Do you know the risks associated with your spare tire?
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- Stroke
- Heart disease
- Depression
- Erectile dysfunction
Sounds like fun, huh?
We’d love to think that it’s only ladies who struggle with the weight gain. But the truth is, middle-aged men are also struggling with the accumulation of fat in their bodies, particularly around the middle.
Knowledge is power so this article is here to enlighten you as to the causes of the dreaded spare tire and also possible ways of getting rid of the excess fat typically carried by the middle-aged man.
Possible causes of weight gain among the middle-aged men
The following are the causes of weight gain in middle-aged men that you need to be aware of.
1. Lack of Physical Exercise (duh)
As we get older, it gets harder and harder to drag our asses out of the Lazy Boy. In turn, we get bigger and it gets even harder to get out of the Lazy Boy. It’s an ugly downward (outward?) cycle.
It’s not an easy thing to do but 30 minutes of exercise a day is all that’s really needed to keep your body burning away all those chicken wings and Coors Lights (ever heard the one about how Coors is like sex in a canoe? It’s f*cking close to water).
Here’s the beauty of it though, all you have to do is take a walk. You don’t have to pound the pavement with a sports bra holding up your man boobs, just walk the damn dog.
2. Crappy Food
You know this. You know it as you eat that triple burger in the car on your way to the next meeting, ketchup stain on your shirt.
Eating has become little more than an inconvenience for many of us. You know you have to do it but who the hell has the time to do it right?
Take your food seriously. You really ARE what you eat. Pack a healthy lunch the night before and include healthy snacks like nuts and avocados to fuel your body through the day so you don’t find yourself at the White Castle drive through.
3. Slowed Metabolism
This one you have only a little control over. Sure, lots of exercise will stave off the fire going out in your furnace, but go out it will, regardless.
It’s just a simple fact, your metabolism slows and you need less fuel to keep yourself alive. So if you still pound three dozen chicken wings and a pitcher of suds, guess what happens to the two dozen your body doesn’t need for fuel? That’s right, they inflate your tire.
4. Stress
Sorry, Dude. No real good answers on this one.
I mean, I could tell you to go to yoga and meditate but let’s be real, shall we?
How to Prevent a Beer Belly
1. Eat real food
If you want the straight dope on this, read Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food. For the TL;DR version, Pollan gives us these nuggets;
- Eat food
- Not too much
- Mostly plants
He also gives us this sage advice, “Don’t eat anything your great-great-great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. Imagine how baffled your ancestors would be in a modern supermarket: the epoxy-like tubes of Go-Gurt, the preternaturally fresh Twinkies, the vaguely pharmaceutical Vitamin Water. Those aren’t foods, quite; they’re food products.”
2. Get off your butt
OK, so the dude in the photo is jogging. Maybe he’s a little more advanced than you and me. For mere mortals like us, our running days are probably behind us (I absolultely hating running even when I was regularly doing 10K’s and playing soccer.
Now I just walk the damn dog. And if you don’t have a dog, you should get one. Not one of those dinky little teacup things either, a real dog. Something mixed with a lab is a sure winner. And get them from the pound too, not some wretched puppy mill or pet store.
OK, rant over.
3. Avoid stress
See above re:Dog. Seriously, get a dog.
5. Get some sleep
Really, turn off the TV at a reasonable hour. Don’t let those commercials for the next upcoming GLOW episode keep you from getting some real and effective shuteye. Sleep is critical to every system in your body. Get as much as you can (fun fact, these all work hand in hand. Exercise, for instance, will make you sleep like a baby).
And get a dog.