Stoves, Pigs and Other Pot Bellies
I was chatting with Joe about his healthy heart exercise program
when he suddenly became very serious and quietly said, "I've got
Dunlap disease." Since I hadn't heard of this malady before I
was contemplating how to respond when he went on to say, "My
belly done lapped over my belt". Joe has a lot of company. It is
estimated that 70 million Americans are fighting the battle of
the bulge.
As we "mature" two truths become self evident--the ease of
acquiring excess poundage and the difficulty of losing it. One
of the most frequent questions we get from new exercisers as
they affectionately caress their paunch is "How do I get rid of
this?
If you are one of legions that live in hope that there is a
secret formula or some abdominal exercise that will quickly melt
away your potbelly I have some bad news for you. Spot reducing
just doesn't work. A low carb eating strategy and strengthening
the right muscles can help a man (or a woman) turn a pot into
more of a skillet but it won't happen overnight.
Many people measure their weight loss success by what the
bathroom scale reads. The problem is that the scale can't tell
you what you need to know.
Dr. Wayne Wescott, consultant for the YMCA, says that the
average American loses an average of 5 pounds of muscle each
decade while gaining 15 pounds of body fat. "On a bathroom
scale, that would indicate a 10 pound weight gain problem (15
fat pounds minus 5 muscle pounds)," says Wescott. "But the
reality is that it's actually a 20 pound problem--15 pounds more
fat plus 5 pounds less muscle."
Since each pound of muscle burns up to 50 calories every
day--even while you are sleeping--a 5-pound muscle loss adds up
to a whopping 6,000 or 7000 calories per month that your
metabolic fires no longer burn.
This slowdown in metabolism sends you on a "bullet train to
Blobville". How do you get this muscle back? Sorry, but walking
won't do it. You need to invest about 15 minutes two or three
times per week to strengthen those neglected muscles.
Ladies who are new to strength training sometimes are concerned
that they will develop bulging muscles. Not to worry. A pound of
fat is about the size of a pound of butter but a pound of muscle
takes up only 1/3 the space. Toning your muscles will actually
make you look smaller.
Working with volunteers in their 60s and 70s, Samuel Klein at
Washington University in St. Louis found that older people who
seldom exercise are poor fat burners. Instead, most of the
energy they burn consists of carbohydrates.
The fat stores of this study group were broken down but weren't
burned up by the muscles as energy; instead the fat got recycled
through the liver and was redeposited in fat depots throughout
the body. Dr. Klein found that regular exercise, which included
strength training, restored their youthful fat-burning power.
"The good news is that if older people train, they can normalize
their ability to oxidize fat," he says. Switching to a low carb
eating program will accelerate this fat burning process since
the body will burn more fat for energy if carbohydrates are not
readily available.
If you think that carrying some extra fat around is a minor
problem think again. For every inch your waistline exceeds the
size of your chest, you can deduct two years from your life.
Surplus abdominal fat increases risk for a heart attack,
diabetes, and some forms of cancer. An estimated 80% of all
lower back pain can be traced to lack of abdominal strength.
If an inactive body, an over active fork and gravity have taken
their toll on your mid section you may want to heed the sage
advice of Ziggy who says, "A waist is a terrible thing to mind."