HELP NEEDED!

MissTheMcQ

Hi all
Recently back on my fitness kick!
I've lost nearly 3 Kg in the last 4 weeks.
I've been doing Les Mills online, mainly BodyCombat, BodyAttack, Body Pump about 4 times a week.
I'm seeing a difference to my bum, legs and sides of my abdomen and waist but the front of my stomach is s different story. I have 3 children so I have a bit of a fupa anyway but my lower stomach looks fat and round and bloated. It's very odd. Like all of the weight is dropping downwards. (If that makes sense?!)

Feeling very disheartened and self conscious.
What am I doing wrong?
Are there any exercises to combat this area?

I fast for 14-16 most days, trying to stick to a 1300 calorie diet but noticed my diet is quite high in fat and always above the limit my app recommends.

AnnPT77

As you lose weight, the fat can deplete from anywhere in the fat mass. It doesn't lose starting from the outside and moving neatly inward.

A consequence is that any area where we carry a noticeable amount of fat is likely to get somewhat squishy, soft, and - yes - floppy or droopy along the way, before enough fat depletes that the skin-sack can even start shrinking. It's kind of like a firm, full water balloon that someone has let part of the water out.

So, yeah, it makes sense to me that when you've lost 3kg, you may see the remaining fat on your belly area dropping/drooping lower. Don't panic. If you keep losing, there will be improvement. It can be somewhat unpredictable, but it sounds like you're experiencing something that's very common along the way, but that tends to improve with time and continuing fat loss.

Patience and persistence are the answer, for now.

MissTheMcQ

Thank you so much for replying. It's making a lot more sense to me now 🙂

xrj22

For the most part, spot-reducing doesn't work. The fat accumulates or comes off wherever your body is genetically programmed for it. If you are dropping weight rapidly, and also in initial stages when you loose a lot of water weight, you may see more drooping or skin-folds. The skin will tighten up and adjust to your weight loss over time. But again, there isn't anything you can do to make that happen faster - it will happen when it happens and as much as it happens. The thing you CAN do is to make sure that you loose fat, not muscle, but exercising, and loosing at a steady gradual pace. Also, if you are menopausal, that can be another reason for your body tending to put on lower belly fat.