You're doing everything right: working out 3x a week, maybe even more, plus you're getting some regular cardio in 2-4 times per week usually (whether that's walking, running, swimming, naked boxing or chasing badgers with your bare hands, blah blah blah). You're eating pretty well. You don't stock your larder with chips, biscuits and other shit. You rarely if ever eat take-out in fact, you've made a conscious effort to balance out meat, vegetables, grains and fruit. You're on top of your alcohol consumption and feeling upbeat and sassy.
But.
You still can't get rid of that fat.
You know the one: the one round your gut and on your hips. What are your options? You don't want to be Mr Universe in fact, you're not even that keen about having a 6-pack; no, you just want a flatter stomach. Is that such a bad thing? Is that too much to ask for, Lord? Of course it's not and there's actually a few options available so, in no particular order, let's look at the options and discuss them a tad. NOTE: I have included links that explain things better than me; that doesn't mean I support the advice offered, just the explanation given.
Option #1: the Fuck It option. In this option you simply shrug and get on with life. You accept that yep, you're a little fat and you've got love handles but you know what? So does practically every other guy your age in fact, you might even look better than most (and you know how important that is). You're happy in who you are, you know you're doing pretty well so yeah, fuck it. Just so long as you don't turn into Flabber the Hutt, you're happy. Nice.
Option #2: the Eat Less option. I am going to eat less -- not starve myself, just eat less, and hopefully over time I'll slim down little by little, bit by bit. The main way I'm going to do this is by eating till I'm full, and leaving it at that. I'm not going to eat the left-overs; they can be tomorrow's lunch. I'm not going to have seconds or desert or snack later on this evening. It's okay being hungry. I am (hungry) lion, hear me roar. I may just stick to 3xmain meals per day. Or maybe 4-5 small meals per day. Whatever. But that's me, kemosabe.
Option #3: the See A Doctor option. This is always a good option but you need to remember it's an option, not the gospel truth. Doctor's don't have a direct line to the god-of-fat-loss anymore than they have a direct line to Mickey Mouse (and we all know how fat Mickey was), which is a roundabout way of saying doctor's don't know everything and sometimes, sometimes different doctors give different answers. But it's still a damn good option.
Option #4: the Health Professional option which is kind've like a doctor but you're really just talking to your chemist (that's a "pharmacist" for our North American friends). My wife has chatted with some switched-on chemists who have given her excellent advice over the years. She has also chatted with some chemists whom she says held little knowledge and offered few if any options so again, it can be hit and miss. But. It's still a damn good option.
Option #5: the Nutritionist option. I don't even know what this one is, but I think it probably has to do with a health food store whose staff hopefully know shit and can direct you in a logical, well-thought out fashion. Either that or seeing an actual dietician expert and how you know they're an "expert" in the first place is beyond me. Plaques on their wall? Or do you ask around hoping someone can recommend a dietician? Try that next time you're at the gang pad: "Hey boys, anyone know a good dietician?"
Yeah, right.
Going to a recognised brand might be the go and by that I mean the Jenny Craig type deal. Those sorts of recognised brands seem to know what they're talking about and I'm sure an online search in your local area would be helpful. On another note, there's plenty of amazing-looking fifty plus men running online sites -- I run an amazing on-line site only -- with very helpful advice. You'll have to buy and/or subscribe to their shit but hey, they definitely look the part so they must be right. Right? If nothing else is working, why not?
ONE 330ml BEER HAS ROUNDABOUT 130 CALORIES. IF THE AVERAGE MALE AMOUNT
IS 2500 CALORIES PER DAY, ARE YOU TAKING YOUR ALCOHOL INTO CONSIDERATION?
OVER-EATING INCLUDES LIQUID CONTENT TOO. TRACK THIS SHIT, KEMOSABE
Option #6: the Up My Cardio option. This one has some benefits and I'm not talking about the obvious benefits inasmuch as giving you the benefit to visually observe any physical changes. That's big in my world. If you're walking, running, skipping etc. you may want to lengthen the time you do but a much easier method in my humble opinion is simply increasing the intensity. Walk, run or skip faster. I've discussed the advantages of sprints elsewhere but the idea remains the same: a high-intensity exercise may be the go for you.
Option #7: the Plug And Suck option aka liposuction. A total winner and sure, it costs an arm and a leg but the results are pretty instantaneous. Am I being serious here? Not really but hey, if you're loaded and lazy, this is a viable option. I read an article how when fat redistributes it does so to the same areas because our bodies create fat-receptors in specific places. Liposuction sucks these receptors out. Apparently. Sounds all a bit Star Trek to me but hey, me and my niggers don't dance we just pull up our pants and do the rock-a-way (Fat Joe).
Option #8: the Combo option where you combine some of the above which is what I would do. I would combine Option #2 with Option #6 and throw in a dash of Option #1. In layman's terms that means not over-eating, being more consistent with my cardio (and increasing intensity as needed rather than time and/or distance) whilst not getting overly hung-up and pedantic about how I look. Like I've always said and always will, it's over-all health and longevity we need to be concerned with, not how aesthetically-pleasing we appear. Unless you have both, damn you. 😊
Option #9: the Nazi Diet option where you go 100% and do the whole macros, micros, homos thing and count, weigh and measure every morsel of anything that passes your lips from now to the end of time. I'll be honest: this gives me a raging soft-on and is only for the truly dedicated who want that 10% body-fat ratio or thereabouts. Bodybuilder territory. I am not the guy for this and would rather keep my gut and love handles any day than the Nazi Diet. Does that mean I'm lazy? Probably. Does that mean I don't care? Definitely.
Option #10: the Lastest Fad option, y'know, paleo or keto or whatever is hot right now (it used to be the Atkins diet and for awhile anyway, the Mediterranean diet. Whatever that is). I'm not trying to be an arsehole here: plenty of people made astounding progress on these. For some, having an established diet with pretty much everything set out for them and a wealth of options is the go. Yeah, this is sort've like the nutritionist option, but a dietician may recommend several changes in our existing meal-plans rather than an actual diet. A weak justification I know. I just wanted to get to 10.
CONCLUSION
Are there other options? Of course there are. Do I know them all? Nope. Does that make me look like an amateur? Hell yeah and I'm all good with it because what I am or am not is not important here. What's important here is finding solutions to that flat-stomach you always wanted so ask yourself this: how far are you prepared to go? Because if you really want to look like the Arnie's of the world you need to put in some very dedicated long-term effort. You must be disciplined, track everything and make this a life-style choice.
...this is me to a degree only.
Have you even wondered what 2,500 calories actually looks like? This link shows some good visuals -- remember, I'm using the link for its visuals, not the calculator on the site -- just to give you a rough idea. You can eat well on a set intake in fact, men in our age bracket should probably eat less because our metabolism's tend to slow down as we age. Usually. Which of the above options is you? Which one haven't you tried? In closing, revisit option #8. That's my recommendation.
Me te aroha, kia ora whanau.
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