Need help on how to lose saddlebags.
 

Need some advise on how to lose weight in a specific area of the body. Just above the top of the pelvis at the belt line and in the middle of the tummy. Is it possible to lose this weight with a type of exercise? This is for my son who is trying to lose some weight to meet requirements to get into the Navy. He has been working out 3 times (Upper body lifting, lower body lifting and then Navy type of work out Push ups, crunches, etc.) a day on Monday, Wednesday and Friday total time each day is about 2 hours. On Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday he run walks about 5 miles twice a day. He has been eating less than 1000 calories a day 6 days a week but does eat a normal diet on one day a week. He is 5 feet 8 inches tall, 181 pounds and is 18 years old.

Is it a genetic thing and he will really not be able to lose weight in this area of the body?

Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Gary

Feet shoulder width apart. Raise one hand straight over the head and with the other tilt to the side trying to touch as low down on the leg as possible. Repeat on opposite side. 10 reps or more.

another is; feet shoulder width apart, hands behind the head. twist the torso as far to the right as possible without moving the feet and then reverse it. 10 reps or more.

Along with the crunches, these give a more complete abdominal workout. Repeat both several times during a session.

LJ
Thanks for the input. I will relay the info to my son.

I do 100 situps everyday to keep the wasteline trim. I know it works because I have a 31 waist and I'm in my 40s. Distance riding is another good way to burn off excess fat.

Regards.

I've heard that not eating enough calories will slow your metabolism down and your body stops burning fat.

What you are asking about is usually called "spot reduction". But from everything I have read, it does not work. Everyone has a certain body shape. It is genetic.

As you lose fat, your body has its own preferences as to where the lost fact comes from and what fat it "saves". Eventually, when your percent body fat gets low enough, one will lose all the fat spots. Some people tend to have little pot bellys other people have it in the posterior and so on. It is just a fact of life. Your son should just work on losing fat and eventually the trouble spot will go away or at least get small enough as to not be a problem.

Pat and Chevy collectively got it.

You can't spot reduce, period (bar lipo). Usually, the first place to put it on is the last place to leave. So for guys, the hips, pot belly etc. For girls, hips, thighs and butt. The main contributor to this is hormone levels (as persistant fat is sometimes termed 'estrogenic fat').

Restricting your eating to 1000 calories a day is ridiculous. Not only will you run down your immune system, you will force your body in to 'starvation mode' (through lowered leptin levels). Basically, the human body evolved to survive. When we hit famine, it instinctively starts to save a large portion of intake, leaving us tired and still fat!

To lose fat sensibly, eat several small meals a day following isocaloric guidelines (33% cals from protein, fat and carbs). Use good quality sources of each;

Protein:
Chicken Breast
Lean Red Meat
Milk Protein Isolates
Fatty fishes (salmon, sardine)
etc

Fat:
Nuts
Olive Oil
Canola Oil
Flax Oil
Salmon Oil

Carbs:
Fruit
Veges
Small amounts of natural rolled oats in the morning (not the instant variety).

A good guideline is to only eat from the produce section of the market, that is, nothing prepackaged. No bread, no breakfast cereal, no freezer tv meals etc

Stay away from starchy carbs (bread, potatoes, pasta). Get carbs from good servings of veges (particularly dark green varieties) and start the morning with some oats. Slowly decrease the amount of carbs you are having from morning to night (ie. don't eat a big bowl of oats just before bed), to compensate raise the level of fat in the meals.

With fat, use a lot of oils raw, do not cook with them (salad dressing is always popular). Get as many omega-3's as possible.

Lose the cheat day eating. It is a good tool if used correctly, but this is not the correct format.

My advice on the training would be to be lifting four times a week in the evenings for no more than an hour a session. Lifting should be full body on each of these sessions comprising core compound movements (deadlift, squat, dip, bench etc). Use timed rests between sets (I would suggest 1 min) of 5 with 5 reps a set, with a longer rest between exercises. 3 to 4 exercises per workout with stretching and some ab work afterwards should last about an hour.

The cardio should be completed on an empty stomach when he wakes, first thing in the morning. This is not optimal for training in athletes, but works well at reducing fat mass. I would suggest 1 hour of cardio every morning, a fast walk would be adequate and slowly ramp it up to a slow jog when appropriate. Don't worry about the distance, settle in to a pace and do it for the allocated time.

One piece of advice, currently your son is trying to gain entry in to the Navy so he is trying to lose some weight. Great! That is his goal. Do everything in his power to lose the weight. Once you have achieved that goal, you will need to meet entry requirements physically. At this stage you will need to change your cardio regime to a somewhat performance orientated scheme (not to mention increasing muscular strength-endurance). Don't try and get both of the goals at the same time, concentrate on one then the other. It will be a much quicker process ;)

Good luck, fire any questions back.

P.S. I would advocate keeping a diet journal for a week, write down everything he eats in there. After that, post it up and we can give you some feedback. Also, if you want a hand putting together a diet plan or workout regime for him, post up what he is already doing and I'll give it a shot.

Keep us updated :)

Thanks everyone for your input. I shared it with my son. He will try many of the suggestions since there is some many issues here. Good advise from all and thanks again.

Try tummy tuck or liposuction, very cheap if u decided to have in europe!

You cannot 'spot reduce.' If this were true, then people who chew gum alot would have slim jawlines.

He'll need an over all healthy diet plan, with plenty of cardio and strenth training.

The "spare tire" around the belt area are love handles, not saddlebags. Saddlebags are where your leg meets your butt, on your backside.

You mentioned 1000 calories a day??? That is insane! His body is probably starving and clinging on to every ounce of fat because his body is in survival mode.

I just found an online caloric need calculator. For his age, height, weight, I got a total of 3,000 calories a day for moderate activity.

And keeping ajournal of everything he ate can really help open his eyes on what he's truly eating.