Beer belly, barrel belly, spare tyre, love handles, potbelly.
Whatever you call it, by the time most men reach their forties they’re carrying a bit of a gut with them.
Although some men can be quite proud of their stomach, (after all it’s taken years of nurturing to grow it) others are desperate to lose it.
And despite what some women may say, I think we all know what they really prefer in a man when it comes to physique!
So, if you’re desperate to get rid of your beer belly, then this post is going to cover everything you need to know, including:
Contents
What Causes a Beer Belly?
It’s called a beer belly because middle-aged men tend to drink a lot of beer, and the main reason why you have one is because you’ve had too many calories going in (eating and drinking) and not enough calories going out (exercise) for too long.
Simple as that.
And because alcohol (and especially beer) has so many calories in it, and most men drink a lot of it, alcohol is a major part of the problem, hence the name ‘Beer Belly’.
For most middle-aged men, the recommended calorie intake per day is about 2,300, yet one pint of beer on average can be around 215 calories.
So, drinking four pints of beer in the evening would add 860 calories to your daily allowance.
If you’ve already eaten your breakfast, lunch, and dinner (plus snacks) then you’re likely to go above your recommended calorie intake and store the excess calories as fat.
Related: 21 Benefits of giving up alcohol
Why do Men Store Fat Around the Belly?
Cavemen didn’t know where or when their next meal was coming from – so storing fat for them was a good thing.
Women store fat in different areas of the body – arms, legs, bum because they are designed to give birth and feed babies, (so not ideal to store their fat around the stomach) and before supermarkets were invented, it was essential for them to have excess reserves in case they didn’t eat for a while.
Therefore their fat is spread out more across their body.
As men don’t have to worry about pregnancy, the fat just stays around the belly area.
How Easy is it to Get Rid of a Beer Belly?
There’s good news and bad news.
The good news is that it’s very simple to get rid of excess fat. The bad news is that simple doesn’t mean easy.
Often a lot of people think that in order to get rid of a beer belly, they need to do a lot of sit-ups or core work, but this simply isn’t the case.
Remember, your beer belly is there because of excess fat and there’s only one way to lose the weight, and that’s to be in a calorie deficit. That is to burn more energy than you put into your body every day.
Knowing that is the easy part. The hard part is actually doing it.
The Two Most Effective Exercises to Get Rid of a Beer Belly
The two best, simple and most effective exercises to get rid of a beer belly are burpees and squats!
The burpee, (also known as ‘the bastard’ by the British Marine Core) consists of a few different movements. It’s a squat, a press-up, a squat thrust, and a jump.
The combination of these different movements will gas you out really quickly and is amazing for burning fat as you will tire out quickly, meaning your metabolism will burn fat more quickly.
Squatting is a really simple movement, yet it engages the biggest and most muscle groups in your body. Doing a few sets of these will really get you in a sweat and start burning off the calories.
If you tried to burn hundreds of calories just by doing sit-ups and planks, then you’re going to be doing them for hours. They simply don’t burn enough calories.
Core work is still important though, as a stronger body will allow you to get stronger and exercise more.
What you really need to be doing, are exercises that use a lot of muscles and burn off lots of calories.
Additionally, you should also be doing some cardio such as walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, or HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training), and combined they’re really going to help you to lose your beer belly.
You Can’t Target Fat Loss
The most important thing to remember is that you can’t decide where the fat will burn from. Your body decides that.
So doing all of those sit-ups alone, won’t get rid of your beer belly, in fact, as you build stronger abs, you could even make your beer belly look bigger!
There are loads of resources available to help you count your calories and exercise expenditure such as this one.
Which Diet Works Best to Get Rid of a Beer Belly?
There isn’t one diet that works specifically to get rid of a beer belly. It just has to be the right diet for you, and one that you can stick to without feeling like a monk.
Whether it’s a high protein, low carb, ketogenic, or fasting – there are literally hundreds of different diets out there.
The main thing is, you just have to ensure that you enjoy the food and remain in a calorie deficit.
What Health Issues are Associated With a Beer Belly?
There are mostly two types of fats that gets stored in your belly.
One is the surface fat that sits just under your skin and is called subcutaneous fat.
This is the kind you can pinch with your fingers.
The second type of fat is called visceral fat. This lies deep within your abdominal organs and can’t be seen from the outside. This fat surrounds your stomach, liver, intestines, and other important organs.
Having a small amount of subcutaneous fat isn’t a bad thing, but having too much of it is unhealthy and is usually a sign that you have too much of the second type of fat – visceral fat, and too much visceral fat can lead to serious health issues such as cancer, liver disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), stroke, fertility issues, and erectile dysfunction among other things.
Do I Have to Give up Beer to Get Rid of my Beer Belly?
Not necessarily, but you really need to be aware that alcohol (especially beer) is really high in calories, and continuing to drink will make it much more difficult to lose your beer belly, and there’s ongoing evidence to suggest that drinking even just small amounts of alcohol on a regular basis can be bad for your health and lead to serious disease.
But if you’re only having one or two a week, it shouldn’t affect your attempts to lose your beer belly too much.
However…
The other thing with beer and alcohol is that in terms of fat burning, it plays a very important and detrimental role.
Alcohol is known as the fourth Macro along with protein, carbohydrates, and fat (you were right all the time, it is a fuel).
The problem with alcohol is that your body sees it as a toxin and therefore will always try to burn the alcohol away first before it burns off any fat.
So if you were to drink a few pints on a Friday night and then go for a run on Saturday morning, it’s likely that you’ll only burn off the alcohol from last night and not touch any of the fat that you’re trying to get rid of.
This is why it’s a really good idea to take a break from alcohol if you’re trying to lose the beer belly quickly.
If you’d like some help in cutting out alcohol from your life, check out my 28-Day Challenge, The AF Experience.
How Long Does it Take to Get Rid a Beer Belly?
How long is a piece of string?
To answer this question, it really depends on how much excess weight you have, your body type, and how much work you’re willing to put in.
A better way to think of it is this…
Most people can realistically lose about half a kilo per week which is roughly about 10 kilos (1.6 stone/22lbs) in six months – perhaps more if you are bigger to start with.
Use a calorie calculator to calculate the recommended number of calories for you.