All this hard work for what? My stomach ruins it!!!

JoannaEngel84

Also, for a lot of food allergies/sensitivities, you have to go without eating them for a number of weeks before they'll even test you anyway.

emmarosemc

This is interesting and eye-opening. I kinda just figured it was normal for short/petite women, like we have lees room in our bodies so our stomachs stretch outwards when we eat haha. I had this issue for years. I call my bloated stomach "Toby" (The Office reference - everybody hates him ) and after working out for an entire year (gained 12lbs of muscle) he was still there so I gave up. Never thought it could be gluten. I make a point not to wear certain tighter pants/jeans when I might be eating out at some point, so uncomfortable.

JoRocka

My gym's BF% is a joke. It is fairly accurate- but it's not percise- meaning it will allow you to mointor if it goes up or down in relation to itself- but it isn't actually telling you the correct BF%

BUT. That being said- if you TRULY are at 12%... there is a strong likely hood that eating might make you look bloated because- well there isn't anything else left to see essentially except the abs and food. I wouldn't sweat it. And unless you are doing a competition- you don't need to hang out down by 12% all the time.

how would not eating enough lead to stomach bloat?

she's already eating peanuts- how much LESS could she possibly eat. Seriously.

jstout365

This makes sense too. Maybe because I am on the leaner side, everything I eat shows. But, then I look at so many fitness competitors who are way leaner than me & they look amazing after eating 6 full meals. I don't get that :sad:

Do you look at the fitness competitors just after they eat? If you are looking at pictures from competitions and not the competitors in real life, then you are not getting a realistic perspective. Many of them don't consume large amounts of food 2-3 days prior to an event and also try to get their water weight down to help look as lean as possible. I always have "morning abs" and am no where close to 12% BF, but as the day goes on they relax and become less prominent. Our bodies expand and shrink as a normal part of the day. At the lower BF% ranges, there is much less "fluff" to hide the expansion of the organs during normal digestion.

However, I will not discredit the possibility of an intolerance of a particular food. I have a friend who is severely affected by gluten and will balloon up after eating it. So while it is possible and you may wish to investigate this, I would also highly suggest you not compare yourself to fitness competitors that you see in photos. I am sure they all get a food baby when they eat larger meals.

zarabeth

I would like to add that I just had a food sensitivity test done by a lab in Fort Lauderdale Florida and my results really surprised me. I am sensitive to 27 different thing and they are stuff like tomatoes, pinto beans, cabbage, mushrooms, broccoli, as well as some yeasts, wheat, and rye, cows milk and eggs. Most of the stuff on my list I would have put down as healthy!

The test cost me about $300.00, but I am hoping it is worth it. It is called the bloodprint immune.

I now have to get the crap out of my system, which involves a pretty restrictive 4 day rotation diet, for 90 days.

I am only on my third day and although from day one the bloating feelings have gone away, I feel like I am going through withdrawals. Could I have been addicted to tomatoes? (the only food I could think of that I had almost every day in some form or another)

If you are interested I can give you the name of the lab and they can tell you which doctors in your area use their service.

It's like the quick (and expensive) way to do an elimination diet, which wouldn't of helped me because who thinks to take green beans out of the diet?

Wende3

I just recently discovered I can't drink protein powder. It makes me very bloated and almost wanting to double over. I get protein from just meat. I may have to try the gluten free thing as well as I still get bloated but not as much as I did when drinking the protein powder.

nyla2120

Hey, my doctor had me do an elimination diet to find out what was causing my intestinal problems. I didn't lose a single pound (I wasn't trying to because I'm on maintenance), but I went from size 8 jeans to a loose size 6 within a week just from the abdominal bloating disappearing.

It turned out that gluten, dairy and eggs cause me problems. It actually took me several weeks before all my symptoms eased, but the bloating went away pretty quickly. Hope you figure out what's causing your bloating and get it corrected. It's so nice to have flat, defined abs. (Mine have been there all along, but the bloating made me a little "puffier" than I liked.)

My friend did something like this called the Virgin diet, she eliminated many things from her diet & then slowly added things back in to see how her body reacted. She had a book about it, in going to see if I can borrow hers.

nyla2120

This makes sense too. Maybe because I am on the leaner side, everything I eat shows. But, then I look at so many fitness competitors who are way leaner than me & they look amazing after eating 6 full meals. I don't get that :sad:

Do you look at the fitness competitors just after they eat? If you are looking at pictures from competitions and not the competitors in real life, then you are not getting a realistic perspective. Many of them don't consume large amounts of food 2-3 days prior to an event and also try to get their water weight down to help look as lean as possible. I always have "morning abs" and am no where close to 12% BF, but as the day goes on they relax and become less prominent. Our bodies expand and shrink as a normal part of the day. At the lower BF% ranges, there is much less "fluff" to hide the expansion of the organs during normal digestion.

However, I will not discredit the possibility of an intolerance of a particular food. I have a friend who is severely affected by gluten and will balloon up after eating it. So while it is possible and you may wish to investigate this, I would also highly suggest you not compare yourself to fitness competitors that you see in photos. I am sure they all get a food baby when they eat larger meals.

This is amazing advice. I do push myself very hard & I'm my worst critic. I know being that lean all the time isn't even realistic. I guess when I look in the mirror I sometimes feel like for all the work I put it, I'm still not looking how I really want. I'm going to try to not to be so hard on myself. But, I still want to make sure I'm not having any allergies to anything.

CoderGal

ugh to random cleanse recommendations for vague reasons.

nyla2120

I just recently discovered I can't drink protein powder. It makes me very bloated and almost wanting to double over. I get protein from just meat. I may have to try the gluten free thing as well as I still get bloated but not as much as I did when drinking the protein powder.

I'm going to go off protein powder for a bit & see if that helps. I was actually thinking maybe it could be the protein.

nyla2120

I would like to add that I just had a food sensitivity test done by a lab in Fort Lauderdale Florida and my results really surprised me. I am sensitive to 27 different thing and they are stuff like tomatoes, pinto beans, cabbage, mushrooms, broccoli, as well as some yeasts, wheat, and rye, cows milk and eggs. Most of the stuff on my list I would have put down as healthy!

The test cost me about $300.00, but I am hoping it is worth it. It is called the bloodprint immune.

I now have to get the crap out of my system, which involves a pretty restrictive 4 day rotation diet, for 90 days.

I am only on my third day and although from day one the bloating feelings have gone away, I feel like I am going through withdrawals. Could I have been addicted to tomatoes? (the only food I could think of that I had almost every day in some form or another)

If you are interested I can give you the name of the lab and they can tell you which doctors in your area use their service.

It's like the quick (and expensive) way to do an elimination diet, which wouldn't of helped me because who thinks to take green beans out of the diet?

Green beans wow? I plan to see a Dr. About this & see if I can be tested. I will be on vacation in a couple weeks & will be able to focus on this more.

CoderGal

I just recently discovered I can't drink protein powder. It makes me very bloated and almost wanting to double over. I get protein from just meat. I may have to try the gluten free thing as well as I still get bloated but not as much as I did when drinking the protein powder.

I'm going to go off protein powder for a bit & see if that helps. I was actually thinking maybe it could be the protein.

If you are feeling double over in pain bloated, then my stab in the dark is that you're lactose intolerant and you're drinking a concentrate blend. The isolate would be better (the lactose is in the concentrate). But there's nothing wrong with getting complete proteins from a different source!

nyla2120

My gym's BF% is a joke. It is fairly accurate- but it's not percise- meaning it will allow you to mointor if it goes up or down in relation to itself- but it isn't actually telling you the correct BF%

BUT. That being said- if you TRULY are at 12%... there is a strong likely hood that eating might make you look bloated because- well there isn't anything else left to see essentially except the abs and food. I wouldn't sweat it. And unless you are doing a competition- you don't need to hang out down by 12% all the time.

What is the best way to measure body fat%?

CoderGal

I would like to add that I just had a food sensitivity test done by a lab in Fort Lauderdale Florida and my results really surprised me. I am sensitive to 27 different thing and they are stuff like tomatoes, pinto beans, cabbage, mushrooms, broccoli, as well as some yeasts, wheat, and rye, cows milk and eggs. Most of the stuff on my list I would have put down as healthy!

The test cost me about $300.00, but I am hoping it is worth it. It is called the bloodprint immune.

I now have to get the crap out of my system, which involves a pretty restrictive 4 day rotation diet, for 90 days.

I am only on my third day and although from day one the bloating feelings have gone away, I feel like I am going through withdrawals. Could I have been addicted to tomatoes? (the only food I could think of that I had almost every day in some form or another)

If you are interested I can give you the name of the lab and they can tell you which doctors in your area use their service.

It's like the quick (and expensive) way to do an elimination diet, which wouldn't of helped me because who thinks to take green beans out of the diet?

Or you could be getting withdrawl symptoms from lacking the nutrients that come along with those tomatos even if they don't sit well with you.

jadedone

Don't forget, the big sources of gluten are the secret ones. Sauces and processed foods. Check your protein powder. SWitch to gluten free soy sauce....

ndj1979

My gym's BF% is a joke. It is fairly accurate- but it's not percise- meaning it will allow you to mointor if it goes up or down in relation to itself- but it isn't actually telling you the correct BF%

BUT. That being said- if you TRULY are at 12%... there is a strong likely hood that eating might make you look bloated because- well there isn't anything else left to see essentially except the abs and food. I wouldn't sweat it. And unless you are doing a competition- you don't need to hang out down by 12% all the time.

how would not eating enough lead to stomach bloat?

she's already eating peanuts- how much LESS could she possibly eat. Seriously.

that was not my question ...my question was how underrating would cause stomach bloat...Now if we are talking starvation level under eating then yes you would appear bloated..

Also, OP said she is on 1200 calorie a day...that may be low for some people but it seems to be working for her...

nyla2120

My gym's BF% is a joke. It is fairly accurate- but it's not percise- meaning it will allow you to mointor if it goes up or down in relation to itself- but it isn't actually telling you the correct BF%

BUT. That being said- if you TRULY are at 12%... there is a strong likely hood that eating might make you look bloated because- well there isn't anything else left to see essentially except the abs and food. I wouldn't sweat it. And unless you are doing a competition- you don't need to hang out down by 12% all the time.

how would not eating enough lead to stomach bloat?

she's already eating peanuts- how much LESS could she possibly eat. Seriously.

that was not my question ...my question was how underrating would cause stomach bloat...Now if we are talking starvation level under eating then yes you would appear bloated..

Also, OP said she is on 1200 calorie a day...that may be low for some people but it seems to be working for her...

Thank you! I'm not a big person, I'm only 5'4. 1200-1300 is working for me. I am full of energy, I don't feel bad at all. I did go through a low point in my life where I lost my Mother & Grandfather within months & I was really sad & depressed & barely eating, I got very sick & had no energy, I was anemic & I had 0 energy. So I can tell when I'm eating enough & when I'm not just by how I feel.

ginagirl4259

I read that 1 in 3 people have an issue digesting sugar. It's called fructose intolerance, and it can also cause diarrhea, gas, and bloating. Perhaps that's it.

Fullsterkur_woman

What is the best way to measure body fat%?

As I said, a DEXA scan. It is the current gold-standard for measuring body composition. Bonus: It gives not only body fat %, but also skeletal mass, so you can keep an eye out for bone density losses.

nyla2120

What is the best way to measure body fat%?

As I said, a DEXA scan. It is the current gold-standard for measuring body composition. Bonus: It gives not only body fat %, but also skeletal mass, so you can keep an eye out for bone density losses.

That's amazing! I wonder if insurance covers this test.