How To Get Rid Of A Beer Belly

If you love beer, you’re not alone! It’s estimated that Americans consume a massive 6.3 billion gallons of beer each year. 

Unfortunately, you can have too much of a good thing. Aside from the many health effects associated with excess alcohol consumption.

Such as liver damage and heart disease, drinking too much beer comes with one unique side effect – the dreaded beer belly. 

If you’ve noticed your middle expanding as a result of your beer consumption, don’t panic – there are things you can do to get back in shape and improve your health, starting today! 

In this article, we’ll be explaining how you can get rid of your beer belly in a few simple steps. It will take some work, but the results will be worth it! 

What Causes Beer Bellies?

Aside from the obvious answer (‘beer’), you might be wondering what causes beer bellies to form in the first place. There is actually some science behind this. 

Studies have shown that alcohol consumption is linked to something called abdominal obesity. The more alcohol a person drinks, the higher their waist circumference is likely to be. 

However, other studies have demonstrated that although beer may be responsible for weight gain around the waist, it also contributes to weight gain over the entire body.

The fact that this weight so often accumulates around the belly could be down to other indirect factors.

For one thing, alcohol contributes to lower testosterone levels, and if your testosterone is low, you may be more likely to put on weight around your waistline. 

Additionally, when people are drinking beer, they also tend to consume other less-than-healthy foods, such as pizza, burgers, and fries.

These might be responsible for waist-centered weight gain as much as the beer. 

Ways To Get Rid Of A Beer Belly 

The best way to reduce your beer belly can be divided into two elements: a better diet and more movement.

This is very much the same principle as any other fat-loss or health-boosting journey. 

If you want to reduce your beer belly and generally get healthier you should: 

Make Healthier Food Choices 

The simplest way to improve your diet and increase your chances of losing weight is to look at the food choices you’re currently making and try to improve them. 

If you’re regularly eating ice cream for dessert, for example, you could try thinking of other foods that satisfy your sweet tooth but aren’t so high in fat.

Why not try making some of your favorite fruits into a salad, or swapping milk or white chocolate for dark chocolate? 

Similarly, if you just can’t seem to stick to plain water and love drinking soda, try compromising with some flavored water!

Consider Calories 

Counting calories can be tricky because it’s easy for someone wanting to lose weight to get obsessive about how many calories they are consuming.

Taken to extremes, calorie counting can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food or, in extreme cases, even become an eating disorder. 

With that being said, counting calories can be useful at the beginning of a weight loss journey because it helps you to understand how much you should be eating for your height and weight, and how certain foods contribute to your daily energy intake. 

There are many apps you can download to your phone that will help you to track your calorie intake throughout the day. Some examples include MyFitnessPal and Noom. There’s no need to be super strict with it, and if you’re feeling really hungry, you definitely shouldn’t restrict yourself because of the number on your calorie tracker. However, being aware of roughly how many calories are in certain foods will help you to make wiser food choices and manage your portion sizes. 

Watch Your Portion Sizes 

Following on from our previous point, portion control is an important part of getting rid of belly fat. Many of us think we know what a regular portion of a certain food looks like, but we’re not always right. 

A common example is pasta. A single serving of dry pasta is between 75 and 100 grams, which looks a lot smaller than you might expect.

Pasta is smaller before it’s cooked, which may trick you into cooking more than you need. 

Invest in a set of kitchen scales and look at the nutritional information on your food’s packaging to get a better understanding of what your portion sizes should look like. 

Get More Exercise 

They say you can’t out-exercise a bad diet, and that’s true. But, exercising, in addition to eating healthily, will help you to get rid of your beer belly faster. 

It can be difficult to stick to an exercise regimen, especially if you’re not enjoying it.

That’s why we recommend getting your physical activity in whatever form feels most enjoyable for you. 

Studies have shown that high-intensity-intermittent exercise is the most effective way of burning fat.

It consists of short, repeated ‘sprints’ of exercise followed by rest periods. If you want to lose your beer belly as fast as possible, this type of exercise is recommended. 

However, there are plenty of activities that can get your heart rate going and promote fat loss, from cycling to dance classes, so find something that makes you feel good and commit to it. 

How Long Does it Take to Get Rid of a Beer Belly?

If your beer belly doesn’t start to noticeably go down straight away, don’t be discouraged! These things take time. 

A pound of fat is roughly equal to 3,500 calories. So, if you achieve a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day, you’ll lose a pound per week! 

Final Thoughts 

Getting rid of a beer belly involves a lot of lifestyle changes, which can be challenging at first. However, with perseverance and determination, it’s definitely possible. 

The key to losing your beer belly is to achieve a caloric deficit within the same limits for your weight and height.

You can do this by making healthier food choices and moving your body more each day. It really is as simple as that!

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Andrew Carr

Hi, I’m Andrew Carr and I find beer fascinating. Not just drinking it (although that is a plus!) but everything about it. There is so much to learn - the fermenting process, the best glasses for each type, recipes to make at home… The list goes on!

I have been making my own beer for almost a decade now and I pride myself on my home setup. I’ve made sours, pale IPAs, stouts - you name it, I’ve probably made it in the comfort of my own home.

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