A friend of mine keeps asking, “How do I get rid of excess belly fat?” I told him to walk ten miles a day, then go home and eat three carrots and a piece of lettuce, nothing else. I told him he can have three blueberries for dessert. I told him to do this for three months and that should get him started.
There is truth in the above. But I did exaggerate. Keep in mind I am not a nutritionist.
Moving more and eating less really is a good answer for both men and women. The question is what kind of movement and eating what kind of food and how much of it.
Alas, that has been perplexing the Health, Fitness and even the Medical Communities, ever since men and women started climbing out of the primordial ooze.
In the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States, it was fashionable to be significantly overweight. It was considered a sign of prosperity. Even Theodore Roosevelt, the scrawny and weak child who became America’s fittest President, was overweight by his early fifties.
It wasn’t until the late 19th century and the early 20th century that the health and fitness craze really got started. People like Bernarr MacFadden, Charles Atlas, Paul Bragg were pioneers in the Health and Fitness Industry. By the mid-century, people like Jack LaLanne had a solid hold on general fitness, bodybuilding came of age, and the general public started on the fitness bandwagon.
So as the 21st century progresses, health and fitness has become an obsession with most of the interested public jumping on the “Quick and Easy” Fad diets and exercise programs that don’t really work long term. The discipline to stick with a difficult program is missing and people get tired of the diets and exercise, only to go back to where they started. There are hundreds of diet and exercise books filling the shelves of libraries and the remaining bookstores. Diet and exercise programs with opposing and conflicting viewpoints are being promoted by medical professional, fitness professionals and charlatans alike, all touting the benefits of their own programs and confusion reigns.
So what’s the real answer to losing that belly fat? Yes, in most cases it’s “Move more, eat less”. And yes, it’s still “burn more calories than you take in”. And yes, the nutrient density of the calories makes a difference. The nutrient dense calories are better for you than the empty calories, but the underlying formula still works.
So, the truth of my answer to my friend still holds. Move your body vigorously a minimum of 30 to 40 minutes a day for a bare minimum of three days a week. Cut back on the meat and increase your veggies. Please, if you are already a vegetarian or a vegan, don’t increase your vegetables — eat less! Cut back on sugar and junk food — you know what that is.
As for exercise, besides walking or calisthenics, do some honest crunches, leg raises, side bends and other exercises for your mid-section. While “spot reducing” may or may not work, once the belly fat gets moving off your body, your abs will be the envy of the beach.
Thank you for reading.