men have bellies so large that they can put pregnant women to shame.
Potbellies are not a laughing matter, though. They pose a lot of adverse health and cosmetic effects. Men have historically been plagued with this condition and still suffer due to either genetics, diet and other physical and psychological factors. Whether it’s a genetic disposition or your poor diet choices, one thing is for sure, big bellies are easy to form and can be very hard to get rid of.
Why do men have big bellies? Men have a big belly because of their bad diet choices and lack of exercise. Men who consume excess calories in the form of sugar and simple carbs are likely to store fat on their stomach and the more fat you store the harder it becomes to get rid of.
If you love stuffing your face with salty snacks and sugary treats, then we have bad news for you. But it’s not all doom and gloom! Read on below to learn why you develop a big belly and what you can do to keep it in check while keeping yourself adequately satiated throughout the day.
Big Belly – Bigger Problems.
Consider the following scenario: It’s Saturday night and you decide to go out with the guys and have a few drinks. You end up having a little too much beer and come back home to watch TV and then remember the pack of crisps you have stored away in the kitchen cabinet. You pause for a moment and think about whether if you should have it but then think to yourself “it’s the weekend, I deserve this”.
Sound familiar? If this is, you then you are not alone. Almost every other guy goes through this exact scenario where, in the end, he convinces himself that it’s okay to let loose every now and then. While there is certainly nothing wrong with letting loose when you feel like it, but the problem arises when you spend the entire week eating in more than you use.
See, most men live a sedentary life, where they work a 9 to 5 desk job and spend most of their time sitting down in a chair and when TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday) hits them they convince themselves that they deserve to binge out since they have had a very hard and tiring week. This type of thinking is exactly what triggers belly fat.
Belly fat itself is not the enemy, it is important to understand that belly fat is just an example of good old cause and effect. Your diet choices and lifestyle cause you to develop a big belly. Think of the human body as a very efficient machine. It uses up what it needs in order to operate and then deposits the excess in “storage” where it can tap into it later when and as needed. The body works is a very efficient manner, whatever you feed it, it uses with extreme precision. There is no way you can feed your body more than it needs. It will always store the excess away in the form of fat.
The reason why the body stores more fat near the belly because of how we have evolved as human beings. The belly area provides the most storage area in the body as it is elastic enough to hold a considerable portion of fat. Think of the belly as your body’s “trunk” where it can store fat with ease.
Fat is easily converted into energy but takes up a lot of space as it is mostly comprised of air and water molecules. The stored fat in your body is basically just potential energy that your body is yet to use for its various functions. But wait, you might think, well then one can just not eat and let the body use up the excess stored energy.
While logic would suggest that in order to lose belly fat one can just go on a restrictive diet and let the body use off the excess fat, but they would be very wrong. Remember, the body is an extremely efficient machine. When you don’t feed it enough it will go into starvation mode and limit its input and output significantly, meaning that you will not expend that much energy doing the same tasks as you did before.
Starving yourself is the worst thing that you can do to get rid of belly fat. Your body fat alone won’t do much damage than what would happen if you starve yourself. You will instantly put yourself in a chokehold where you will neither be able to exercise due to feeling weak nor will you be able to fully function throughout the day.
Even if you don’t starve yourself, belly fat itself presents a lot of health risks as well. Numerous studies have shown belly fat to cause heart, liver and kidney problems. The reason for this is because there are two types of fat tissue. One is the visceral fat that wraps itself around internal organs. Visceral fat is the most dangerous. If you think the fat you see on your belly is all there is then, think again. Visceral fat is undetectable unless you use specialized medical equipment that can examine your internal organs.
This type of fat covers up the heart and other organs making it harder for them to function properly while also putting extra strain on them. The other kind of fat is the one you can visibly see and feel under the skin. This type is called subcutaneous fat and it forms just under the skin. Men are in more danger of visceral fat than subcutaneous fat.
So, what can you do to reduce your belly fat? Well, there are a lot of ways to get rid of belly fat in a healthy way which does not put you at risk. Let’s discuss a few methods below.
The Usual Suspects.
If you want to fix your belly fat problem, then you should focus on just two things: diet and exercise. We aren’t even going to suggest anything crazy. Just a few tweaks can significantly help you lower your overall body fat and help you reduce your protruding belly.
The first thing you need to start with is your diet. Remember, your body fat problem is 70% diet and 30% exercise. Your utmost focus should be on what you put into your body. This means that you will need to honestly list down your comfort foods and the things that you eat in excess and then cut down on them.
You can get an idea of portion sizes by buying a food scale. Try this Digital Kitchen Scale (Amazon). It will help you with your long-term diet goals immensely. Once you know how much food you consume you will automatically condition yourself to eat less.
Portion sizes are an important factor because every food has a different caloric profile which consists of the three primary macros: fat, carbs, and protein. These macros make up your diet and eating in the right proportion can trigger fat burn.
The main challenge is to unlearn what you know about your diet and then relearn everything. Most men state psychological factors to be the real reason why they can’t get rid of their big bellies. Once you have controlled your cravings you will master the art of fitness.
The second thing that you need to focus on is exercise. While it only takes up 30% of your recommended fitness routine, it should be noted that dieting without proper exercise is the worst thing you can do to your body. Exercising with the right type of food in your system will make all the difference in the world.
If you are looking for a good start for your fitness journey, then we recommend you go for the classic skip rope exercise. It’s the most convenient form of cardio and can be done literally anywhere. This Ballistyx Jump Rope (Click to view current pricing on Amazon) is a great way to begin your fitness training! Also, talk with your trainer and ask them about what you should and should not eat. Tell them that you want very realistic objectives to reach your goals and that you are willing to put in time and effort for it.
The right way to get rid of stubborn big bellies is with diet, exercise and a lot of patience. The end goal will always be worth it, and you will look back and wonder why you were so dumb when it came to food and lifestyle choices, to begin with.
