Stress Belly / Visceral Fat

QueenOfVines

I am very very slim, but today, I found out that i have an unhealthy Waist to Hip Ratio of 0.90.

Waist : 65-68 cm (depending on whether I breath out)
Hip : 72cm

It seems like I have what they call a "STress Belly" or "visceral fat" due to cortisol.
There was even in one time in my skinny life , when people thought I was pregnant.

Now, i don't look pregnant, but the WHR is still bad.



I don't feel that I'm in any stressful situation right now. But I was told that I have "hypervigilance", ie. underlying anxiety probably due to past trauma.

Does anyone know how to get rid of a Stress Belly?

harper16

How do you know it's viseral fat due to cortisol?

AnnPT77

Have you talked to your doctor about whether you really have a health risk?

You don't say how tall you are, or how old.

For an average height adult woman, your waist measurement would be fairly normal. (Many here, including me, think in those silly inches. Your waist is 25.5 inches to 26.8 inches.) I'm about 140cm (5'5"), a healthy weight, and my waist is about 72-73cm (28.5").

For an average height adult woman, your hip measurement would be very narrow (just over 28"). Mine is around 93 cm (about 36.5"), which is fairly average, maybe even lower average.

Are you very petite in height?

The waist to hip ratio is only one way of screening for health risk. Like the other risk screeners (waist to height ratio, BMI, for example), it is not accurate for everyone. Usually our doctor would evaluate us personally, looking at various health markers. What does your doctor say about your waist or visceral fat?

There are various strategies for addressing stress, and those might be beneficial for you (things like exercise, meditation, counseling/therapy, etc.). Your question seems to be more physical, though, so that would be a reason to talk with your doctor.

Best wishes!

PAV8888

You may want to read through this as it provides a bit of info on how the measurement is actually supposed to be taken:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist–hip_ratio

You may want to confirm your tape is parallel to the floor when measuring both waist and hips

You may want to also include waist to height and BMI in your consideration.

An isolated measurement is an indication that you might want to investigate whether you're at a higher risk---not a verdict.

If you're, as you put it, very very slim, it would be fairly unusual to have excess abdominal fat that puts you in the obese category

If your measurements and weight don't jive a visit to doctor to square the circle (confirmation of excess abdominal fat, or other concerning or non concerning issues) may be more relevant than trying to lose potential self diagnosed abdominal fat on a slim person

shepnic72

@QueenOfVines I feel your pain. I have always had a pot belly... only recently have a come to the conclusion that i have what you call a “stress belly” Our bodies go into self preservation mode when it is put under stress ,... something about too much cortisol 🤷‍♀️ It is hard fat to get rid of .... as i am unable to see my reg doc or my natural path I personally have started taking a supplement called thyro-smart ... it is supposed to help reduce the cortisol. Also, i was flowing the 21 day fix program plus walking daily ... as this puts my body in full blown stress mode i have switched to a 3 week yoga program ....so will see.
I suggest a naturalpath doc when the things go back to normal ... i find med doc dont listen when it comes to stuff like this

PS i am not a doctor just a woman who struggles daily with her weight .... i have done my research and spoken to professionals... i am only offering my personal opinion.

QueenOfVines

My Height is 156cm
My Weight 45kg
My BMI is 18.5. (almost underweight)
My age 43 yr.

I have just retaken my measurements, and it's 68cm/72cm . so my WHR is 0.94.

way above the healthy ratio of 0.8.

AnnPT77

QueenOfVines wrote: »

My Height is 156cm
My Weight 45kg
My BMI is 18.5. (almost underweight)
My age 43 yr.

I have just retaken my measurements, and it's 68cm/72cm . so my WHR is 0.94.

way above the healthy ratio of 0.8.

So, translating into imperial for other people who use the same wrong-headed measurement scheme I do , you're about 5'1.5", quite petite**.

Your waist to hip ratio is high, so that (as a matter of statistical analysis, not individual diagnosis) suggests possible concern.

You waist to height ratio, 68cm to 156cm, is 0.44. That's within the healthy range of 0.42-0.48 for all-age women (i.e. statistically suggests more positive health outcomes).

Your BMI is at the bottom of the healthy range, the range that also statistically suggests more positive health outcomes.

Your waist to hip ratio is not in what would normally be considered the healthy range. However, I believe your hip measurement is relatively low, even for your height, so the issue may be more that you have an unsually narrow pelvis, as opposed to an unusually large waist. For any of the screening metrics, some individual people's body configuration may result in a misleading value. I don't know whether that might be true for you.

So two of the three standard screening metrics suggest no cause for concern. I understand that you feel your waist measurement is too high, and I also understand that concern, in context of your sense that you may have heightened cortisol. Under those circumstances, I think your best bet would be to discuss your concern with your doctor. There are health conditions that can increase waist size, and those can be diagnosed by a doctor, not by random people like me on the internet.

Wishing you all the best! :flowerforyou:



** With apologies, I misstated my height previously; 5'5" is actually about 165cm. I don't arithmetic well!

PAV8888

With a BMI of 18.5 respectfully excess visceral fat rising to obesity levels is extremely unlikely.

Therefore either Anne's nterpretation about the hips is correct, or if your waist circumference is actually more then would be expected it would be something to discuss with a licensed board certified legitimate medical doctor in person

Lietchi

You do have quite narrow hips I think, skewing the proportion. It's impossible to judge based purely on numbers.

High cortisol is something that can be checked with a blood test. High visceral fat can perhaps be tested too, with a scan, I don't know about that part. But I would start by getting a confirmation from a doctor that you have high cortisol and a 'stress belly' before worrying about your waist to hip ratio.

PAV8888

First of all, you've gone with 68 cm which was your original "lungs full" measurement. I read the wikipedia article as discussing an "empty lungs" measurement. The link below has detail instruction on how to measure.

MUCH more relevant, we now have 3/4 measures that say you have NO reason to be concerned about abdominal fat.

The Canadian Heart and Stroke foundation is listing waist > 80cm as the concerning point for women, with > 88cm as elevated. You are a LONG way away from that.

https://www.heartandstroke.ca/get-healthy/healthy-weight/healthy-weight-and-waist

The only measure that indicates a concern is the one that considers your hips, and others have commented on that.

IF HOWEVER, you do feel that your waist has recently increased beyond expectation I would urge you to get checked out by a doctor to rule out a myriads of less or more concerning issues that can all contribute to a larger than normal waist. At your current bmi abdominal fat, stress or no stress, is, as I've mentioned, hard to credit as a possibility.

melgreywolf75

Hello,
Waist to Hip Ratio is one guide, but more accurate will be using the fat measurement machine. Besides blood test, CT Scan which is very costly.

Go get a good fat measurement machine, which will also give you an indicator of how much visceral fats you have. The Healthline website says below 13 is good. But my family doctor says below 15 (I think he is being kind to me).

Stay healthy.

mmapags

melgreywolf75 wrote: »

Hello,
Waist to Hip Ratio is one guide, but more accurate will be using the fat measurement machine. Besides blood test, CT Scan which is very costly.

Go get a good fat measurement machine, which will also give you an indicator of how much visceral fats you have. The Healthline website says below 13 is good. But my family doctor says below 15 (I think he is being kind to me).

Stay healthy.

There are no accurate and affordable machines that people can buy. The most accurate measure of body composition is a Dexa scan or hydrostatic testing. Body composition scales are wildly inaccurate.

yirara

melgreywolf75 wrote: »

Hello,
Waist to Hip Ratio is one guide, but more accurate will be using the fat measurement machine. Besides blood test, CT Scan which is very costly.

Go get a good fat measurement machine, which will also give you an indicator of how much visceral fats you have. The Healthline website says below 13 is good. But my family doctor says below 15 (I think he is being kind to me).

Stay healthy.

Those machines don't work! I actually got into an argument with a doctor, a medical professional who used such a thing you hold in your hands during an office health check. He told me I had about 41% bodyfat. At a bmi of around 22. I guess I now know that my boobs contain lots of fat.

QueenOfVines

Here is my pic... I don't think it's just small hip. I have a ball in front of me...

harper16

QueenOfVines wrote: »

Here is my pic... I don't think it's just small hip. I have a ball in front of me...

Do you have a picture of you standing up straight? You're arching your back which is pushing your stomach out. I think you are creating something that isn't there.

snowflake954

QueenOfVines wrote: »

Here is my pic... I don't think it's just small hip. I have a ball in front of me...

What I see in your pic is a posture problem, which is causing your stomach to stick out--a little. Do exercises to improve your posture. Also take a new pic, but this time Stand Up Straight!

yirara

Also, this asks for the womb thread. I just can't find it.

sijomial

Look at the line of the side seam in your dress OP - that's how hard you are trying to push out your stomach.
You do appear to be trying to convince yourself you have a problem.

The "underlying anxiety" you mention manifesting itself perhaps?

Lietchi

yirara wrote: »

Also, this asks for the womb thread. I just can't find it.

This one, I'm guessing

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10689837/does-this-uterus-make-my-stomach-look-fat/p1

yirara

Lietchi wrote: »

yirara wrote: »

Also, this asks for the womb thread. I just can't find it.

This one, I'm guessing

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10689837/does-this-uterus-make-my-stomach-look-fat/p1

Explains when I couldn't find it Thanks a lot.

collectingblues

QueenOfVines wrote: »

Here is my pic... I don't think it's just small hip. I have a ball in front of me...

Your posture is the problem. You’re arching your back, which is forcing your stomach out — it’s obvious really in this picture, because a) we can see you arching and b) the line of your dress is shifting back. Stand up completely straight.

Joskinnie

I agree with the others about your posture. Bend your knees slightly. That helps pop your low back into the proper position. (Got that from my chiropractor and it works for me.) Also, many women seem to have that bump. Try some ab exercises. That might help.

mom23mangos

You are a thin woman with a small waistline, bad posture and underdeveloped Glutes. You probably genetically have narrow hips, but a lot of the “hip” measurement comes from the size of your Glutes. You can build them up to increase your waist/hip ratio if you like, but I don’t think it’s going to change any health indicator for you. You are most likely fine just how you are and are an outlier due to small hips/Glutes. A DEXA can help determine fat distribution as well. I hope you feel less worried after reading these replies.

Edit - also, you are small breasted like me which also contributes to the appearance of a larger waist. My belly bump sticks out further than my boobs as well.

sgt1372

OP, I don't think that you have anything to worry about, not even your posture; judt looks like ur leaning back 2 take the photo but not ur natural posture.

FWIW, ht/wt ratio and BMI are just "indicators" of risk for certain health problems but neither is definitive. Thet sreALWSYS exceptionsand individual differences

Also, if you are Asian as you appear to be from your avatar photo, BMI is also admittedly inaccurate for Asians , trending higher than for other ethnic groups and I would guess the same for ht/wt.

If you want to get a measurement of your VAT, get a DEXA scan done. It is the ONLY commercially available BF test that can provide you w/this info

BTW, IMO just because you have a little belly pooch doesn't necesssrily mean that you have an excessive amount of VAT (visceral adipose tissue aka "belly fat).

QueenOfVines

thank you everybody for the input.. i understand better now!

Yes, I didn't realise i was not in proper posture... and i have asian body. so might not be accurate. i might go get a proper test done.

thank you everybody again!!! appreciate!!!