Having muscle on the outside and organs surrounded by Fat seems higher-T idk. Whereas if it's just a blob on the outside it's just unseemly and amorphous. Discuss.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5803264&forum_id=2#49465443)

Your abdomen can store fat in two main places:

1. Subcutaneous Fat (under the skin)

Soft, squishy

Pinchable

Sits outside the abdominal muscles

Makes you look “puffy,” not tightly distended

This is not the beer gut you’re describing.

2. Visceral Fat (inside the cavity, around the organs)

This is the culprit.

Stored behind the abs, around the liver, intestines, pancreas

Pushes the abdominal wall out from the inside

Gives the classic hard, protruding “beer belly”

Often accompanied by a relatively firm, intact outer abdominal wall

This is why the outside feels like muscle (or at least tight) — the fat isn’t in the wall; it’s behind it, pushing forward.

Why It Happens

1. Alcohol’s Metabolic Effects

Beer (and alcohol in general) causes visceral fat by:

Spiking cortisol → promotes trunk fat storage

Impairing fat oxidation — your body burns alcohol first, stores everything else

Increasing appetite

Lowering testosterone → reduces muscle mass and changes fat distribution

Driving calorie surplus

Men are especially prone because testosterone normally suppresses visceral fat — once alcohol drags T down, fat moves inward.

2. Insulin Resistance

Visceral fat grows easily in people with:

High carb intake + alcohol

Sedentary lifestyle

Sleep issues

Stress (cortisol again)

When the liver becomes insulin-resistant, it begins producing more fat internally (de novo lipogenesis), which collects around organs.

3. Liver Changes

Heavy beer drinkers often develop:

Fatty liver

Early fibrosis

Impaired lipid metabolism

The liver dumps excess triglycerides into the visceral compartment, not under the skin.

Why the Belly Becomes Round and Hard (Key Mechanism)

Visceral fat acts like internal packing material.

It pushes the abdominal cavity outward uniformly:

Muscle wall (outside) → fat (inside) → organs.

As visceral fat increases:

The abdominal wall stretches

The viscera are pushed forward

The belly becomes more spherical, like a balloon filling behind a layer of muscle

The outside feels tight or firm, even if the underlying muscle is weak

This is why people with huge visceral fat can still “flex” or appear to have a hard stomach:

The hardness comes from internal pressure, not muscle tone.

Why Beer Specifically?

Beer contains:

Alcohol

High carbs

High volume

Together they create:

Huge calorie load

Massive insulin spikes

Frequent liver fat synthesis

Constant cortisol shifts

Beer → insulin spike → liver makes triglycerides → visceral storage.

Is It Reversible?

Yes, but visceral fat is the last to arrive and the first to leave — it actually burns faster than subcutaneous fat when you fix metabolic issues.

Most effective:

Stop/reduce alcohol

Low-carb or intermittent fasting

Weight training (restores testosterone, improves insulin sensitivity)

Sleep

Calorie deficit

People often lose 3–6 cm of waist circumference in a few weeks when visceral fat drops.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5803264&forum_id=2#49465514)

the second i think i look a little puffy i go on like a two week fast

but these guys just saw their bellies grow and grow and grow and were 100% okay with it

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5803264&forum_id=2#49465450)