Get Rid of Your Gut!

brian3684

I am strictly trying to get rid of my gut. More specifically, the lower abs part of my gut and love handles. What is the best type of food to eat to accomplish this? I am doing lots of cardio and drinking tons of water. Someone told me lots of protein. Is that correct?

ukheather

I would like to know this too.

I can't shift the lower part of my belly

tlynnweb

I remember back in the day when I would follow the South Beach Diet, it stressed that you would lose belly fat first eating higher protein diets.

LadyPersia

would love to know too....

heathersmilez

Other people on MFP have found a diet higher in protein low in carbs helps.

In order to really get definition you have to lose body fat first so keep going with the cardio and training to get the definition you are looking for.

hpsnickers1

Protein is good but our bodies need carbs for fuel. Keep building up your muscle and your body will become a lean, mean fat burning machine.

WhiteStar2351

It's impossible for targeted/spot reduction - your body will lose fat where it is genetically programmed to do so. For most men the last place is the hips/lower gut.

Keep a calorie deficit, eat 1-1.5g of protein per 1lb of body weight, keep your carbs between 0.5-1g per 1lb of body weight and fat between 0.25-0.5g per 1lb of body weight. One meal per week eat whatever you want to blast your carbs up, reset leptin levels and stimulate the fat loss mechanism.

Other then that, continue with cardio and weights and be patient!

iplayoutside19

If that's you in your profile pic you are going to have to eat very lean, and slightly under calorie goal, like no more than 250 kcal deficit a day.

You will lose fat, but where your body draws the fat from you have no control. You cannot spot reduce.

hpsnickers1

It's impossible for targeted/spot reduction - your body will lose fat where it is genetically programmed to do so. For most men the last place is the hips/lower gut.

Keep a calorie deficit, eat 1-1.5g of protein per 1lb of body weight, keep your carbs between 0.5-1g per 1lb of body weight and fat between 0.25-0.5g per 1lb of body weight. One meal per week eat whatever you want to blast your carbs up, reset leptin levels and stimulate the fat loss mechanism.

Other then that, continue with cardio and weights and be patient!

Will this work for women, too? Right now my carbs are slightly higher than protein (125/94). Maybe I should balance them out?

WhiteStar2351

Will this work for women, too? Right now my carbs are slightly higher than protein (125/94). Maybe I should balance them out?

Yep - theres a really weird idea out there that men and women lose weight / build muscle differently which has absolutely no scientific basis. Yes, Men will find it easier to build muscle/lose weight then women as we have higher volumes of testosterone/lower levels of oestrogen - however, the basic mechanisms are identical in most mammals. I.e. eat more carbs then you burn off, the remainder will be stored as fat. Eat less protein then your body needs to repair? It will destroy the muscle rather then repair it (creating more calories you need to burn off on top of your carbs). Eat too little fat? Your hormone production will slow - including those that trigger fat loss.

If you eat the recommended 5-6 meals a day, plan your carbs based on what you're going to do over the next 3 hours. If you're going to go and work out - load up on the carbs (yum!). If you're going to sit on your bum and watch TV - you don't need that much energy, keep them low. Its that simple!

You must also make sure you're eating enough or it wont work - if youre using the preset numbers provided by MFP then chances are you're not eating a healthy amount and your body will refuse to give up the fat as its a rich source of stored energy (it would rather destroy the muscle thats burning the calories as not only will it burn less calories overall, but its also uses less energy to break down muscle then it does adipose (fat) tissue).

It's usually best to start with the government RDA of 2,000 calories (for women) and then drop 250cals a day. Once you've stopped losing weight, drop another 250, etc. If you drop to a ridiculously low number like 1200cals then not only will your body prevent fat breakdown/boost catabolism (muscle breakdown) - but it also leaves you no room to carry on cutting calories when you hit your first plateau!

chellis76

So if i weigh 154 my fat should be 77g of fat for the day at .5 per lbs. Is this correct!
Just trying to figure this out so I cam not starving myself. I have already lost 4 lbs and want to continue but dont want to put my self in starvation mode.
Thanks

WhiteStar2351

Depending on your overall calories you may want to go a little lower then that - I weigh in at around 204lbs and stick to around 80-90g a day. At the end of the day your nutrition requirements are very personal and you need to find what works for you. Try around 65g a day as a starting point and go from there - if, after a few weeks, its too high you can lower it. If its too low you can lift it. The trick is to make one minor tweak per week/fortnight and see what happens - if its good, keep it. If not - bin it!

chellis76

Thank you!!