The 3 Habits Men Need, To Lose That Flabby Gut!

Men Are Hereby Warned… Your Belly Fat Is Pushing You Towards Adverse Diseases

6 out of 10 adult American men are now overweight.

2 out of 10 are obese.

Yessir, we are in the middle of a big fat crisis (pun not intended).

And that’s why, it today’s post we are going to see why men should choose to lose belly fat (and how exactly you should do it).

In terms of aesthetic reasons, many men decide to lose weight in their abdomen region because of the idea that a 6-pack or a flat stomach is considered attractive by mainstream society.

While everyone has their own opinions of what ‘fit’ looks like, and what they themselves want to look like, I can tell you this personally – I wanted to have a flat stomach because it was what made me feel more confident in my physical appearance.

I had been pretty toned growing up (from being outside and playing soccer), and that was what felt, to me, to be my personal best and the constant that I once knew. When I told my husband of my plans, he was supportive of however I wanted to look-as long as I was happy and healthy, he didn’t care if I weighed what I did in college, or three times as much.

But, coming back to you… in terms of reasons why men SHOULD lose weight around their abdomen, there are many.

While it’s not good to have large collection of fatty tissue anywhere on the body, there are higher risks associated with fat centered around/within the abdomen.

Fat located around the abdomen is also known as ‘visceral fat’.

The presence of visceral fat increases someone’s risk for lung problems (more fat means less chest room, which results in decreased lung function).

In addition, it increases the risks for type 2 Diabetes (as the excess fat interrupts the blood sugar-regulating hormone called insulin).

Visceral fat can even disrupt hormonal balance affecting your metabolism and appetite negatively (through disrupting leptin and adiponectin levels).

In addition to these, the presence of visceral fat additionally affects your cardiac health.

Belly fat can release cytokines (immune system proteins), which increase the risk for heart disease by causing the body to undergo insulin resistance and constant low levels of inflammation.

And that’ s not all!

Belly fat is additionally tied to higher levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol (also known as LDL, or low-density lipoproteins), and lower levels of ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL, or high-density lipoproteins).

In addition, for men, a large amount of belly fat increases the risk of sleep apnea, colorectal cancer, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

However, enough of the negativity. You get the point – belly fat bad, flat stomach good!

So now here are the 3 habits you absolutely must try to adopt if you want to live longer, stay fitter, and look great!

Habit #1 – No Surprises, You Need To Start Exercising.

start working out

A shocker, I know. Exercise is extremely important to lose weight, especially around the abdomen.

And here’s something interesting, though we all know by now that spot reduction (reducing fat in specific parts of your body) is impossible, I beg to differ!

It’s very important to do abdominal exercises because they are what will define your waist line!

Of course, you also need to do whole body exercises, which even though they may not feel like they’re helping your abdomen, trust me, they are!

Focusing on the abs alone isn’t a good way to get abs – you’ll burn yourself out, and exhaust the muscles.

Get a personal trainer for a few months to learn the nuances, and of course, speak with your doctor before starting any workout regime, but hey, I can defnitely give you some useful tips:

  • Make sure that when you do abdominal exercises, you move from your waist. You want to keep the hips still-make sure the movement occurs from the lowest rib and travels u
  • Also, make sure you’re focusing on a tightening sensation in your core-you should feel a tight sensation from one hipbone to the other, almost as if you were zipping up a tight outfit.
  • Finally, remember to breathe and exhale deeply – this will help strengthen your abdominal muscles, while also protecting your lower back.
  • You can do crunches that focus on your upper and lower abdominals, along with your obliques. You can incorporate your arms and legs into the workout-there are so many different maneuvers.

There are other types of exercise that help a lot with your abs. Walking works your abdominal muscles, while yoga strengthens all areas of the body. Finally, weight training of all muscles is a great way to boost the metabolism, along with strengthening your bones.

Of course, do not fall for any scammy products like sauna belts, or body wraps to lose weight, these kind of products do absolutely nothing except lighten your wallet!

Of all the things that men try to lose weight with, exercising is where they struggle the most.

You always get tired fast, you’re never in the mood to exercise. You feel out of breath and ridiculously sweaty every time you try to do something, and you never want to budget time to exercise – you rather want to lie on the couch, or get another hour of sleep.

Yes, exercising IS hard.

However, even though it might feel like the biggest hurdle of all the things you tried to do, there are some things you can do to make it easier…

The first being… start slow.

Maybe start walking for 30 minutes, 2-3 times a day, maybe with friends.

Then maybe start going for some yoga classes, twice a week, which can then be progressed to joining a gym, and working with a trainer.

Habit #2 – Get A Good Night’s Sleep

minimum 7 hours sleep

You may have known that sleep is beneficial for your mental and physical well-being in general, but did you know that there are numerous studies that conclude it can have a huge effect on belly fat and weight loss as well.

Let me explain:

When your body experiences a lack of sleep, it goes through elevated cortisol levels during the day. Cortisol is a hormone that’s associated with body tissue breakdown, and it is very stress- sensitive: when you’re stressed out, your body will have higher cortisol levels.

The more cortisol you have, the more muscle mass you will likely undergo, as your body is starting to undergo its stress reaction.

In addition to higher levels of cortisol, sleep deprivation can also cause hormonal release and metabolism changes within the body. Essentially, when the body is fatigued, it thinks that it has a low supply of energy, so it reasons further that it needs to take in more food for more energy.

Decreased sleep can lower insulin and glucose sensitivity, which are responsible for regulating your body’s ability to feel full, and prevent diabetes.

Basically, when you’re tired, you end up feeling an increased appetite, and more hunger-and we all know that’s not good for the belly!

Again, as I’ve mentioned before, visceral fat can actually become life threatening, which is why it’s so important to exercise AND get good sleep every day (night, actually!).

Studies have shown that you should get AT LEAST 7-8 hours of sleep each night.

Start practicing good sleep habits – a dark room, quiet place, turning off all your technology gadgets, not leaving the TV on while you sleep (or falling asleep to it!), receiving a consistent amount of sleep each night, and sleeping in a cool room.

Finally, we come to the third habit…

Habit #3 – Reduce Stress In Your Life

eliminate stress

We all know stress is a way of life.

Whether it comes from your job, from your family, from any personal struggles you’re going through, from any of life’s ups and downs, it’s easy to not only get stressed out, but to stay stressed out, but you should be careful – your body responds to all types of stress the same way!

In addition, no matter how well you exercise or sleep, consistent levels of high stress can not only keep you from losing weight, but even result in you gaining more of those annoying pounds.

I mean honestly, who doesn’t crave something high in fat, or something sweet or salty when they’re stressed? The thing is, when your body is stressed, you not only get a burst of adrenaline (which helps your body go into the ‘fight or flight’ response), but you also get that surge of cortisol (the stress hormone) that I mentioned previously.

That cortisol says to your body “Hey! Replenish my energy please!”

Then then you get hungry, then you eat, and then you gain the weight… and you see where we’re going with this.

When your body is producing cortisol, there is a decrease in the production of testosterone, which as a hormone is responsible for building muscle.

As a result, your muscle mass decreases, so you burn fewer calories.

Also, when you have cortisol in your body, your body is encouraged to store that abdominal visceral fat – which not only surrounds your vital organs, but also releases fatty acids into your bloodstream, which puts you at a higher risk for heart disease and diabetes (from the effects of altering your insulin and cholesterol levels).

Thankfully, some highly effective stress reduction techniques are to actually start workout/exercise, eat slowly during your meals, break yourself of the ‘strict dieting’ habit, allow yourself to indulge your cravings (but only a little bit!), decrease your caffeine intake, make sure you eat breakfast, and again – sleep!

Conclusion

Fate it seems, is not without a sense of irony. Men have an inclination to store belly fat, and it is men who have more serious risks associated with it.

So if you are just a couple of pounds’ overweight, then you need not worry too much about it, just exercise a bit and keep yourself fit.

However, if you’re overweight right now, DO NOT delay in getting that weight down. Men start dropping their testosterone levels every decade after the age of 30, meaning it will become increasingly difficult to lose fat 5 years from now, then it is now!

So do not delay in adopting these three habits – begin exercising, start adopting good sleep habits, and start thinking of what things stress you out, then find what works for you to reduce and eliminate it.

You will start seeing some quick results almost immediately, but the real  results come when you truly adopt and persevere with these three habits in your life.

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Santiago

Santiago writes about the fascinating, unexpected side of life for Unfinished Man. He explores intriguing subcultures, people, and trends that reveal the weirdness hiding below the surface. Santiago provides an insider’s perspective shaped by his own experiences pushing boundaries and embracing the unconventional. His curiosity and passion for storytelling give readers a glimpse into unfamiliar worlds.

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