When did this get here? The Beer Belly

Abdominal obesity, or weight carried around the stomach and waist, is a common problem as people age. It is especially common for men, 30 percent of whom will have a “beer belly” by their 40s or 50s, and 40 percent of whom will grow one by the time they reach their 60s. Men may bemoan their beer belly or laugh at it, but few realize the real and serious risks that are present when a person carries around excess belly fat.

This is a common visual we are forced to deal with as generations of men take pride in their girth and do nothing to prevent the growth of their waistline, pants sizes grow and with each inch your health deteriorates. I am a former fit guy that fell into this trap and now I am trying to reverse the damage done. I have lost the belly and now I am trying to decide if I want to put in the work and build that six pack all the kids rave about. Soon to be 50 years old I can say it's not a priority but I will say I enjoy being out of the danger zone after making some lifestyle changes.

Not all fat is created equal. Studies have shown that the fat stored in certain locations on the body carries much greater health risks than fat stored in other parts of the body. Unfortunately, abdominal fat is one of the most dangerous kinds of fat, carrying increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and high cholesterol.

This means that a beer belly can pose more risk to a person’s health than significantly greater amounts of fat stored elsewhere. An obese person with fat stored primarily around the hips and legs will have a smaller risk of heart disease and better health overall than a man who carries a beer belly on an otherwise trim frame.

While “beer belly” has become the common term for abdominal fat in a man, it can lead to the misconception than only excessive beer consumption can lead to beer belly formation. In fact, any kind of high fat, high sugar diet combined with insufficient exercise can cause a beer belly to grow. Many men do consume much of their excess sugar in beer form, and combine their drinking with high fat and high sodium snacks in order to replenish their electrolytes, so the nickname is understandable. But men should not make the mistake of thinking that they are beer belly immune of they do not imbibe.

One of the most frustrating aspects of weight loss can be the fact that exercising the area you want to slim down does not necessarily help to burn fat in that location. Men who want to trim their beer gut might start a heavy-duty routine of sit-ups and crunches, but this is unlikely to help them burn belly fat quickly. Of course, any exercise is better than a totally sedentary lifestyle. But focused muscle exercises are not designed to burn fat. You will probably end up with solid abs that are invisible beneath the belly fat, or even strained muscles as a result of straining one set of muscles too far.

Instead, aerobic exercise and better dietary habits are the way to make abdominal fat disappear. Aerobic exercise will improve overall health and well-being in addition to burning fat, and a healthy diet will have similar positive effects. If you make enough overall healthy adjustments to your diet, you don’t even have to remove beer from your diet in order to get rid of the beer belly and make sure it doesn’t return!