men and belly fat

[rie'smom]

Many women let themselves go but their fat is spread over their entire bodies. Men tend to get what my grandmother called a "bay window".

 

[Rebelmom67]

Neither my husband nor myself are spring chickens, but we work out religiously. We are both fit and trim. You have to work out and not eat anything you want. The benefits are great, not just aesthetically, but physically.

 

[DisTeach1]

I agree with RebelMOm. I don't think having a beer gut or being overweight is a "given" once you are a certain age. It is avoidable, but it takes work. There IS NO benefit to being overweight, and once you reach middle or older age, the health risks are great. My husband and I watch what we eat, and most of the time, eat healthy. When we eat out or are on vacation, we eat what we want, that is our reward.

I just got back from FL and a WDW vacation and there was a comment in the paper about how many overweight people there are in Orange County. Most of the women I saw were frumpy dumpys, even in there 30's and 40's.

There really is no excuse...ARe the health risks and feeling awful by the time you're in your 50's really worth it?

 

[ahoff]

And another thing...

Women have some sort of excuse for getting out of shape as they approach middle-age. They have carried children!

What excuse do the men have????


TC

BEER

 

[denisenh]

I know it. Just a few days ago I saw a fairly young looking man...late 30's maybe. He had a handsome face, nice head of hair but such a huge belly sticking way out , really big and round, with his tee shirt hanging off the over hang of it. Must be so uncomfortable.

 

[Micca]

I guess I know what I'm having for lunch today... a walk

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

When my boyfriend and I met, he was very skinny...you could count the individual ribs in his back and his hip bones stuck out and he had knobby knees. He ended up going on anxiety meds a couple of years ago and gained a lot of weight...probably between 40 and 50 lbs...mostly in his stomach. Since he was so skinny before, he looks healthy now. He's finally a normal weight and not underweight anymore. However, his stomach does stick out a bit...just like his father's. Can't blame it on beer, since he doesn't drink. Like a pp said, he doesn't get on me about my large thighs (he actually likes them ), so I don't get on him about his expanding waist-line.

We've started going on walks together recently.

 

[princesspiglet]

My DH used to be about 160 pds at 5'11". He is now pushing 180 and the extra weight is ALL in his stomach. He used to have amazing abs- 6 pack- now it is more like a case! While I watch what I eat and work out to keep my pre-pregnancy weight, he pigs out on Triscuits and Beer. Not fair at all.

I just rub his belly and ask him if he will grant me a wish. He hasn't gotten the hint yet.

 

[stego]

I got a good dose of reality when I went to WDW in May '07. We'd purchased a DS for our son, and stopped at the POC to download a special component of the game only available there. While they were doing that, I spent some time people watching. Folks, it's not just the adults. It's our children that concerns me greatly. What I saw was reality and I truly hate putting labels on people so I will stick to general descriptions. What I observed was reality: our children are indeed headed for trouble. Where else but at WDW can one get a broad swath of our society? We've been to vacations at other places (I know: the horrors: not WDW every year?) but I observed something truly unique at DC: there weren't as many overweight/obese people. And you know why? Because they walked EVERYWHERE! Back in '04 I was close to 300 lbs. and it was getting worse. Going to WW and the realization of how I was eating/living hit me hard. I'm still tracking daily since hitting lifetime in July '05. What has occured to me is I don't have any kind of impact on anyone else but more so of concentrating on taking care of myself. My brother is 4 1/2 years younger and he wants NOTHING to do with advice from me. He's into ego/materialism and that has no attraction to me. In pretty much all aspects of life I have found I am motivated from within and not from unsolicited advice. Lots of folks either don't care or don't have it within them to change. Don't get me wrong, it was hard work; but I choose the carrot and stick method (constant mental picture of said brother) and that was my motivation. Other people are much more sane/healthier than me but I am a work in progress...today I'm about 5 lbs. overweight and the scale tells no lies.

 

[Deb in IA]

stego, first of all, CONGRATULATIONS on getting the weight off and KEEPING it off!! Way to go! You are absolutely right; it takes a lot of hard work and is a lifelong commitment. But well worth it.

Secondly, yes, as a pediatrician, I can tell you that we KNOW, and have numbers and graphs documenting the epidemic of obesity now affecting our children. It is real, it is happening, and it WILL affect so many in the future, if not already. We are already seeing adult "diseases" like type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and heart disease in increasingly younger children.

It is really frightening.

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

Men have a much easier time of losing weight than women. Women's bodies are built to hold on to weight for reproduction purposes. It really sucks!

 

[Hercules10]

Men have a much easier time of losing weight than women.

Bull.

 

[rkwells]

Bull.

In our house its not "Bull". My husband and I have dieted together doing the South Beach diet. He lost weight at a must faster pace then I did even though he ate more.

 

[ahoff]

Well, stego is a biker now also But I agree with him, I have spent the last four years traveling to Europe for work, and have observed a much healthier lifestyle there. People are out walking everywhere (perhaps it is the price of their gas?), especially on weekends, most everything is closed on Sunday so they are out hiking and biking. And they eat a little different, the noon meal is the big meal of the day.

One exception to the healthier lifestyle is that everyone smokes, maybe that is keeping the weight off also?

 

[Hercules10]

In our house its not "Bull". My husband and I have dieted together doing the South Beach diet. He lost weight at a must faster pace then I did even though he ate more.

Maybe he just ate more of the right type of food. Either way it was just "your house" as you say. To generalize that it is easier for us is wrong.