Expert: Melissa Anderson - 1/5/2009

Question
I'm about 5'9, 150 lbs.  Most tests show that I got low body fat and am relatively healthy.  Yet I got a beer gut.  This combination of being thin, yet with a belly makes me look pregnant.  I believe I'm generally eating healthy.. I cook with olive oil, 3 times a day.. lots of Asian food/rice, italian food using Turkey as a meat..   I do admit I drink soda (maybe twice a day?), but thats about all the sweets I consume generally. Sometimes I eat dinner late due to business.

how should I approach weight building and slimming down my gut?

Answer
Ken,
This is going to be easy.
1. Replace the soda with water. Cutting two sodas per day will cut about 300 calories from your diet, and in the long run making just that change will bring you down 30 pounds. Of course, you can't eat extra at meals to make up for it!
2. Cut your average serving of rice by about three quarters. It's OK to have a few bites of rice, but stop there. If you have a measuring cup, never eat more than 1/2 cup cooked rice at a meal.
3. Cut the pasta similarly. Instead of your Italian dish having mostly pasta with some turkey and sauce, it should be almost all vegetables, turkey, and sauce, with a few pieces of pasta here and there. Use creamy sauces rarely-tomato's better.
4. Start thinking about doing some weight training. This will NOT help your gut... but if you can bulk up your arms and shoulders, you'll look more balanced. Steps 1, 2, and 3 will take care of the gut.
And if you want to speed things up, the best choice is low to medium intensity cardio-brisk walking, bicycling, slow jogging.
This plan probably won't give you a six pack, but you shouldn't have trouble getting that baby delivered before summertime!
Good luck!
Melissa