exmechanic89

^This is definitely the answer to the OPs question. To really be fit and not have a belly or be fat, you have to really control your food intake - portions and type of food. I've noticed cyclists (and often runners, too) think that because they work out a bit by riding they can scarf down high cals and large portions. Unfortunately it doesnt work that way. My wife and I work hard to maintain our physiques, and diet is a HUGE part of that plan. We couldnt do it without watching both diet and exercise. Most people simply dont have it in them.

Bruce27

Coincidentally, having this combination right now and know it's not helping me loose those 15 lbs I'd like to send on their way.

I'm planning on having more willpower... starting tomorrow.

Mike F

And the taco truck in the parking lot of the burned out building at 15th and Broadway everyday. $1,50 a taco and the are incredible....

Drew Eckhardt 

Because 75% of American men are over weight, and few people have the patience to out-ride a bad diet averaging 25-30 Calories per mile.

Doge

I did not think the post was about being over weight, although, seems that now. Pot belly...genes and breathing. Over weight is something else. If about body fat thread then Fat should have been in the OP.
Seems to me none here watches racers. If riding right, you have a pot belly. If you don't, you are not doing it right.

Standalone 

Did 6h10m 4400' on a rusty $40 Panasonic DX2000 6 years ago. No drafting, either - I was mostly off the front before the pack caught me at the end. Had myself a good ride I guess. Probably won't ever do it again -- there's a big difference between early 30's and late 30's -- but my only training was commuting all winter on a folding bike and hauling my kids around in a baby seat. That wasn't "easy," but it wasn't really hard.

I think most serious cyclists could do better than I did.

My current pot belly and I are still pretty darn happy on a bike though.

Machka 

@Lazyass ... beer = potbelly
Even for women ... but women are more likely to have "pooches" because of the way we're built to bear children. I have to be borderline underweight before my pooch flattens.

FIVE ONE SIX

it just blows my mind that whenever a group of cyclists stop on a ride to get a bite to eat, they almost always stop and get bagels, which are one of the worst foods you can eat...

PaulRivers

And also:

- Cycling is the easiest sport to burn minimal calories doing.

Though it's possible to burn as many calories cycling as you can jogging (or whatever), you have to push yourself a lot more. Your body tries to be efficient, and it's easy to pedal along at a nice efficient pace that burns very little calories, especially after you've been doing it a while.

- Weak Core Muscles

A lot of people have fairly weak core muscles. The Rectus Abdominis is the outer muscles used in exercises like crunches - building this muscle up pushes fat out and gives you more of the appearance of a gut. It's about the only muscle you gain strength in when bent over biking.

The Transverse Abdominis is the muscle closest to your spine that helps keep the gut from sticking out. A lot of people with modern computer work, chairs, etc, already have this muscle become fairly inactive.

The biking position makes it worse. Having an active Rectus Abdominis but a poorly functioning Transverse Abdominis causes your belly fat to appear more prominently.

At least that's what it seems from what I've read, and since I started doing the exercises from Tom Danielson's Core Advantage - as well as concentrating on the muscles when hiking - my belly fat in the mirror is a lot less prominent without having lost any weight on the scale.

silversx80

I can think of many, many foods that are much, much worse. Bagels are great complex carbs and have a reasonable amount of protein as well. I think I may have one now, and another before my ride tomorrow.

Sidney Porter

I have read that the stomach is the last place to lose fat and conversely the first place to gain weight. Female seem to gain in their thighs, butt, breast and upper arms.

Machka 

Really? I can't say I've ever seen a group of cyclists stop for bagels.

I have, however, seen groups of cyclists stop for perogies (in Manitoba) and at bakeries (all over Australia).

bmthom.gis

Yeah I did it a few years ago. I graduated from SU but wasn't into cycling until a couple of years later. It was my first century. I spent the most time at Assateague. I only briefly stopped for pie. I do have a tendency to take my time during centuries. The last one I did I poked around an abandoned gas station and later made an unplanned stop for a bite to eat at a Revolutionary War battlefield.

seypat

I don't know about that. I used to do this one in the Northern Neck every year till it folded last year. Can you say big ring and corn cob? From the last rest stop to the finish was all level to slightly downhill. The wind would pick up when you were close to the coast but that is about it. It did have a few rollers. For anyone attempting their first, this was the one.

RiverRide - Home

7up

As hard as I laughed I can relate to all of the above.

Lazyass

For the 50th and last time. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT OVERWEIGHT PEOPLE. I'm not talking about new riders who need to lose pounds. I'm not talking about out of shape people. I'm not talking about "clydesdales". I'm talking about those guys who are in shape, ride all the time, have years of saddle time but still maintain the huge potbelly.

Lazyass

Sounds like a butt belly.

Machka 

Some people are apple shaped.

San Pedro

American diet. Take those potbelly guys out of America and put here in Japan they would all shed pounds without trying, and to top it off they would be eating better tasting food.

At least that's what happened to me and most American expats I know here.

Machka 

As mentioned above ... it comes down to diet. Too much high calorie food. They are overweight, they are just carrying it in the worst possible location ... around the middle.

Senrab62 

Agreed. Or almost any other diet, not just japanese. The S.A.D. (Standard American diet) is not good. And what the government recommends is also poor.

MoAlpha

This may not be a satisfying answer, but the fat that accumulates under the skin around the waist is in cells that do not release fat readily in response to metabolic signaling about energy deficits. This makes that fat mass slow to go away with exercise and caloric restriction. Men and women have different subcutaneous fat distributions. Men tend to accumulate it in a relatively narrow area around the midriff. Women tend to distribute it "better."

As many people have written above, losing subcutaneous fat takes a relatively large and long-term negative energy balance.

Lazyass

It's not hard to lose a potbelly because I've helped more guys than I can remember in losing theirs and losing weight in general and got them from completely out of shape to in shape. It doesn't take a long time. It was part of my job for a quarter of a century. Especially during my time as a drill sergeant and senior ROTC instructor at Princeton.

BillyD

You too? Love it! It's my achilles heel.

Bingo. Tell it like it is, brother!

Read it and weep, because it takes discipline and sacrifice for a while.

But once you have found the food regimen that works for you, it's easier. Still takes effort, but now you're used to it.

Ratzinger

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdominal_obesity

Interesting, according to this article, alcohol consumption is associated with a higher risk of obesity in men, but there isn't evidence to suggest that beer drinkers are more prone to "central obesity".