I'm a Man - I'm Allowed to Get Fat as I Age

Sorry guys, gone are the days when a beer belly was a right of passage. Too much research has come out nowadays that shows that the extra fat around your midsection can cause some serious complications, not to mention the beer belly is probably a sign of an inactive lifestyle, can you say heart attack at 40?

I don't mean to be pessimistic, but just because you're not the star quarterback on the high school football team anymore, doesn't mean you have to let yourself go. I'm not talking about eating carrots for the rest of your life, or giving up beer, or spending 60 hours in the gym each week. There are a few simple things that you can do that will help keep the weight off, keep your energy up, and make sure that you will be around for many, many years to tell the stories of your high school football glory days to your grandkids.

Your first step to changing your lifestyle habits is getting active. A diet without exercise is pretty pointless in my opinion, so let's start where it counts. All you really need to do is get up, and get out and do something for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. You don't even have to go the gym. Just go outside and go for a walk with your wife, or significant other or by yourself (great way to clear your head). Go shoot some hoops, go grab a couple buds and play some flag (or tackle if your brave) football in a park somewhere. Working out does not have to mean being bored in a gym running on a treadmill.

Next step is changing up what you eat. This is where most men bail, but just hold on and hear me out. I'm not asking you to give up steak, or hamburgers, or fatty foods at all. What I am asking is that you add in some sort of vegetable with your fatty foods and slowly try to cut the fat down to a semi-barable level for your body. What does that mean? Well, if you eat out 7 days a week 3 times a day, maybe try to make a couple of those subways, or opt out for a chicken sandwich (without the mayo) for your normal triple bacon cheeseburger. Maybe it's time to move from the super size to the large size, you still get more food but the fat and calories that you're cutting out will be significant over a year's time.

You don't have to take drastic steps to change your lifestyle. Little steps that you can do everyday are going to have a much more dramatic effect on your future than huge steps that you can't keep up for more than a week. So get off the couch, turn the TV off, and go outside for a little bit. Your Tivo will keep your shows waiting for you.