A big belly is unhealthy and unattractive. Thousands of sit-ups won't help you much, so you need a realistic plan. Include a moderate diet and exercise routine to lose your middle, and avoid health complications by making simple changes. Pounds will drop and you won't miss the extra calories. You will enjoy the additional energy. And you do not even need to give up your beer.
Motivation
Aside from being unattractive and having a difficult time finding a belt that fits, extra weight around your midsection means greater health risks. Risk factors increase when waist measurements are larger than 40 inches for men, or 35 inches for women. Possible health issues include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, hardening of the arteries, diabetes and heart attacks. Losing weight and extra inches around your waist improves your overall health and even increases your sex drive.
Diet Simple
Continue to eat the foods you love while making subtle changes that will result in a slight calorie deficit and no feeling of deprivation. Try decreasing your calorie intake by 100 calories per meal. Easy ways to ditch 100 calories include frying with non-stick spray in your pan instead of with 1 tbsp. butter, having two scoops of ice cream instead of three, giving up sodas at 120 calories each and trying iced tea or water, leaving the cheese off your sandwich and loading it up with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and onions instead.
Beer
Beer is 150 calories per 12 oz. container, but you do not have to give it up entirely. A healthy, well-balanced food plan leaves room for treats, as long as you eat or drink extras in moderation. Switch to light beer first, then cut down on beer consumption if the scale stops moving. Alcohol carries a risk of dependency and should only be drunk in moderation, if at all. A moderate amount of alcohol is one drink per day for women, two for men.
Exercise
Get your heart beating quickly and work up a sweat for 30 minutes, three to five times a week. If that is too much to start with, do as much as you can and work up to this amount. Also, include resistance training two or three times per week. If you do not have weights or a gym membership, do pushups, pull-ups and lunges to begin building muscle tissue. Also, stretch a few days each week to maintain flexibility. And work core muscles by doing crunches, side bends or sit-ups at least twice each week. You cannot spot reduce your belly away, but as you slim down, you want to keep back and stomach muscles strong.
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