A large gut increases your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and other health problems.
If you think you’ve kept the same waistline for the past decade, we’ve got some bad news for you. Britain’s high street shops have been secretly adding three inches to the waistband of their trousers, but not changing the label. So even though you may still fit into 32-inch waist trousers, you're more likely to measure a heftier 35 inches.
Doctors now believe that your waist measurement is a better indication of health problems than your overall weight. A waist measurement over 94cm (37 inches) for men increases your risk of developing health problems, because this fat doesn’t just sit there; it affects your hormones and organs and can make you ill.
Now that you’re feeling deflated, let’s face a few home truths: when you get home from work the last thing you feel like doing is going out for a run. Far better to stick on the TV, put your feet up, light up a fag, order a pizza, and have a few cans of beer (the only thing that’s in the fridge). Right? You’re not alone.
Vicious circle
The problem is, you’re stuck in a rut: the lazier your lifestyle and the more junk food you eat, the less you’ll feel like working up a sweat. So you’ll just get fatter. And the more sluggish you feel, the less you’ll want to go out for a spot of exercise after work or try to eat healthier food.
To add insult to injury, a recent survey said British women had a lower sex drive than their European counterparts. Could it be that the British male beer belly is getting in the way of our sex lives?
A big belly is linked to heart problems, diabetes and high blood pressure. And let’s face it, no-one is turned on by man boobs (‘moobs’) or a partner who looks like he’s pregnant.
Weight loss tips
The good news is, it’s easier for men to lose weight than it is for women, because men have more muscle and burn food at a higher rate.
If the thought of jogging round the block just makes you want to crack open a can of beer, there are a lot of other things you could do to shed the pounds.
In recent research, the majority of people who have lost weight and kept it off for five years or more have added exercise to their daily lives. An easy start is to get walking: research shows that 10,000 steps a day will significantly improve health, build stamina and burn excess calories. The good news is that most of us walk 4,500 a day without even really trying.
If you walk 10,000 steps a day, you’ll burn 500 calories. You need to burn 3,500 calories in order to lose 500g (1lb) of body fat. By walking 10,000 steps, five days a week, you will burn 500g (1lb) of body fat a week. Easy! You could hop off the bus early and walk the rest of the way home, walk to the station instead of taking the car, or find a walking partner so you have someone to chat to as you walk. So just by changing one or two habits, you’re already on your way to a healthier, trimmer you.
If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, an hour of tennis, swimming, basketball or mountain biking burns an average of 570 calories and playing a game of football or rock climbing burns over 700 calories an hour. You don’t need to set yourself the unrealistic challenge of turning into your town’s answer to Daniel Craig. But doing some exercise a few times a week (e.g. playing football instead of darts) and trying to cut down on fatty foods will not only make you feel better, but will make you far more attractive.
Watch the video
Want to lose your belly? Watch the video below to see how other men have done it.
