Feeling discouraged about my belly fat

[mid20sgirl86]

I posted a while ago about wanting to lose my belly fat. So I've been working out quite a bit. I have a fitness center in my new apartment building, and so I've been working out there. Plus I always go for a walk between an hour and two hours every night. I love walking, and it's relaxing for me. I've been following all the the nutrition guides on this site. I eat what they recommend for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. I haven't had any sweets except Christmas day. But I worked out on Boxing Day. So I measured myself for the first time since I started dieting and exercising a lot. I measured my arms (forearms and wrists) legs (calves and thighs) , neck, hips, belly area, the part where my rib bones are. And every single place I've lost inches except my belly area. And that is the spot that I need to lose the weight. I was already very skinny in the rest of the areas. My arms are so thin that you can see my veins and and all the indentations where the muscles are.

I had to buy a new bra because those are smaller. I had to buy new underwear because my other pairs were starting too get big. You can see my rib bones a lot. My body frame is smaller because I took pictures and compared them. My stomach is still sticking out really far though. And it's hard, not flabby. I just don't understand. I am considering going to a doctor about this, because it doesn't seem right.

Anyone been through this? What did you do?

I'm still kind of wondering if it's maybe my diet. I am following the diet foods here, and I only drink water or unsweetened almond milk. I was like this before I started dieting. Sweet drinks unless it's orange juice (which I don't drink often) or chocolate milk (almond milk) gross me out. I haven't had orange juice since summer. But there has to be a reason why I still have stomach fat, and it's not a little bit. It's a lot.

[Chase7512]

A few things you could try are; non fat yogurt, green tea, but mainly i would say drink lots of water and give it time.

When fat is being burned your belly will always be the last to lose it because it is the core of your body. If you are following a good/healthy diet with the right amount of calories, drinking lots of water, and exercising you are definately on the right track.

You could also always try abdominal exercises with weight to make a thicker six pack. I am no professional, but these are just things I've learned from experience and my own research. hope it helps

[mid20sgirl86]

I do eat low fat yogurt, but I haven't drank green tea in years. I might try that. I used to drink it all the time. I don't know why I stopped to be honest. I've been looking at some of the work-outs and I think I might try out Jamie Easons 12 week work out, and see how that works out for me. Although I don't think exercise is my problem, but I like the way it looks.

I feel so ashamed of my stomach at the moment don't. I've never seen this before. Most of the time fat loss is supposed to come off everywhere. I know plenty of people who have lost a lot of weight who were bigger than me, and their fat loss was even. Mine isn't.

[Chase7512]

Another idea in regards to exercise is have a good weight training regime and mix it up with some HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and MISS (moderate intensity Steady State).
Also with that in mind, don't overdo on the cardio you don't want to burn muscle just fat

[megdaig]

do you have a recent progress picture? It sounds like you are under muscled for the look that you desire.

[mid20sgirl86]

Yeah I was just trying to post pictures, but I don't have enough forum posts I guess. It wouldn't let me post links. But where I work, which is a factory, I use my muscles a lot. I've got a lot of muscle in my arms and the veins stick out. People like to feel them. And my calves have muscle too.

[mid20sgirl86]

Anyway, I don't care about the abs or really a flat stomach too much. It would be nice, but that can wait until I actually get to the right size. I'm talking about a huge potbelly that just sticks out so much. It sticks out further than my boobs. The rest of my body is slim. And when I press on my stomach, it's not flabby. It's very hard, especially around the belly button where there is hard bump that hurts to touch. Everyone asks me all the time why I wear such baggy shirts, and I don't want to explain it's because of my gut. It's frustrating. You look at me from the back, and I look tiny. I turn around and I have a fat gut. Kind of like that family guy episode with Quagmire, although not that big.

[Quichia]

I posted a while ago about wanting to lose my belly fat. So I've been working out quite a bit. I have a fitness center in my new apartment building, and so I've been working out there. Plus I always go for a walk between an hour and two hours every night. I love walking, and it's relaxing for me. I've been following all the the nutrition guides on this site. I eat what they recommend for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. I haven't had any sweets except Christmas day. But I worked out on Boxing Day. So I measured myself for the first time since I started dieting and exercising a lot. I measured my arms (forearms and wrists) legs (calves and thighs) , neck, hips, belly area, the part where my rib bones are. And every single place I've lost inches except my belly area. And that is the spot that I need to lose the weight. I was already very skinny in the rest of the areas. My arms are so thin that you can see my veins and and all the indentations where the muscles are.

I had to buy a new bra because those are smaller. I had to buy new underwear because my other pairs were starting too get big. You can see my rib bones a lot. My body frame is smaller because I took pictures and compared them. My stomach is still sticking out really far though. And it's hard, not flabby. I just don't understand. I am considering going to a doctor about this, because it doesn't seem right.

Anyone been through this? What did you do?

I'm still kind of wondering if it's maybe my diet. I am following the diet foods here, and I only drink water or unsweetened almond milk. I was like this before I started dieting. Sweet drinks unless it's orange juice (which I don't drink often) or chocolate milk (almond milk) gross me out. I haven't had orange juice since summer. But there has to be a reason why I still have stomach fat, and it's not a little bit. It's a lot.

My question is: Are you allergic to anything you are eating? I'm in in way a doctor. But, from experience, some of my friends have found out that they are allergic to gluten (it's in breads, tortillas, cereal etc.). Being allergic to gluten has been causing them to swell up (especially around the tummy area). Also, if your tummy is hard, are you training your abs to be flat? Or, are you pooping (sorry to be blunt) regularly? My little sis used to have a hard round belly until she stopped being constipated. Or are you eating a lot of salt during your "cheat days"?

[wakechica]

Post pictures in your body space

[sarahsue94]

I cant insert links because I don't have enough posts so:

Google: One Exercise to End Lower Belly Pooch
Should be the first link

This article has exercises to strengthen your lumbar (lower back) to loose the pooch. I found it interesting, you might give it a read.

[mid20sgirl86]

Well I do a lot of ab exercises. I don't do it because of trying to spot reduce. I've just heard it's good to have a strong core. I'm pretty sure I have no food allergies although I can always find out from a doctor. But I've always been able to eat whatever I wanted with no problem. And my pooping is regular. The only salt I get is from when I eat Lipton chicken noodle soup. But I don't eat that all the time because of the noodles and sodium. And I've been trying not to have cheat days because I noticed in the beginning that they gave me bad sugar cravings.

In a previous topic I made about this. I used to be extremely skinny and I used to be one of those people who could eat whatever I wanted without worrying about it until about two years ago when I went through a really bad break up. And then I made the mistake of eating my feelings and that's where the weight came from. I didn't pay attention to my fat until my little niece asked me if I was pregnant. For some reason I didn't see the fat before then. But then again all I was wearing for months was just baggy t-shirts and sweat pants. I stopped shopping for clothes until one afternoon when my sister and I were trying on clothes and my niece asked me if I was pregnant and I realized I had a bad pot belly. So I needed to diet. I measured myself this morning and according to the measuring tape I've gone down a bit in the stomach but not even half an inch and I think it could be just because I drank a lot of water last night. I was very thirstier than usual and I couldn't stop drinking water. So I think it's probably just a water loss.It's not possible for it to have gone down since I last measured it. I'm always thirsty though, but it's been worse I think because it's winter and it's dry.

[oregonchick76]

At 5'4" and 135, I'm guessing you've still got fat to lose, a bunch of it, otherwise you are very muscly. Post pics in your profile so we have more to go on.

[mid20sgirl86]

I did hours ago. And trust me, there is a lot of it. Be prepared to see a lot of disgusting belly fat. Just please don't make fun of me about how bad it looks. I am trying to improve it. I was hesitant about posting a picture just because I didn't want to be made fun of. I covered my face though because I don't want people to see what my face looks like.

I didn't think I needed to post a picture of myself for people to give weight loss advice though. Why does it have to be seen? I am very self-conscious about my body. I refuse to even wear a bathing suit in the summer. I wear shorts and t-shirts. So please don't be too rude.

I already want to take it down.

[Echo814]

The reason pics are asked for is to better understand the current state of your body. We tend to get a lot of posts where a person will over exaggerate how something appears or doesn't, so pics give us a better idea of what the situation is. It's not to be rude or make fun of people.

Sadly body fat is lost however the body sees fit and there is fat loss happening on your stomach its probably not as noticeable since it seems that's where your body likes to store fat and it will probably take a few more lbs to see a major difference. To use myself as and example I will see fat loss on my legs and stomach before my back or butt and those are the first places I tend to gain too. The only other option is a food intolerance, if you don't think you are allergic to anything you could have an intolerance to gluten, dairy, soy ect which can cause abdominal bloating.

[megdaig]

It looks like a combination of bloating, need to lose more body fat, and weak abdominals. To be honest, it looks as though you are pushing out. Try sucking in your lower abdominals a bit and work on doing things like vacuums, train yourself to suck it in without having to think about it.

As for the bloating part, you may be sensitive to something in your diet so slowly start eliminating one thing at a time (dairy, or grains, or whatever you think it could be) for a few weeks to see if it begins to look better.

Next, work on losing more body fat. Hard to tell, but from your arms it looks like you do not carry much muscle so keep lifting heavy (or start if you do not currently lift) and get your diet in check.

[mid20sgirl86]

My arms are very muscular. I get complimented on them a lot. It's hard to tell with a camera phone. Both my legs and arms are muscular though. There is a joke at work (I work in a factory) about me and another guy that works there. He barely has muscle at all, and the guys are always laughing about how my arms and legs look more muscular than his which look flabby. I hike in the summers, so my calves and thighs have muscle. I used to be ashamed of my calves to be honest because I don't think they look feminine but a hot guy complimented me on them, and said he liked it so now I don't feel bad about them. But the veins in my arms stick out a lot and you can see indentations in them. I didn't notice they looked really fat in the picture. Weird.

Bloating part could be from soup though. I eat a lot of vegetable soup and people keep telling me it has a of sodium in it. I don't eat soup for diet purposes, I've just always eaten it because I don't like to cook since I live by myself. It's easier to heat up a can of soup then to cook up something. When I lived with my ex, I used to cook us good food all the time, but I get depressed cooking for one person. So I don't do it. So maybe I will cut out soup and find something else that doesn't have to be cooked.

By the way I don't eat processed foods either. Like the freezer stuff you heat up.

I might listen to peoples advice and buy a crock pot though. They say when you live by yourself, crock pots are your best friends. And you can make healthy meals with them.

And yes I do push out my stomach. I don't mean too, it just happens. I've noticed it when I go for walks and I try not to but then I stop thinking about it and I push out again.

[discdoggie]

.

I might listen to peoples advice and buy a crock pot though. They say when you live by yourself, crock pots are your best friends. And you can make healthy meals with them.

.

I <3 my crockpot! I cook for a family of four, but since it's only you, you can portion out the rest of the meals and freeze them, and just re-heat when you get home from work. Still better than veggie soup from a can.



And I agree, from the photo it looks like your are purposely sticking your stomach out.

[Kelsey4]

I have an allergy to wheat and gluten and it sounds like you do it. It is important to go to the doctor and get checked out, i bet you will feel 100% better!

[rockangel]

It looks like a combination of bloating, need to lose more body fat, and weak abdominals. To be honest, it looks as though you are pushing out. Try sucking in your lower abdominals a bit and work on doing things like vacuums, train yourself to suck it in without having to think about it.

As for the bloating part, you may be sensitive to something in your diet so slowly start eliminating one thing at a time (dairy, or grains, or whatever you think it could be) for a few weeks to see if it begins to look better.

Next, work on losing more body fat. Hard to tell, but from your arms it looks like you do not carry much muscle so keep lifting heavy (or start if you do not currently lift) and get your diet in check.

This.

You dont carry a lot of muscle in your arms, not at your stats and not in that photo. I dont care what people compliment you on.

This is a case of having more bodyfat than you think, and having less muscle than you believe, on top of having weak core.

If you carry the majority of fat on your stomach, then not only is that the last thing to lose, it will probably take a few cut/bulk cycles to really deal with. If your upperbody is vascular or "veiny" then you just dont carry as much fat there and you will only be able to cut for so long before you will have to add muscle.

On top of that, bringing up overall strength within the upperbody and core will help with weaknesses and imbalances, which will help to hold the stomach up (for lack of better description).

[rockangel]

especially around the belly button where there is hard bump that hurts to touch. .

Also, you should probably have that checked out. Your belly should not have a hard bump that hurts.....

[mid20sgirl86]

This.

You dont carry a lot of muscle in your arms, not at your stats and not in that photo. I dont care what people compliment you on.

This is a case of having more bodyfat than you think, and having less muscle than you believe, on top of having weak core.

If you carry the majority of fat on your stomach, then not only is that the last thing to lose, it will probably take a few cut/bulk cycles to really deal with. If your upperbody is vascular or "veiny" then you just dont carry as much fat there and you will only be able to cut for so long before you will have to add muscle.

On top of that, bringing up overall strength within the upperbody and core will help with weaknesses and imbalances, which will help to hold the stomach up (for lack of better description).

I agree with anything you say except about the arms. I do heavy lifting all day at my work. It is not possible for them to be really fat. I can see bulky muscle in my arms. Am i just seeing things then? I just took pictures of my arm and I am putting it in the body space and three in the gallery. Can you please show me the fat? Because I honestly cannot see it. I keep sitting here and staring at them, and trying to find the fat and lack of muscle.

I can believe the weak core bit, and having a fat stomach since I see it all the time. I can take more pictures of my arms and legs if you want. All the fat is on my stomach, and possibly my butt, because I've always had a big butt unfortunately.

I am still seeing a doctor about it so maybe he can let me know if my body fat percentage is a lot more than 25%.

I added a 5% body fat increase so it makes a lot more sense though. Should I add a bit more? Or does 30% look good for it? I want to make sure it's accurate.

[mid20sgirl86]

I still don't understand how my arms look really fat. Should I take more pictures of them for a better view? You said you didn't care what people compliment me on, so what are you seeing that they aren't?

[discdoggie]

This.

You dont carry a lot of muscle in your arms, not at your stats and not in that photo. I dont care what people compliment you on.
).

I'm failing to see how this is in any way helpful. ^^^^

I still don't understand how my arms look really fat. Should I take more pictures of them for a better view? You said you didn't care what people compliment me on, so what are you seeing that they aren't?

I looked atr the arm photo. I didn't see any fat. You still should train your entire body, including your core. And look into the possibility of food allergies or intolerances.

[thepowerwithin]

Hey, your arms are no way fat, and yes I see more definition there than the average person. I am not surprised people compliment you.

As has been said, everyone's fat distribution is different. It could be your abdomen is where you hold more fat and thus it will take a bit more fat loss. Also looks like bloating, as as has been suggested an elimination diet will help you determine if a food is causing this.

[dreahere]

Hey, your arms are no way fat, and yes I see more definition there than the average person. I am not surprised people compliment you.

Agreed.

As has been said, everyone's fat distribution is different. It could be your abdomen is where you hold more fat and thus it will take a bit more fat loss. Also looks like bloating, as as has been suggested an elimination diet will help you determine if a food is causing this.

Agreed again.

Also? You have no reason to feel embarrassed to post pictures or wear a bathing suit or whatever. There is nothing "disgusting" about you, sweetie. Also also? It's a little concerning to me that you feel depressed about cooking for yourself. It sounds like your breakup maybe did a number on your self-esteem and perhaps you're a bit depressed in general. Be nice to yourself. Cook yourself delicious and nourishing things because you are worth it. Every time you look in the mirror and want to say something nasty to yourself about your belly, flex your guns and tell yourself what pretty arms you have instead.

/mom talk

[mid20sgirl86]

Well thanks for the comments. I'll try to keep working on the core then. It's just kind of discouraging to see it stay the same or look the same when it looks like fat is disappearing from every where else, even places that weren't exactly fat to begin with. But my arms kind of just came from my job. I do lift weights sometimes on my own, but the majority of the time it's because I do heavy lifting at work.

Edit: Anyway, I just added a new one for first thing in the morning. No food or water has been in me for almost 12 hours at least. You can still see quite a gut, and I tried my best to suck in so I wasn't pushing it out this time. So hopefully no bloating.

[discdoggie]

Do you have regular periods, OP?

[Bikinidiva]

I posted a while ago about wanting to lose my belly fat. So I've been working out quite a bit. I have a fitness center in my new apartment building, and so I've been working out there. Plus I always go for a walk between an hour and two hours every night. I love walking, and it's relaxing for me. I've been following all the the nutrition guides on this site. I eat what they recommend for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. I haven't had any sweets except Christmas day. But I worked out on Boxing Day. So I measured myself for the first time since I started dieting and exercising a lot. I measured my arms (forearms and wrists) legs (calves and thighs) , neck, hips, belly area, the part where my rib bones are. And every single place I've lost inches except my belly area. And that is the spot that I need to lose the weight. I was already very skinny in the rest of the areas. My arms are so thin that you can see my veins and and all the indentations where the muscles are.

I had to buy a new bra because those are smaller. I had to buy new underwear because my other pairs were starting too get big. You can see my rib bones a lot. My body frame is smaller because I took pictures and compared them. My stomach is still sticking out really far though. And it's hard, not flabby. I just don't understand. I am considering going to a doctor about this, because it doesn't seem right.

Anyone been through this? What did you do?

I'm still kind of wondering if it's maybe my diet. I am following the diet foods here, and I only drink water or unsweetened almond milk. I was like this before I started dieting. Sweet drinks unless it's orange juice (which I don't drink often) or chocolate milk (almond milk) gross me out. I haven't had orange juice since summer. But there has to be a reason why I still have stomach fat, and it's not a little bit. It's a lot.

hey there! I have this problem too. From what I have noticed is that your body pics in shoes is where it wants to lose fat. Unfortunately, that is 1 of my areas that comes along last. Keep pushing and eventually when your body has no other place to lose fat it will go for your abs.

[mid20sgirl86]

Do you have regular periods, OP?

Yes, I'm actually due in about 4 days. I keep track of it on a period tracker app on my phone, and it's always on time. I've never been late.

[discdoggie]

Yes, I'm actually due in about 4 days. I keep track of it on a period tracker app on my phone, and it's always on time. I've never been late.

Okay. Because I took a look at the 2nd pic and you do indeed seem slim everywhere else but your middle.

And yes, there's SOME fat there, but it looks like something else is going on as well. I'm no expert in allergies or intolerances, sorry. What you COULD do is an elimination diet and add one food back in at a time to see if you have any reactions.