Cut back on Beer because the belly is too big?

[kaconga]

Moderation in everything. Before I took up brewing I was working out at the gym every day because I thought I was fat. Well 14% bodyfat (at 6'2") didn't sit too well with my body and I became sickly and ill. I've since gained the weight back and started to feel better (had to work hard to gain the weight back because it's just not the way my body works, but I mananged to do so).

A couple beers a week doesn't kill me.

Any more than that and I'm sure I'd start to gain unwanted weight or feel poor.

I've learned a lot while brewing and can now walk into a bar and sound like I know what I'm talking about by ordering an IPA, Porter, Stout etc. and be able to tell if the beer is made well. So far Leine's Snowdrift Vanilla Porter is my favorite. Tonight even the bartender said she admitted the vanilla in the porter made it more bitter than she liked. But I tend to like the more bitter beers.

Anyway, just rambling on the Internet. Good luck with your weight loss/gain. Balance is hard to find and maintain.

I am also a sucker for the snowdrift. I keep my drinking to 5 beers a week on average. I have moved from eating red meat to more fish. My boy is a little behind in the school department and since we started getting more omega 3 fats he seems to be doing better. Typically when I want to lose weight I just stop eating refined sugars.

 

[thood6]

myfitnesspal helped me lose the 30 pounds i needed to lose. I did give up drinking for a month though so that undoubtedly helped.

 

[Toecutter]

I am 57 and 300 lbs 6'3. I lift weights at the gym to keep my muscles in shape, but yeah, i am fat and have a gut. i am generally pretty healthy, and I get regular blood tests to make sure everything looks good. Yeah, I could lose some fat, but I enjoy a good meal, and I drink 1-2 homebrews a day. Entertaining I can easily knock down a couple bottles of wine. a buddy and i have both started deleting wheat and rice and high starch foods from our diet........but not wheat beer. we both agree it would be too hard to stop alcohol consumption........we really enjoy beer.

 

[LoloMT7]

Bunch of Debbie downers.... FAT & Happy come on everyone!

Ok I need to lose 20 lbs too but I'd rather have a leg cut off then stop drinking beer altogether so i guess i better focus elsewhere to cut back

 

[iambeer]

Buy good running shoes and start burning.

 

[oldstyle69]

sure did, but im back at it now. i quit for 3 months and was working out alot..went from 220 to 190 in those 3 months.

 

[TwoGunz]

Definitely lower your carb intake and it'll make a big difference

 

[christpuncher123]

Good luck! A pint of homebrew equals 250 calories, a 18o pound man would have to walk 5.25 miles at 3mph to burn 500 calories (2 pints), thats 2 hrs of walking! Enjoy the scenery!

 

[Nightshade]

Good luck! A pint of homebrew equals 250 calories, a 18o pound man would have to walk 5.25 miles at 3mph to burn 500 calories (2 pints), thats 2 hrs of walking! Enjoy the scenery!

If you jog it shouldn't take more than about 42 minutes on average pace of an 8.5min per mile pace, which isn't a difficult pace to work up to in fairly short time.

 

[buzzman003]

It is a concern, but try walking a mile or two (10-20 minutes) each day - that will allow you to indulge in a beer or two a night. If you really want to go hard core get a dog and walk everyday for the rest of your life.


-John

Thats what happened. I had a working dog, Belgian Malinois, and sold him. I used to run him every day. I also miss him terribly.

 

[b-boy]

Had a DFH120 the other day. 540 calories per bottle. Yikes.

Mcdonalds chocolate shake has 580.

 

[SailorTodd]

I am trying to run more, cut out High Fructose Corn Syrup (Its in EVERYTHING!), eat more whole foods, and work out more. (3x a week)

I noticed that when I went cold turkey for 3 weeks, I lost 6 pounds without changing anything in my diet or workout. Food for thought... no pun intended.

Seriously is. Of all the carbs, those in my beer will be the last to go. There are plenty everywhere else that can be carved out, particularly as corn syrup in refined food.

Best food commentary I heard recently was that if you're looking at a label trying to figure out what's in it you're already on the wrong track. As in picking fresh whole foods is far better than anything processed and packaged.

 

[histo320]

I am just about the hit the 30 year old mark and I can tell that my metabolism is starting the drop.

I have always gained a bit of weight in the winter as I do little to no working out but being a teacher and a coach, I am basically on my feet from 730 AM to 600 PM and sometimes later depending on the day.

As for cutting back on the beer......never. I have a bit of a beer belly but many people don't realize that you need to work out your back muscles along with your abs in order to keep your beer belly down. The more muscle you have the tighter it pulls the muscle and fat to your body.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Its definately hard, but i enjoy working out so its not a big deal to me...still try to stick to one a night, maybe two.

But i do run 3x a week and lift 3x a week.

 

[Skeptidelphian]

Well you can drink less beer or move more. I'm losing weight, trying to put on muscle, and trying to enjoy beer. It's certainty difficult and it's curtailed my hobby. I drink much less than I used to but that's because every calorie counts. I'm limiting myself to 5 beers a week, and no more than 3 in one sitting. And never on a night where I have major cardio the next day. There is a noticeable effect on my performance in a bad way.

The beer belly is a myth though. Your body puts on weight where it wants. Fat stores generated form alcohol don't go to the belly where others go elsewhere. Some people just happen to have their fat go there first. Mine is very evenly distributed so I've always looked 20-30 lbs lighter than I am.

 

[MoPhunk]

One word "insanity". I ate what I wanted throughout the holidays and drank just about every weekend. So far I'm down 17lbs. If course had I eaten right and not had so much beer it probably would have been double that.

 

[LandoLincoln]

The solution is always to either cut down on eating food or exercising more. Cutting back on beer consumption should only happen if your doctor tells you that you're going to die if you drink any more beer. And then you should go to the pub to think it over.

 

[Calichusetts]

I used to consistently gain 15 pounds over the winter then drop it (sometimes even up to 25 pounds) during the summer...turned thirty and my metabolism literally came to a crashing halt. Last summer I was working out nearly 2 hours a day and didn't lose a pound.

Now that I have a kid its nearly impossible to work out. I just cut out drinking during the week for starters. This isn't sitting well with my resolution of 365 new beers a year.

 

[Brewtah]

Beer calories are just calories. May not have the nutrional value of say broccoli, but a lot better tasting. As people have mentioned, low carb and exercise. I am giving up flavored creamer. I was consuming about 300 calories a day, it has been rough, almost at 100% half and half.

 

[PatDunkel]

Any one else cutting back on their beer consumption because they are gaining too much weight? I've gained 6 pounds so I have to stop drinking until I lose it again.

Sad thing is, I can't stop brewing the beer so I figure I would brew more porters and stouts that take a while to age since I can't drink it.

New years resolution - down the drain.....

I stopped drinking during the week at all and workout 6 days a week so I can enjoy myself on the weekends. I still don't go crazy on the weekends (although we did get into quite a few BCS's in Chicago Saturday) I feel your pain and refuse to be a fat bastard anymore. I do find that the beer is much more enjoyable when I don't drink it everyday

Pat

 

[PatDunkel]

One word "insanity". I ate what I wanted throughout the holidays and drank just about every weekend. So far I'm down 17lbs. If course had I eaten right and not had so much beer it probably would have been double that.

My words are Tony Horton because Shawn T. is a little much for me yet but I'll get there:rockin:

Pat

 

[BarefootFriar]

Ugh. I hate working out. Gotta do it, though.

I'm already down to about two beers a week, and I've cut out my Dr. Pepper consumption. I overeat sometimes, sometimes I don't. I've always had a slow metabolism, so losing weight, even when I was in my early 20s, has always been hard.

I've got an exercise bike, plus I live right down the road from a rather large recreation area that's owned by the US Forest Service. So I have plenty of options. I just don't like exercising.

 

[spkguitar]

Its all about calorie intake. need to figure out how many calories you need to maintain your desired weight and then make sure you dont consume more than that number, if you do, get out there and do some exercise.

+1

This is what I have been doing and it works great. It's a little bit of a pain to get used to, but after awhile, you don't even have to really think about it.

It's a little bit like my philosophy about drinking in general; achieve and maintain. :cross:

And my beer intake is factored into my weight maintenance schedule, so I don't feel like I'm missing anything at all.

 

[Yooper]

Definitely lower your carb intake and it'll make a big difference

Most of the people who have "beer bellies" actually have "wheat bellies". (Look it up via Google or in books- it's part of the American way of life).

I cut out processed grains (except for those in my beer) and so did Bob and we're both slim, lean and fit. I don't count calories, or even take them into account. I eat "real food", all the time.

I don't eat grains- not wheat, corn, rice, spelt, quinoa, etc- anymore. And I got healthier than ever. Of course, I do keep active as well.

 

[brewinchef_fairfax]

Homebrew was may way out of the "guzzle-a-gallon" brand name beers that I found myself pounding by the pitcher and bottle all of the time. I just found I wanted something more - and in turn started drinking so much less..
Funny how that works.

I'm much more interested in the reward that comes with flavor now. This was a step in the right direction to not being a big, fat bastard.

 

[patthebrewer]

This was a step in the right direction to not being a big, fat bastard.

Wow!!! Thats insulting!

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

Well you can cut back on beer, or you can cut back on other simple sugars. Maybe you put sugar in your coffee? Or eat a lot of bread? Potatoes? Things like that can be cut out as well and you can keep drinking a beer or 2 a day. Life is all about balance, if you enjoy too many excesses you gain weight, but if you drink responsibly diet responsibly and exercise, you're in much better shape.

 

[unionrdr]

Well,so far I've lost 17lbs cutting out drinkin beer all the time. Being retired & broke a lot means I can't get as much protiens as I need. More protiens & les grains would be great. With a bad back & hips,excersise is pretty much out. So I gotta eat less,but better. Wanna start getting better foods friday on retiree pay day. This weight has got to go.
But going on 57 with lower hormones makes it double tough.

 

[Homercidal]

My advice is to try and get a bit more exercise. It's better for you anyway.

I know. Easier said than done!

 

[Nightshade]

I am turning 42 this April and have been at odds with my weight the last couple years after having hit 245 @ 6'2". Over the last year I shed 55 pounds by just riding my bicycle year round (winter sucks) everywhere I go and watching what I eat a bit more. The other day I stepped on the scale for the first time in a while and am sitting right at 200 which I figured wass due to winter and putting less miles on the bike, in the summer I average about 1000 miles a month +/-, in the winter it is probably closer to maybe 300 or so (to and from work, shopping etc.). Drinking isn't a big isssue with me ass I may toss back at most a 6 pack a week or less, mainly in shifter drinks. This doesn't count during shift sampling of wort and fermenting beers.

The option is always there to toss back 3 or 4 a night but I have to budget my time between work, getting things at home done and spending time with my daughter which leaves little time for a higher consumption rate and still keeping my wits about me. I brew becausse it is a paycheck, I brew at home because I just plain love the process and when it is done I give away far more than I drink. Not trying to be all high and mighty by any means because my goal is to open my own brewery or brewpub at some point, I grew up in and around bars and alcohol so the culture is familiar...just don't want to become my dad either.