Sunday, 16 November 2008

Trim Down Your Beer Belly Now

A friend of mine recently asked me � �Dude, how do I get rid of my beer belly? Is there something I can do to lose all this flab�

I simply answered, �Easy, just stop drinking.�

Of course this is not the answer that most people want to hear. They all want to know what they can do (without quitting drinking) that can help them burn the excess fat around their bellies. Well taking this as a challenge, I did some research, and here you have it. Your own fitness program to help you lose you beer belly without having to quit drinking. But before I continue, here are some important points to note to ensure there are no misconceptions on what this routine can and cannot do.

� Quitting drinking is still the best option and will give you better results than doing this routine and continuing to drink.
� This routine just helps you reduce the damage of the alcohol on your belly and is not a guaranteed way to get 6 pack abs

The facts:
Ok, before we get into what to do, let�s get down to some facts on alcohol beverages

Each beer you consume, on average contains between 120kCal�s to 150kCal�s depending on the brand
Each shot of liqour contains on average between 60kCal�s to 80kCal�s depending on what kind of liqour you consume. This does not include the mixersas this will add about 20kCal�s to 30kCal�s per shot, again depending on what kind of mixer you use.

Not too bad right? Well if you are only drinking 1 or 2 drinks, sure. But if you can guzzle down about 10 drinks a night you can see how this adds up. Repeat this about 3 times a week and you will really see things growing�literally. For those who are wondering how bad these calories are, maybe this will help to put things in perspective. An average male adult should consume about 2000kCal�s of nutrition a day. So if you guzzle down 10 beers at 150kCal�s, that�s a whopping 1,500kCal�s. That is 75% of your daily requirements. Which also means, if you consume 4 equal sized meals a day to give you 2000kCal�s, then you can only have one meal now or you will have more than your body can use which translates into �belly fat.� Still can�t see it? Here is another one. For every 3,500 additional calories you consume, you will gain 1 pound of body fat. So if you eat 2,500 calories a day and your body can only burn 2,000 a day, you will gain 1 pound of body fat within 7 days. Scary isn�t it.

Here is another fact about alcohol. While your body is breaking down this alcohol, your body is unable to metabolize fat. This means, anything you eat, will be stored away as fat first and only dealt with once your body has gotten rid of all the alcohol from your system. For most people, this takes about 24 hours to do. Of course there is no clear cut where this process begins and another one ends. But at the peak of the breakdown (maybe the first 2 hours after you stop drinking), almost anything you consume will be stored as fat first. As there is less and less alcohol in your body to break down, your body can slowly metabolize more and more fat, but it won�t be as efficient as it would be when it is not breaking down alcohol. For your fat metabolism to return to 100%, you will need to wait roughly 24 hours.

So now that you know the facts, here are some tips to help you reduce the damage of alcohol on your gut:

1. Before you drink, have a lighter dinner than your usual. A dinner which is lower in fat and higher in fiber will be best.
2. If you are drinking liqour, use water or diet soda to mix it. Done this way, liquor is actually safer of the gut compared to beer.
3. Once you finish drinking, do not whack a whole plate of maggi goreng. I know loads of people who have a heavy supper right after a heavy drinking session. If you are hungry, look for healthier foods which are not high in carbohydrates and fat. Best thing to eat would be high fiber crackers or unsweetened cereal. Avpid oily fried foods. You get the point, yucks healthy food. The point is to esnure whatever you eat does not have much chance of being stored away as fat.
4. Drink lots of water after your session. It is recommended that you drinkat least one glass of water for every 2 beers you have had. If you can drink more, it will be better. Why? Lots of water helps your body break down the alcohol faster (and return your fat mtabolism to normal) and prevent dehydration, which causes a bad hangover.
5. Plan your meals. If you know you are going to drink 10 beers, do the math and ensure you stick to your calorie intake for that day. Do not exceed it.
6. If you can�t plan your meals, you will need to work off the additional calories you have gained over the night with exercise. On average, a 30 minute walk burns about 200kCal�s. So if you have consumed 1000 extra calories from drinking, you will have to walk for about 2 and a half hours to burn it all off. If you drink once a week and consume 1000 extra calories, of course you can break down the 2 and a half hours into 5 half hour sessionss. So either exercise or plan your meals. The choice is yours or best, do both. If you drink 2 or 3 times a week, then you got to start doing the math and planning.
7. The next day, eat a healthy breakfast � again, avoid high carbohydrate and high fat food. Most of it will end up straight in your belly.

There you have it. Some tips to help you reduce your beer belly instantly. Give it a try and let me know if it works. Would love to hear from you and of course answer any dying questions you may have on this topic.

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