Trying to lose belly fat

SavageMoh

Hello! I'm new here, I've been struggling with trying to lose belly fat. I am not overweight and I do not have excess fat on anywhere on my body except my stomach. I work 6 times a week, I put on muscles fairly well on all areas but my stomach seems to never go down. I have tried many things, I am not sure what to do anymore. I need some help and guidance.

AnnPT77

This is the classic post here on getting a flat belly:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

This is a truly epic post on what that can mean, for regular normal women, including slim and fit ones, in our current culture:

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

I know long threads are annoying, but I suggest reading all of that one, maybe chip away a page at a time, when you have time. There are useful bits throughout, even if something on the early pages is off-putting to you.

I don't know whether this next applies to you or not, but I'm going to put it in here (pasting from the many, many other cases where - having seen photos - it was part of the situation.

It's about posture: Surprisingly many of us have postural issues that make abdominal fat appear more prominent. (There are exercises to improve this, if it's true for you.)

The main issues that are common, can cause this, are "anterior pelvic tilt", and so-called "nerd neck" (which is kyphotic posture but not actual kyphosis (I know that's confusing)).

Anterior pelvic tilt, loosely, is carrying the top of the pelvic bones in front of the lower part of those bones, so the pelvis is tilted forward a little. (This seems particularly common among young women these days, maybe from trying to emphasize the booty, but it can also happen from having had excess abdominal fat pulling forward and down for years, while simultaneously losing strength in the supporting musculature. Frequently wearing shoes with higher heels (even fairly minor ones) may also contribute, but that varies depending on how a specific individual adjusts to the weight shifts heels create.)

Overall, the effect can be to let abdominal fat droop forward.

The postural kyphosis is, in simple terms, slouching; the "nerd neck" part of it adds a chin-forward and maybe shoulders-forward element to that. These are things that are common now because so many of us are hunching over phones or keyboards, which tends to contribute to the head-forward/rounded-shoulders habit, which again can be aggravated by losing postural strength via inactivity. The effect can be to press downward on abdominal fat, essential squeezing it outwards between ribcage and pelvic bones.

(Kyphosis per se can also be an inborn spinal condition - that's a different matter. I'm talking about the postural type, not the congenital type.)

Both of those postural things together, even if each is somewhat slight, can make the belly fat more prominent (pushed forward, and down, so it protrudes more). Take a look in a mirror, especially side view. You want head fairly straight atop spine, shoulders stacked over hips, top of pelvic bones fairly straight above their lower edge.

If that's not happening the way you want, there are exercises (like ones from Bob & Brad, physical therapists on YouTube) that help stretch tight areas, strengthen weak areas, and improve the situation. There are also lots of photos you can find, using the terms I mention above, to understand what I'm explaining poorly.

Just generally working out, or being fit, may not improve posture. We all tend to have long-term postural habits, and it's pretty easy to carry that same posture into our workout life . . . getting fitter while keeping the posture problems potentially could even reinforce the muscular supports that are involved, cement those habits in place more. Specific exercises for the specific problems can help.

Best wishes!

AnnPT77

Oh, and, also maybe this:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10824708/what-you-may-not-be-doing-to-get-a-flatter-stomach/p1

But if there's a posture problem, or one of the other issues in the posts I linked above, this one won't make up for those.

iforgotmyoldusername

Sit-ups and water. I didn’t see progress right away but keep trying anyway. If you take a picture at the start later on if you feel you’re not making progress you can look back at it