Sorry to keep this topic alive but...Winston wrote:
I'm eating a lot less carbs now and only eat one meal a day. However, my belly won't go away for some reason. Even though I've lowered my calorie intake, my weight remains the same. I don't know why. I should weigh a lot less and usually lose weight fast too.
I've been trying to lose my pot belly since 1991 but can't for some reason.
I suspect you have very low metabolism and maybe low testosterone too. Some things you should consider carefully
- one meal a day is not a healthy way to eat and will definitely not stimulate your metabolism. Your body may kick-in to starvation mode where it conserves calories. lowers your energy level, and does its best not to burn fat. Many health experts and exercise pros advocate the opposite - eating lots of very small but healthy meals and snacks throughout the day, like 6 times. This has worked well for me when I wanted to lose weight. In Thailand, I also noticed a lot of slim locals seemed to snack on stuff almost constantly but it was halfway decent stuff healthwise.
- to kick-in your metabolism, you also need to build some muscle, and shrink your fat cells. To do this, you need to get used to doing some type of intense lean body building activity like 3 times a week. Best to involve your legs, chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps, lats, and abs. A few compound exercises such as various types of pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, and lunges could do wonders if you did them in the right way, quantity, and timing.
- even though you may have had a pot belly in the 90s, your face shape was more tapered and attractive then. Part of that may be due to you having higher testosterone levels. Hormones affect the way fat collects in your face and belly. Why not have your free and total testosterone levels checked and see where they fall. If they are not at a healthy level for someone in their 20s (even tho u r older than that), you could consider applying some sort of cream or gel daily to get it back up.
If you really committed yourself to the right sort of eating and exercise regimen, you might end up feeling under 30 again and look a hell of a lot better too. This is not meant as criticism but rather a reminder that you could look and feel a lot better if you were willing to make some short temporary sacrifices - short term pain for longer term gain. Changing bad habits is often challenging but can ultimately pay off in spades.