My friends beer belly?(fat loss)

[MMAguy]

A good friend of mine let his body slip the past couple years due to a divorce. He's gained a lot of belly fat from alcohol (beer is what I saw him always drinking). He's fairly thin besides for the beer gut. He said he was consuming 8 beers a day about 1600 empty calories per day on alcohol alone, not including food.

He's cut out alcohol completely the past month and is drinking lots of water and says he's consuming 1500-1900 calories per day with little carbs and minimal fats and eating lean. Chicken, tuna ect.

His beer belly hasn't budged in a months time even though he's consuming way less calories and is also exercising 30mins a day.
What's going on with him? Why won't the beer belly start fading?

 

[JG93]

Belly fat is stubborn.
I don't know how big of is belly, or how big of a guy he is, so I couldn't tell you.
The thing is, you can't target fat.
So with that said, when he is losing weight, fat... It is going to take from not just his gut.
I'm sure there has been a slight difference.

Is he working out? Or just stopped drinking?

 

[christ83189]

What kind of working out is he doing?

 

[MMAguy]

Stopped drinking and is doing HIIT 30 mins a day.
He's literally only fat in his tummy nowhere else some days he doesn't even eat 1500 calories so it's not making sense why he's not losing anything. I'll ask him for a pic for help since I told him I'd ask for advice for him.

 

[christ83189]

Should add lifting to the HIIT. Cardio alone will allow you to lose fat but you'll stay the same shape for the most part. Add some lifting to build some muscle and itll help take away from the belly fat.

 

[MMAguy]

It looks like hes pregnant. It's round like a balloon, so viseral fat I think.

 

[christ83189]

My brother used to look the same. He started running and biking and eventually went back to looking good again but it took time. Lifting also will speed things up a bit. And eating right first of all.

 

[MMAguy]

And this is him flexing. So it's just a balloon when he's relaxed and can't pinch much fat, especially when he flexes... viseral fat(deep tissue fat) maybe?

 

[MMAguy]

Oops, here's the flexing one. Sorry didn't upload first try.

 

[john.patterson]

And this is him flexing. So it's just a balloon when he's relaxed and can't pinch much fat, especially when he flexes... viseral fat(deep tissue fat) maybe?

If there isn't a lot of fat you can pinch, then yes it is visceral fat. Its a very stubborn area to lose fat, and often the last area most men lose. Is your friend lifting at all? You mentioned exercise 30 mins per day, but is he lifting? You also mentioned that he lowered his calories, but is he tracking how much he's really eating?

 

[MMAguy]

If there isn't a lot of fat you can pinch, then yes it is visceral fat. Its a very stubborn area to lose fat, and often the last area most men lose. Is your friend lifting at all? You mentioned exercise 30 mins per day, but is he lifting? You also mentioned that he lowered his calories, but is he tracking how much he's really eating?

He's doing basic push-ups, crunches, dumbbells and squats at home but that's all. He said he doesn't keep track of how many calories but he's positive it's less then 2000 a day followed by a gallon of water a day.

 

[puccah8808]

My brother-in-law is like that but he hasn't given up the beer.

 

[john.patterson]

He's doing basic push-ups, crunches, dumbbells and squats at home but that's all. He said he doesn't keep track of how many calories but he's positive it's less then 2000 a day followed by a gallon of water a day.

If he's not seeing progress and his body weight isn't changing, then he needs to adjust his diet and/or training. My suggestion would be to have him track calories for a typical day, or typical week if he can, to see what he is truly eating. Often times people overestimate calories when they aren't tracking them. I would also have him track to ensure he is eating enough protein.

I would be curious to see what his typical home workouts consist of too. 30 minutes of pushups, crunches, and squats can vary a lot from person to person (intensity, sets, reps, rest time, etc.)

 

[JG93]

Could the possibility be that the abdomen muscles are lax, as they are not strong enough to keep the belly tight? After all, we all know beer bloats you, so if he was drinking daily, his stomach was perched outwards like so with bloat. So his muscles now carry them like that.
This is me winging it, but I could swear I've read somewhere along the lines of that.
Maybe a compression belt is in order.
Also, take his broom stick and do twists for his obliques. And make sure while he is doing his sit-ups and crunches, he is exhaling on the way up, and looking directly upwards to get the most out of them.

I almost believe doing this, will help his issue.

 

[MMAguy]

Ascites sounds like a possibility. (A build up of liquid in the abdominal region... alcohol really messed him up lol. :/

 

[MMAguy]

I'm going to grab him a liver support supplement, have a feeling he screwed his liver up badly. Sounds like liver disese. I know he won't go to the Dr. So I'll give him another month and if his belly hasn't deflated any I'm dragging him to the Dr.

 

[MMAguy]

I think it's either visceral fat or a fluid build up(ascites). Hopefully it's just deep fat.

 

[JG93]

I think it's either visceral fat or a fluid build up(ascites). Hopefully it's just deep fat.

I could see maybe Ascietes, being how he is built, I doubt it's that much visceral fat. Being that the proper visceral fat range is .95 to the hips, that would put him way over the top at his size.
It COULD BE but if you are thinking that route, i would lean more to fluid.
Keep us updated!!
Goodluck to the guy

 

[MMAguy]

Let's keep in mind this didn't happen quickly. It got this large over time (6 yrs of daily drinking). I gave him some liver support today.

 

[christ83189]

Yeah i hope he can get it turned around. Alcohol is a killer. And its one of the hardest ones to stay off of once you get clean.

 

[MMAguy]

Yeah i hope he can get it turned around. Alcohol is a killer. And its one of the hardest ones to stay off of once you get clean.

I agree. That's why I'll only drink once or twice a month if I'm not taking any 'supplements'. He used to be ripped with a six pack due to his high metabolism so I'll be sure to ask him for a pic in a month from now and we'll see if he made any progress. Today he told me he got a gym membership and is 100% dedicated so this will be good for him.

 

[christ83189]

Cool so now he can get some lifting in. Good to hear. I spent alot of my life as an alcoholic/addict myself so i like to hear when people are battling it. Getting in shape is a good way to keep yourself away from it too.

 

[JG93]

Cool so now he can get some lifting in. Good to hear. I spent alot of my life as an alcoholic/addict myself so i like to hear when people are battling it. Getting in shape is a good way to keep yourself away from it too.

After my injury last year I turned to alchohal.
Now I find if I get bored, a cold beer or 10 is in order. Better drunk and bored than bored and sober right?
Wrong!
So if I do get that feeling, I'll go to the gym.
That is my drug!

 

[christ83189]

Amen to that brother

 

[ryox82]

I can feel for your friend personally. I have cut alcohol out of my diet and my calories have not risen substantially from food. I was drinking 1 or 2 steel reserves most days after work, which is almost 900 calories. You feel like the fat should just melt away, but it simply does not. You still have to consistently hammer at it. Most accounts I read are people seeing results after 6 months of not drinking/less than a drink a week. One thing I noticed is carb cravings are up so that's something you have to combat mentally.

 

[MMAguy]

He said he was backed up and took a stool aid. And said he's lost weight already. Maybe being constipated for 4 days didn't help lol

 

[ryox82]

LOL, it's possible. Going dry tends to...dry you out at first.