My SO has what is typically known as a beer belly. He looks like he’s about 8 months pregnant. Otherwise, he’s not overweight. He does drink a lot of beer - 3-4 a day (well I think that’s a lot), plus usually has a glass or two of red wine. I’ve noticed a lot of men have beer bellies. A male friend in his late 20’s who drinks a lot of beer is developing one. Is it really the beer that’s causing it? Will exercise alone help? He does some ab work a couple times a week, but I told him he needed to cut down on the beer.
Syc- Just my opinion, but if he’s drinking 3-4 glasses of beer a day, followed by a glass of wine or two later, I’m not sure a beer belly should be at the top of your concerns.
Are you exaggerating for effect, or should we start forwarding you numbers for Alcoholics Anonymous chapters in your area?
JMCJ
This is not a sig.
Fat is fat. Where it goes depends largely on gender. Men would much rather have a “beer gut” than a “fat tummy”.
The longer you have it, the harder it will be to get rid of it.
Peace,
mangeorge
I only know two things;
I know what I need to know
And
I know what I want to know
Mangeorge, 2000
Fat is fat. Where it goes depends largely on gender. Men would much rather have a “beer gut” than a “fat tummy”.
The longer you have it, the harder it will be to get rid of it.
Peace,
mangeorge
I only know two things;
I know what I need to know
And
I know what I want to know
Mangeorge, 2000
Yes, it has occurred to both of us that he may have a problem. He’s actually cut back - he used to go out drinking and get shit-faced - AND drive! I gave him hell about that, and he doesn’t do that anymore.3 or 4 a day is probably more an average. Doesn’t usually have wine in addition to the beer. and it’s always at home, so I’ve just been happy that he’s not out driving around. So, ANYWAY, can anyone answer my questions - is it really the beer that causes the belly, and if so, will exercise help it?
I don’t know the answer, I can only relate that I’ve been no stranger to beer and I’ve not become “pregnant.” I think several factors involving the rest of one’s diet and lifestyle (i.e., how many calories you burn and the state of your muscles) affect the beer belly. My brother has had one, lost it, had one again, lost it again, etc., and he doesn’t drink at all.
sri cecil:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/971128.html
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/971003.html
Sounds like my father and his brother.
Both of them were skinny everywhere except the belly–which looked 8+ months pregnant.
People “get fat” in all sorts of ways. I guess that was just where their bodies were programmed to store it.
I agree with mjollnir, I have one, my brother has one, as does my dad and all of his brothers. None of us are drasticly out of shape, other than the gut. It does seem that our bodies just store fat there.
We must blame them and cause a fuss before somebody thinks of blaming us.
Sheila Broflofski
Getting back to the OP question. Yes you (or whoever else) can. Get off the couch, put down the beer, and start freakin exercising. Do more than the 12 ounce lift. If you can play some basketball or softball or touch football for a couple of times a week, and not drink that day. Beer belly will disappear. POOF. Oh and BTW . . . duh.
I suppose what I will say next will get me flamed, so I am gonna put my asbestos underpants on. So may people who know nothing about alchoholism are quick to scream “AA”! Well not everyone who has a couple of beers a day is an alcoholic. The OPoster said herself that he cut down voluntarily. Thats a good sign. We are too easily confused in this society into believing that a person who enjoys beer or wine on an everyday basis has the big A disease. BS. Who among us doesn’t enjoy chocolate 5, 6, 7 times a week ? Or sex ? Or SportsCenter for petes sake ? Alcoholism is the new wolf . . . it gets cried by shepard boys who know nothing and worse by posters who know less. Are there alcoholics ? Of course, they cannot help but drink. But there are those who can help it, but choose to do it for whatever reason. Look, there is a difference between having 16 beers 4 times a week, passing out nude in your own vomit - and having 3 or 4 beers every night and then going to bed. (And getting up the next day on-time and going to work.) Give the guy and me a break. Is it getting warm ?
All rights reserved, all wrongs revenged.
Not one damned bit. You said this with eloquence. I couldn’t agree more. I don’t suffer it, but my lover, AND my kids’ sitter does. People just LOVE a label. 
Cartooniverse
If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel.
I have, and here’s how I did it.
-
Eat less. Counting calories is a good way to see what you eat.
-
Exercise. He needs to do something he likes. Don’t make weight lose synonymous with some hated activity.
Finally,
Don’t be obsessed with the scale, the girth is what matters.
Sure, you can get rid of a beer belly. Just make the man it’s attached to move out, and you won’t see the belly again either.
Live a Lush Life
Da Chef
Thank you for jumping on that, Gabe. I was scrolling down fast to do the same thing, and saw you beat me to it.
JC should do himself a favor and not schedule any European trips…seeing the way the denizens of the Old World enjoy their daily beer and wine would no doubt send him running for his petticoat, high-button shoes, and hatchet.
Gabe:
BRAVO!!! Well said!!!
Im sure to get some flack on this, but alcohol is processed by the body as a fat, thus the big fat gut you see.
Dear wannabe scientists, we already covered that alcohol is processed as fat here very scientifically & if you wish to not agree, be sure to site your sources. thx, handy
I read this once, perhaps in Discover Magazine, but the article said that fat stored in man’s gut is a holdover from the days when men when would grab their spears and a few of their buddies and go on hunting expeditions for several days. It said that the fat stored there metabolizes quickly, and was a survival mechanism, for when you might be out hunting for several days with little to eat. That’s what it said, anyway. I know my dad has one, and my pants are starting to fit a little tighter myself, but I would be willing to chalk that up to my poor diet and lack of exercise.
I thought it was agreed that alcohol was processed as a sugar, which, if not burned off, is converted to fat for storage.
Well, a beer belly is not caused by beer any more than it is caused by ice cream. As others have said, fat on men is stored around the waist, as opposed to women where it collects at the hips. The best way to lose fat is to eat better (drink light beer maybe ? - see the Lo Cal - Great Test thread) and to excercise. Myself I have found that I can eat pretty badly and keep a decent figure but I work out 3-4 times a week, including weights and 30 minutes on the Stairmaster-From-Hell, and I fence 3-4 times a week.
If you just cut calorie intake and do not excercise, you will lose weight for awhile but your metabolism will slow and you will eventually be back in the same boat (with less energy though).
I understand where handy is coming from. Last year the fellow next to me (at the ol’ client) went on a diet. He said that he could drink all the alcohol he wanted because it’s calorie content did not contribute to weight gain. I think he was on Atkin’s diet, or something like that. He remain portly however.
I like beer; I don’t like getting drunk. I have found that drinking one regular beer (Dos Equis, for example), then following it by one or more NA beers (e.g.: Kaliper(sp?) by Guinness) seems to work for me. NA beers have about 70 Calories per bottle, as opposed to the 120-210? for alcohol versions. These NA beers are kinda nasty (I’m more of a Guinness Stout person), but I don’t need extra Calories.
(and a few others)
I think someone already noted that the end of the alcohol detoxification/metabolization process is fat. A disproportionate amount of this is stored in and around the liver and in the gut in general, in both men and women (women can get beer guts to). Of course, fat from other sources can be stored here too, so you don’t need to be a boozer to have a gut.
My gandaddy used to call it “dinner muscle”. I prefer “famine resistant” to “fat”, and “energy storage device” to beer gut