Best way to loose stomach?

Best way to loose stomach?

Author
Discussion

robsa

2,254 posts

183 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
RobM77 said:
There are a multitude of reasons swimming isn't that successful at shifting weight in practise. If you can get in the pool and swim non stop for an hour at a decent pace, then yes, you'll burn the same calories as a leisurely cycle. Most people can't do this; they'll spend an hour in the pool and swim for about 35-40 minutes of that hour. Once you're swimming though, the two problems are: a) Most people go nowhere near fast enough to burn proper calories, b) most people run out of breath before they exert themselves enough. Don't get me wrong, I love swimming and have spent thousands on coaching to a good level, but I'm well aware of what 95% of people in the pool are doing whilst I'm there, which generally isn't the case when out running or cycling.

The reason I mentioned both calories in and calories out is that just losing weight through eating obviously takes longer if you want to stay healthy and eat enough food. Typically, if you go off and burn 600 calories you won't feel like eating 600 calories afterwards (if you stick with healthy food!), so the effects of exercise are positive. Plus muscle (gained through exercise) increases RMR, which helps lose weight even further.
You may want to have a read of this: http://qz.com/753956/how-olympic-swimmers-can-keep...

Otispunkmeyer

12,557 posts

154 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
robsa said:
RobM77 said:
There are a multitude of reasons swimming isn't that successful at shifting weight in practise. If you can get in the pool and swim non stop for an hour at a decent pace, then yes, you'll burn the same calories as a leisurely cycle. Most people can't do this; they'll spend an hour in the pool and swim for about 35-40 minutes of that hour. Once you're swimming though, the two problems are: a) Most people go nowhere near fast enough to burn proper calories, b) most people run out of breath before they exert themselves enough. Don't get me wrong, I love swimming and have spent thousands on coaching to a good level, but I'm well aware of what 95% of people in the pool are doing whilst I'm there, which generally isn't the case when out running or cycling.

The reason I mentioned both calories in and calories out is that just losing weight through eating obviously takes longer if you want to stay healthy and eat enough food. Typically, if you go off and burn 600 calories you won't feel like eating 600 calories afterwards (if you stick with healthy food!), so the effects of exercise are positive. Plus muscle (gained through exercise) increases RMR, which helps lose weight even further.
You may want to have a read of this: http://qz.com/753956/how-olympic-swimmers-can-keep...
I think Rob is right, if you go swimming and you aren't that proficient at it then people will do exactly as he says and they'll be resting as much as they're swimming.

The reason Olympic swimmers can eat like horses is because they're doing 2 hours + in the morning, daily gym sessions and 2 hours + in the evening and if they're training for middle distance races they'll be doing a lot of meters. Its sheer volume of exercise. We used to average 6.5 - 7 km per 2 hour session. We had 10 such sessions per week. 3 gym sessions. Some nastier sessions would have been 8km or more. I remember once doing 100x100m on 1.20 and 6 x 1500's (3 per hour). Those sets would have your HR in the 140-170 bpm zone.

A normal person isn't doing that in the pool. Heck where I live, there isn't even the pool time for public lane swimming to do that much.

Though as I said, swimming makes me bloody hungry.... I know I'll eat more than I burned when I get out the pool and I have learned now not to go shopping afterwards (its a disaster).

Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Monday 28th November 11:53

RobM77

35,349 posts

233 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
robsa said:
RobM77 said:
There are a multitude of reasons swimming isn't that successful at shifting weight in practise. If you can get in the pool and swim non stop for an hour at a decent pace, then yes, you'll burn the same calories as a leisurely cycle. Most people can't do this; they'll spend an hour in the pool and swim for about 35-40 minutes of that hour. Once you're swimming though, the two problems are: a) Most people go nowhere near fast enough to burn proper calories, b) most people run out of breath before they exert themselves enough. Don't get me wrong, I love swimming and have spent thousands on coaching to a good level, but I'm well aware of what 95% of people in the pool are doing whilst I'm there, which generally isn't the case when out running or cycling.

The reason I mentioned both calories in and calories out is that just losing weight through eating obviously takes longer if you want to stay healthy and eat enough food. Typically, if you go off and burn 600 calories you won't feel like eating 600 calories afterwards (if you stick with healthy food!), so the effects of exercise are positive. Plus muscle (gained through exercise) increases RMR, which helps lose weight even further.
You may want to have a read of this: http://qz.com/753956/how-olympic-swimmers-can-keep...
And you may want to read my post biggrinbiggrinbiggrin

ETA: An Olympic swimmer will be doing many hours a day of fast paced, energetic swimming. Any Olympic athlete will be burning and eating thousands of calories a day. This is a world apart from most ordinary people who learnt to swim as a kid and haven't improved since. They'll go swimming once a week (because unlike running and cycling, you have to make an effort and drive to the pool, most people don't go every day) and they'll swim at a pretty slow pace for about 20-30 minutes tops. It's what happens in practise that I was commenting on.

Edited by RobM77 on Monday 28th November 12:01

otolith

55,899 posts

203 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
RobM77 said:
As per you post though, as others have said, there's no way to target weight loss, the body just stores or burns fat as it sees fit.
And if it likes to store it round your middle, you might have to lose quite a lot of your fat before it starts to make a difference. I was 15 stone in January. I'm a bit over 11 stone now, and have added some muscle. I had a recent DEXA scan showing that I was down to about 18% body fat. I had lost a substantial amount of abdominal fat, which is great news health wise, and I don't have a great deal of fat left anywhere else, but there is still a little paunch.

On the flipside, if you do have that sort of bodyshape, it's particularly important to your health that you do something about it.

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
It takes ages. You can't just lose fat from one area, you have to see it as a full body process.

Revise what you eat.
Lower alcohol intake.
Train AT LEAST three times a week with a mixture of cardio and weights/body weight exercise.

The truth of the matter is that if you aren't really a motivated person, it is not going to happen if you do it by yourself. To go from belly to toned, takes fricking ages, and so you will probably start off and then think "fk, nothing is changing, I can't be arsed", and then you'll stop.

I would recommend seeing it as a personal development investment, and go to a gym with classes run by a trainer. Get yourself down there three times a week minimum (more if possible), and just resign yourself to do what he/she says for the session. Push yourself as hard as possible during that time, and then your daily contribution to a six pack is done in an efficient way.

ReaderScars

6,087 posts

175 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
There's always ketosis, OP. It's not bad once you get used to it but there is a transition which can be a bit...well, was going to say dificult but it's not really...anyway, it soon passes.

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
ReaderScars said:
There's always ketosis, OP. It's not bad once you get used to it but there is a transition which can be a bit...well, was going to say dificult but it's not really...anyway, it soon passes.
He sounds like he is still quite a way away from being thin enough to require very specialist diets to lose further weight.


johnwilliams77

8,308 posts

102 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
otolith said:
And if it likes to store it round your middle, you might have to lose quite a lot of your fat before it starts to make a difference. I was 15 stone in January. I'm a bit over 11 stone now, and have added some muscle. I had a recent DEXA scan showing that I was down to about 18% body fat. I had lost a substantial amount of abdominal fat, which is great news health wise, and I don't have a great deal of fat left anywhere else, but there is still a little paunch.

On the flipside, if you do have that sort of bodyshape, it's particularly important to your health that you do something about it.
I still have a 'paunch' at 14-15% frown It's bloody hard work!

Foliage

3,861 posts

121 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
Ignore all the bullst before me, ive not read it but it will be the usual Olympic athelete health diet plan bks.

To get slimmer, you just need to eat less, simply start by reducing portion sizes (reducing the amount of bread, potatoes etc you have with a meal is a good way), cutting out sweets and eating 3 meals a day. Just be conscience of what your eating.

You could add to that 30 minutes of any exercise 3 times a week, whatever that maybe, seriously anything, walking, body weight exercises, yoga, cycling, swimming, it doesn't matter.


ChunkyloverSV

1,333 posts

191 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
Z064life said:
Hi All,

I'm 30, male, don't drink or smoke, and fairly inactive.

I have a slight "pot belly" and wondering, what's the best way to tone this and lose the stomach? Preferably without going to the gym (something I can do at home).

Due to a serious knee injury and permenant vulnerability in my knee, I'm not the type to play football/cricket/rugby, etc.


Thanks!
I am 29 and had a bit of a pot belly a few months ago. Bought a road bike and I have never been slimmer/toned in my life smile

RobM77

35,349 posts

233 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
I'm not sure the number of meals you eat a day is important. I have 6 and find it far healthier than stuffing my face on three separate occasions. It's much easier to judge how much you have, and you don't go hungry and lack the energy to move around, which all helps in terms of losing weight and staying fit and healthy. If you exercise seriously then it's also worth bearing in mind that the body has a maximum rate that it can absorb protein at, so upping meal frequency is actually a good idea in that case. What's important is not eating crap, and if you limit yourself to three meals a day and get hungry at, say, 4pm, you're more likely to snack imho.

Edited by RobM77 on Monday 28th November 14:05

ReallyReallyGood

1,620 posts

129 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
Walking, and lots of it. Walk to work if practical.

RobM77

35,349 posts

233 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
usernameblank said:
You can buy one of these sit up trainers for about £15

The problems with that are that a) increasing the size of abs actually makes your belly look bigger, and b) it's not a good idea to develop one muscle without developing the other that acts against it, so I'd have thought a balanced exercise programme would be better. On the plus side, increased muscle does increase BMR, but studies have repeatedly shown that given limited time, you're always better off doing CV - the trick for the OP will be to find CV that doesn't aggravate his knee. I think the best options are walking, cycling or swimming front crawl (not breast-stroke!).

br d

8,388 posts

225 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
The knees going can be a real problem with weight gain. I always enjoyed running, usually cross country, muddy, hard to do stuff, I wasn't into marathons or anything, would normally be 5 or 8 miles 3 or 4 times a week. If I laid off the running for a while, normally due to work pressures, I would put about 20 pounds on, get back into the running and I could shift that in a couple of months easily.

Then the knees went. My weight still goes up and down a bit due to medication I'm on but shifting it without running is really hard. I have a gym at home, go to the local David Lloyd to swim and do physical work but once the knees go you get very limited in whats attainable.

I know WW said earlier in the thread that cycling helps his bad knee but conversely it cripples mine if I really go for it. Of course there are plenty worse off but having to stop running was a massive blow to me, especially as I loved doing it and have some great countryside near me to enjoy.

Look after your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone!

ambuletz

10,690 posts

180 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
RobM77 said:
If you exercise seriously then it's also worth bearing in mind that the body has a maximum rate that it can absorb protein at, so upping meal frequency is actually a good idea in that case.
absolute bro science nonsense. Meal frequency and timing has no bearing on muscle growth/recovery. as long as you get enough in during a day it's fine. the only real reason (like you said later) for eating smaller frequent meals is incase you get hungry. But not many people do, and many people who eat 3meals a day are fine with that. some people eat 2 or 1. your body adapts to when you get hungry.

I don't get why people go into debates or in depth discussions onhow to lose weight, what's the perfect cardio intensity/length, whats the perfect weignts routine/sets, what's the perfect diet etc..

At the end of the day the only thing that matters is the calorie deficit. how he chooses to do that is up to him. It's not right to say someone has to change their diet compeltely, eating 5-6 small meals, going super low fat, low carb, no carb, or keto, lifting weights 4 times a week and doing HIIT in between.


The topic was done after the first 4 posts.

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
br d said:
The knees going can be a real problem with weight gain. I always enjoyed running, usually cross country, muddy, hard to do stuff, I wasn't into marathons or anything, would normally be 5 or 8 miles 3 or 4 times a week. If I laid off the running for a while, normally due to work pressures, I would put about 20 pounds on, get back into the running and I could shift that in a couple of months easily.

Then the knees went. My weight still goes up and down a bit due to medication I'm on but shifting it without running is really hard. I have a gym at home, go to the local David Lloyd to swim and do physical work but once the knees go you get very limited in whats attainable.

I know WW said earlier in the thread that cycling helps his bad knee but conversely it cripples mine if I really go for it. Of course there are plenty worse off but having to stop running was a massive blow to me, especially as I loved doing it and have some great countryside near me to enjoy.

Look after your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone!
yes Amen to that. I've not been able to run since 1984 irked It took about 25 years to be able to bend my knee enough to be able to cycle, I may be unusual but I find it helps. I'm exceptionally careful not to overdo it these days smile

Foliage

3,861 posts

121 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
ambuletz said:
RobM77 said:
If you exercise seriously then it's also worth bearing in mind that the body has a maximum rate that it can absorb protein at, so upping meal frequency is actually a good idea in that case.
absolute bro science nonsense. Meal frequency and timing has no bearing on muscle growth/recovery. as long as you get enough in during a day it's fine. the only real reason (like you said later) for eating smaller frequent meals is incase you get hungry. But not many people do, and many people who eat 3meals a day are fine with that. some people eat 2 or 1. your body adapts to when you get hungry.

I don't get why people go into debates or in depth discussions onhow to lose weight, what's the perfect cardio intensity/length, whats the perfect weignts routine/sets, what's the perfect diet etc..

At the end of the day the only thing that matters is the calorie deficit. how he chooses to do that is up to him. It's not right to say someone has to change their diet compeltely, eating 5-6 small meals, going super low fat, low carb, no carb, or keto, lifting weights 4 times a week and doing HIIT in between.


The topic was done after the first 4 posts.
lol at least 3 meals a day, the 'normal' office worker skips breakfast then don't have a proper lunch ie just a sandwich, then snack all afternoon, get a takeaway in the evening and then eat biscuits while watching coronation street. 3 meals and 3 healthy snacks (fruit, nuts, yoghurts) is the way I do it.

Your right that its calories in vs out BUT eating more meals over the day will hopefully knock hunger/greed on the head.

The takeaway from my comment should be eat proper structured meals. Plan your meals.

otolith

55,899 posts

203 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
I think the important thing is to find a way of structuring your meals that you can sustain.

For me, I'm not hungry in the mornings, but I like to be properly full at some point during the day. So I don't eat breakfast, I just eat a bit of chicken or cottage cheese at lunchtime and I have a large meal in the evenings. I don't think there is any point fighting your natural inclinations in this, if you aren't hungry, don't eat for the sake of it.

BoRED S2upid

19,641 posts

239 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
What's wrong with your knee and why can't they sort it out? They can do all sorts to sort out troublesome knees why aren't they operating on yours?

While you are waiting for the above swim, walk and eat right. Ignore everyone who says swimming doesn't work it's better than sitting in the sofa posting on here as is walking.

johnwilliams77

8,308 posts

102 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
BoRED S2upid said:
What's wrong with your knee and why can't they sort it out? They can do all sorts to sort out troublesome knees why aren't they operating on yours?

While you are waiting for the above swim, walk and eat right. Ignore everyone who says swimming doesn't work it's better than sitting in the sofa posting on here as is walking.
Learn to read
No one said it doesn't work!