Well, I am developing a “middle-aged lady tummy,” which does NOT come from eating too many middle-aged ladies [insert lewd punchline here].
Most women over a certain age get that little bulge, even stick-insects like Joanna Lumley and Christine Baranski. So, I have joined the gym—I try to swim or thrash about on the machines 3x a week, and am trying to concentrate on what the gym-bunnies call the “abs.”
My trainer says I have to lose 10 pounds and meet a certain number of “goal numbers” by March 20, and if I don’t they’ll take me out back and break my kneecaps . . .
I’d suggest hubby just watch his diet and exercise more, like we all do when Mr. Middle Age comes to visit.
Alcohol (ethanol) is not “processed as a fat.” It may be lumped in with fats on some dietary schemes (“fats and alcohols”), but this has little or nothing to do with the biochemical pathways used to digest these molecules. Fats go through hydrolysis followed by a complicated sequence of yanking the carbon atoms off the fatty acid chain two at a time. Ethanol has only two carbons to begin with.
I, also have ben working on getting rid of my beer-belly, or as I call it “Molson Park.” I’ve switched to a light beer (Make sure it has fewer calories and is not just called “Light” because it’s a lighter colour than regular beer!) and have cut down on my general beer intake. I’ve also started walking. Even on cold nights I at least get out and walk around the block. What started as a 20 minute walk in November is now a 90 daily routine. Walking is a good low-impact exercise and, with a Walkman or Discman and your favourite music, it’s quite nice! (Watch for cars!) I’ve lost about 15 pounds and a few inches off the beer-belly! Stick with it! You didn’t get the beer-belley overnight, you won’t lose it overnight!
With God as my witness, I thought turkey’s could fly.
Thanks everyone - it’s helpful. And Gabriel, that’s about how I feel about it – the drinking WAS a major concern when he was hanging out in bars, and then driving and doing it a couple times a month and we were fighting about it, but he hasn’t done that in a long time and seems to have reformed. It doesn’t interfere with his job. I will try to get him to exercise more (and me!)
I tend to store weight in my stomach. When I weighed 140# (I’m 6’) I still had a gut. Now I am 220# I have 4 pack abs and have NEVER been able to get the 6 pack. I doubt I ever could.
The one drawback to the beer to fat cuz of alcohol or whatever, is that beer has very little alcohol compared to wine or liquor. Most people I see who drink a lot of wine or liquor are not fat. Alcohol at one stage, slows down the appetite, which is probably why this is the case.
Then, why aren’t beer drinkers also slim? Is it because they have to drink so much beer to get the same amount of alcohol? Hmmm.
Tonight the SO tells me he was browsing thru a fitness magazine and there was an article which said that carbohydrates are the culprit and doesn’t matter if beer, wine, or liquor. Hmmm…all I know is, I don’t drink much beer because I always get bloated and feel uncomfortably full – doesn’t happen with mixed drinks or wine. But I don’t know what that has to do with carbos.
Be skeptical of anyone who tells you any one thing is the ‘cause’. The last year, its been carbohydrates. A couple years ago, fat was out and carbs were in - before that simple sugars etc. There are trends in dieting that tilt the entire industry - which means all the magazines etc. you read are influenced by these fads. To me, its all calories - I can’t see how the type can be nearly as important as the total number because your body will convert sugars to fats and vice-versa depending on its needs.
Switch to wine. No beer, can’t be a beer belly. . .must be a wine belly.
Ray (Like restaurant stools designed for fat people, clothes designed for beer bellies are a pain. Clothes seem to start at L, if not XL, these days, because most Americans are overweight. They’s overgrazin’ on them dot.com stock dividends again, Mazy.)