How do you lose a middle aged spread (MAS)?

Ivor the Engine

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I am 44, 5" 8' and currently weigh in @ 12st 12lb. I have lost 1st in just over a year. My BMI has me down as overweight and in theory I would have to be 11st 11lb which I think is too low for me.

I ride approximately 50 miles per week and am generally active - boys of 6 and 3.

I am currently dieting - nothing too harsh but it involves Ryvita and am consuming around 1700/1900 calories per day.

I am not a slave to the scales and want to loose the flab around the belly area - the MAS. Is there anything I could be doing alongside the diet and my current exercise to lose the MAS?

I am a realist here and am not aiming for anything boy band.
 
Ride some more, keep a reasonably clean diet, test production starts to decrease after 40, for some men it's really difficult to keep a good physique, but it's still possible...
 
MT Biking and walking/hiking (2-8 hour walks in the peaks/wales etc) for me.

Helps keeps things in check. Lost 8 kilos in the last few months. Am 41. 5ft 7 and weigh 10stone 3 ish now. Lowest I've been for a decade at least.:D

Was a period a couple of months back when I really went off my food for a couple of weeks. Was still biking/walking at the time and the fat really fell off fast then!

Went for a 32" waist back down to a 30" (my ultimate aim) and now a lot of my 30" jeans are a bit too big:eek:
 
Have a calorie deficite, and doing crunches, not even one million of them will not make your belly disappear.
 
Try running. Thats what I did and lost around 8Kg in past 6 months simply by running, going to gym on a regular basis and generally having a reasonably healthy diet.

I believe its more in the diet more than anything though. I've tried junk food + the gym combination and that doesnt work at all :)

Try the NHS C25K app - worked for me! Totally rubbish runner a few months ago. Now I can run for almost 30 min without stopping. Aiming a 5K soon.
 
Ivor rather than being on a diet, try and just change your diet and mindset. This is easier said than done as my weight is almost a state secret but being an ex-front row rugger bugger its not a kick in the bawz off twice Doms weight.

Okay I weigh a tad over 20st and I am 5' 11"... I know I am very overweight but let no one labour this point. My ideal weight, for me, is 16st, and that is still over the BMI rating for my height. However BMI is rather crude you could be 6' 2" body builder tipping the 20st mark and be considered a risk according to BMI as it does not take into account muscle mass and physique.

If you have a weight in mind that you would be happy with then work to getting there and also long as you are leading an active, healthy life you will be happier... That is not to say you are unhappy now I might add.
 
Ivor rather than being on a diet, try and just change your diet and mindset.

I lost a stone basically upping the exercise (cycling) and ditching sugar. I am dieting now as, once I have lost, I can maintain that weight. Basically I kept the stone off for 9 months with some minor, long term amends to my diet.

I'd be happy at 12st 6lb but really want to lose the belly.
 
That's a little worrying. Why not?

Because doing crunches will not burn fat.

You can strengthen your core doing move like the plank, or press-ups. But to lose the fat, you got to consume less calories than you burn. So a small deficite, is all you need.

There is plenty of more detailed info in the fitness section.
 
Just so the OP is clear - crunches will burn calories like any other exercise but as mjn says it will not directly burn the fat on the stomach. Spot reduction is a myth. You will strengthen your core by doing crunches but losing the fat around your belly can only be accomplished by losing weight in general. A small calorie deficit diet encourages gradual weight loss which is easier to maintain in the long term instead of a crash diet on ryvitas and lettuce leaves
 
Reminds me a bit of this. Beer bellies aren't down to beer.

BBC - Future - What causes a beer belly?

Now why does it give you a beer belly specifically? Well the answer is down to two things apparently - gender and age. After about the age of 35 most men's metabolisms start to slow down. While men tend to put weight on their... bellies, women's fat stores commonly go on their backside and hips.
 
I was hoping to see a post with some sort of magic formula, but sadly you have all let me down... :(

Sod it! I am going to have a cake now :p
 
A small calorie deficit diet encourages gradual weight loss which is easier to maintain in the long term instead of a crash diet on ryvitas and lettuce leaves

Don't worry it's just for lunch whilst I wean myself off cheese and bread. I still get a proper dinner.
 
I agree with others here, in that anything sensible says the same thing.
You cannot spot burn away fat.
Exercise will not really lose it.
You have to eat less calories and lose fat all over.

The problem is:

1: You will feel you look way too thin in areas you feel are fine.
2: The very area you wish it to go from, is probably the place your body 1st starts to store fat, and it will be the very last place for the fat to go from.

You will end up seeing your rib cage and STILL probably have some love handles you want to shift.

Everyone would love it if you could just to exercises on one part of your body and that area loses the fat.

Tummy wise, I guess a firm stomach will support any fat better and not sag, so that's not a bad thing, but you must eat less calories than you are burning up. And you must do it gradually and stick to it, get into a new routine of what you eat.

For the record, if I was your height, and a typical slim male build, not athletic/body builder type, I'd consider myself overweight at your height/weight combination.
Also you are eating too many calories to lose much, IMHO.
 
See I feel fat now, i'm 6'2" 17 stone and 41, lowest I got to was 15 years ago at 16stone and I felt like shit. I eat plenty of the healthy stuff veg's, fruit etc etc and no matter what I can't shift any weight. I have not done much exercise this year and tbh even when I was cycling 15 miles a day and running a little I was still the same weight lol my BMI says I should be around 14st even my doctor said there is no way I would get to that with my frame alone so do big bones really exist?
 
See I feel fat now, i'm 6'2" 17 stone and 41, lowest I got to was 15 years ago at 16stone and I felt like poop. I eat plenty of the healthy stuff veg's, fruit etc etc and no matter what I can't shift any weight. I have not done much exercise this year and tbh even when I was cycling 15 miles a day and running a little I was still the same weight lol my BMI says I should be around 14st even my doctor said there is no way I would get to that with my frame alone so do big bones really exist?

I'm sorry to be so blunt, but really this is the only thing I can honestly say, and you are not going to like it:

Stop Eating So Much Food/Drink

And please don't say you eat almost nothing, as there is no point it saying that, if you honestly in your heart know you do eat a little more than you should be doing.

Forget the idea of exercising to lose weight. It will burn calories sure, but BOY you really have to work at it to burn calories. It's far far FAR easier not to put those calories in your mouth in the 1st place.

Sorry if that's not what you want to hear.
 
I'm 6'2" and if I were 16 stone I'd feel poop but for the opposite reason you do zad...

When I was at my fittest and most active 30 years ago I was 12.5 stone.

Sorry...

I'm not sure where your doctor gets "around 14 stone" from. That's the absolute maximum you should be if you believe in BMI figures and it still classes you as overweight.
 
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See I feel fat now, i'm 6'2" 17 stone and 41, lowest I got to was 15 years ago at 16stone and I felt like poop. I eat plenty of the healthy stuff veg's, fruit etc etc and no matter what I can't shift any weight. I have not done much exercise this year and tbh even when I was cycling 15 miles a day and running a little I was still the same weight lol my BMI says I should be around 14st even my doctor said there is no way I would get to that with my frame alone so do big bones really exist?
They must do, I am 6'1" and 18 stone 7...I am not what you would call fat at all, 36" waste still :smashin:
Admittedly I do not really exercise anymore but I am very active, run up the stairs and all that..
 
Those figures are crap
14 stone for someone 6' 2 is nothing, in fact at that height you would look fairly slim
 
You ride 50 aged 3 and 6 boys a week? Try walking instead.
 
Those figures are crap
14 stone for someone 6' 2 is nothing, in fact at that height you would look fairly slim

It really depends how you carry the weight and your muscle.
You could very easily have quite a fat belly at 14 stone and 6' 2"

I think part of the problem is that people are USED to seeing fatter people in general, so when you see an old slim chap, who would of been quite average for a working man a couple of generations ago, you'd say, OMG look how thin he is, underweight poor old guy.

When in fact, he's good, it's todays view and what we keep seeing that's making us think a bit fat is the new slim to average.
 
Try crunches, its a good way on toning up the tummy muscles without busting a gut!:)

Crunches Exercise Guide and Video
I have to say crunches didn't work for me.
I got to the stage where I was doing 80 a session but just ended up with rock hard muscle below the fat gut.
It was part of a calorie controlled diet and I lost 3 stone but still had a pot belly albeit smaller.
I actually wondered if the crunches had the effect of making my stomach look larger due to the muscle development in the way some women develop their pectorals to increase the apparent size of their breasts by increasing the muscles size below.
 

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