How To Get A Big Gut
29 Dec 2008
"How did it ever happen?" You wonder when you look in the mirror. Your stomach used to be flat. Your pants weren’t tight. The conclusion is obvious. You’ve developed a large gut, like millions of other North Americans. And if you’re unaware of how this happened, a report in Nutrition Action Health Letter provides the answer. It lists several sure-fire ways to develop a gut.
One – Surround Yourself With Food
Always have goodies in the house that are loaded with calories. Cookies that sit in a jar on the kitchen counter containing 150 calories per cookie. It’s so easy to put your hand in the cookie jar and so why not enjoy four of them? Now you’ve already used up 600 of your 2,000 calorie limit per day. And if you’re thirsty have an eight ounce soft drink spiked with eight teaspoons of sugar. Susan Roberts at Tufts University says, " There are people who take food opportunities. It’s the person who takes a piece of birthday cake at 2 p.m. while they’re still full from a good lunch".
Two – Make Sure You Look For Trans Fats
Trans fats are like hidden sugar. The message is out that trans fats are bad for you. Some cities in the U.S, have banned them. But they’re still present in some restaurants and in some cookies, pastries and cinnamon buns. Harvard researchers report that a study of 16,000 males found that those who ate more trans fats had an increase in gut circumference over an eight year period.
Three – Remember To Buy Dense Calories
Barbara Rolls, professor of nutritional science at Pennsylvania State University, says people are generally consistent in the volume or weight of food consumed. But most have little idea what foods are calorie dense. So if you want abdominal girth, pick foods such as pies, cakes, chocolate, shortbread, chips and pretzels. And stay away from non-calorie dense foods such as fruits and vegetables.
Four – Frequent Restaurants
Susan Roberts say that eating out provides 32 percent more calories a day. That’s because North American proportions are obscenely large. Deserts alone can add 1,000 calories.
Five – Ignore Food labels
One of the best ways to develop a gut is to purchase packaged foods and never read the labels. Shopping is not high on my list of priorities. But when I do go shopping with my wife I’m always holding her up by looking at labels. Why? Because I continue to be shocked at the huge amount of calories present in packaged foods. Even in the ones you least expect to be loaded. So read the calories per serving.
Six – Forget You’re No Longer 18
Keep eating as much as a teenager and you’ll eventually find it difficult to see your shoes. I have many friends who are dedicated to working out in a gym several days a week and who follow a healthy diet. But as we age our metabolism slows down and we burn up fewer calories. So although you do the same workout as your did years ago you do not burn up the same number of calories. The figures are shocking. Studies at Tufts University show that men at 60 years of age need 1,000 fewer calories than at age 20! But not many people cut down their eating habits as they age. Or say no to dense foods loaded with calories.
Seven – Don’t Bother To Move
Janet Rubin, professor of metabolism at the University of North Carolina, says that any mesenchymal stem cell can become a bone cell, a muscle cell or a fat cell. And that evidence shows that inactivity can trigger the formation of new fat cells. Researchers placed mice on a vibrating platform for 15 minutes daily to simulate low muscle activity. This showed that fewer stem cells became fat cells. Due to today’s labour saving devices we are all moving less. The result? Most people add another two pounds each year.
Of course you can be a smart medical consumer, follow none of these suggestions, and still see your shoes at 70 years of age.
