jsfBoat

I'm turning to my fellow pilots for help with this one. My gut is getting progressively bigger, and no matter what health changes I try to make its only change is for the bigger. It's not huge, but I am starting to get a lot of comments about it. I'm 5'11" and 165 lbs, no means fat by the standards, but I do want to get rid of it.

Not looking to get a 6-pack, just want it to be flat so I can see my feet without having to suck it in. This is my typical routine: I have 4-5 day trips, early shows with late finishes, and even though I pack snacks and some meals for these trips, I usually end up eating after 10pm when I'm finally done and most times skip meals and eat bigger meals. A lot of 14-15 hour duty days, so not much opportunity for exercise during the trip..... "I've been sweating for the last 12 hours, want to take a shower and put on dry clothes before I have to wake up in 7 hours"

I try to run a few miles a day when I'm on days off, and prefer to walk than drive the car. Even joined a gym, no results after 2 months of going frequently. I used to be involved heavily in athletics, was very fit and lean especially from growing up on a ranch. Just frustrated with no results.

Spin

How old are you?

Cubdriver

You're normal per the BMI index (<180) but look at your diet. Try low-carb and low fat without going on specific diets, just as a general food selection pattern. Eat quality low-carb, lowfat foods and less fast foods. You want unsaturated fats also- fish, chicken, no fried stuff. If you are exercising and still no results, try a calorie counting diet, but I'll warn you they are tough. A male our size needs about 2200 calories a day average and I do 1000 a day when I am doing a calorie diet, and I eat only calorie-countable foods like tv dinners made by Weight Watchers or their competitors to help keep track.

pengu

Some weight lifting helps. Arms and legs. Adding 5-10 lbs
of muscle to the body increases your metabolism quite
a lot.

JamesNoBrakes

It helps a lot. Recent studies have shown that it burns more fat than cardio, although cardio is still important and just doing weight/resistance training won't make your cardio great. I go cardio every other day and do weight/resistance training on the days in between. On the weekend I usually do a bit of both each day, but sometimes it's in the form of a longer run, trail-run, big ride, and various other endurance type stuff for the cardio aspect.

One of the biggest things though is repeating this stuff. If I slack off for a few days it kind of erases the work I just did in the previous week. It's not necessarily that I work myself to death each session, but the fact that I'm doing it every day (and working different areas to give the previous one time to recover) also makes a big difference IME.

Then there's eating. Try to eat relative to what you burn. It may not be comfortable at first, but people are so used to cramming their mouths with food that they have a hard time comprehending that you do not need 5 pancakes, 4 slices of bacon, 3 pieces of toast, and hash-browns to sit in a chair for 4-5 hours. This is kind of the extreme example, but you can look and see what other people eat for meals and sometimes it's just staggering what they are eating relative to what they are doing.

xjtguy

A "normal" BMI isn't really an indicator of ANYTHING. Why people put stock in it as a measure of overall health is beyond me.

And YES, I KNOW. Foreign airlines use it as a screening measure. Fact remains, it's not an accurate indicator of overall health. A chain smoker can have a "normal" BMI, a meth head can have a "normal" BMI, etc. I've known guys that were rather slender, went for a cholesteral check and it's way too high. But their BMI would indicate they were "normal".

I'm 5' 11", 185 lbs, 33" waist. Eat fruits/vegetables and lean proteins, 110/70 blood pressure on my last medical, hike/mountain bike do HIIT training weekly. I've done "Insanity" (love it) as well as P90x (also loved it).

Do a BMI calculation for me, see what it says.

To the OP, the question was asked, what's your age?

You'll probably have to change/step up your current workout routine. Yeah, I know it's hard with this job. But more importantly, get the diet down to healthier options. It's been beat to death in various threads about how to eat healthy on this job. Or rather, how to eat LESS un-healthy. Eat less (eat healthier) and move more.

For some people, it can take a rather long time for their body to recognize a change in diet/activity level. You said you gave it 2 months. Believe it or not, it can take some people longer than that.

Nextlife

Another option is the MyFitnessPal app for your phone. Easy way to track everything you eat and burn working out. Most foods, including restaurant and packaged foods, are in the database. You can scan the bar code of almost all packaged foods and get calories from there. It also saves frequent foods you eat, which makes it fast if you eat the same things day to day. It really helps to give you an idea of exactly what comes in and goes out each day and how many calories that should be for your current weight and desired loss. If you want to lose a pound a week, take in (and/or burn off) 500 calories per day less than what it takes to maintain your weight. Simple and works well. Losing weight is always a pain. Good luck!

Yoda2

You could take up smoking, and drink more coffee. Smokers don't seem to need to eat as much. A couple packs a day for a few months might yield the desired results. Seriously though... If you have tried all the normal stuff, diet exercise, Etc. you might want to see a doctor. An enlarged abdomen is/can be a result of several serious medical issues.

HercDriver130

Have to agree with this.... been using it since March 1.. lost 43 pounds.....my diss is that I think its too generous in calories burned for exercise... I use other calulators and override the MFP numbers.

Squawk 1277

+1 Myfitnesspal app. Ultimately, your weight is determined by the number net calories you take in during the day. You'd be surprised how many calories restaurant food contains and what a normal portion size is. That being said, 165 at 5' 11" seems pretty skinny, but only you truly knows your body. The first step in controlling your weight is knowing the number of calories that are going into and being spent by your body, and apps like this or lose it! Are great resources to gain awareness.