Ladies, tell me about your tummies
Tari_D
Posts: 121 Member
This is a bit of a strange question but bear with me :ohwell:
I used to be a size UK size 18 (US size 16) and much to my amazement (and thanks to MFP) I am now just about a size 12 (US size 10). I always used to imagine that I size 12 was pretty small and that being a size 10 would involve a flat stomach. But now, at size 12, I still have a sizeable belly and I'm not quite at a healthy BMI or Body Fat % yet. You can't see my big stomach so much when I'm wearing clothes though so I am wondering - are many of the skinny looking girls out there hiding a belly under those nice clothes?
What dress size are you if you do have a completely flat stomach? I used to think I wouldn't go below a size 12 but I'm looking to revise my goals to fit in with being a healthy weight/body fat %.
I used to be a size UK size 18 (US size 16) and much to my amazement (and thanks to MFP) I am now just about a size 12 (US size 10). I always used to imagine that I size 12 was pretty small and that being a size 10 would involve a flat stomach. But now, at size 12, I still have a sizeable belly and I'm not quite at a healthy BMI or Body Fat % yet. You can't see my big stomach so much when I'm wearing clothes though so I am wondering - are many of the skinny looking girls out there hiding a belly under those nice clothes?
What dress size are you if you do have a completely flat stomach? I used to think I wouldn't go below a size 12 but I'm looking to revise my goals to fit in with being a healthy weight/body fat %.
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Replies
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generally speaking, the stomach is the hardest place for women to lose fat, as the squishy bit below your bellybutton is there to protect your ovaries - i have been maintaining for a while but i still have that little bit of fat that wont budge!
do u do strength training? if not start, it'll help with reducing bodyfat.0 -
I know how you feel, i am far from my goal weight, but my whole body except my tummy is shrinking (ok slight exagerration) basically everywhere else but my tummy has shed quickly and the process for my tummy is sloooooow0
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People are built differently and have their fat cells distributed differently. I've always been smaller in the middle, but gain easily in the hips and thighs. Many women have thin legs no matter how much they weigh, but tend to gain in their middle.
If your body makeup has you store fat in your middle, it may just be the last area to come off as you're losing.
When I was thin, I still had a bulge in my lower abs, but it was easily held in with my clothes.0 -
i am a size 6 dress size -size 4 in jeans - and i do have a little tummy. i wear tummy control undergarments (thankfully victorias secret makes some sexy ones) when i'm wearing a really tight dress. i've been doing 200 crunches a day to combat this "motherhood pudge". so hopefully it will be making it's exit soon.0
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It's perfectly possible to be a size 16 with a completely flat stomach and a size 6 with a belly. Height and bone structure make more difference when it comes to dress size than people give them credit for. I can share clothing (other than trousers!) with one of my friends. She's very tall with the "perfect" body, while I'm short and obese!0
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I don't have a belly, but I've never had one. I gain weight in my hips and thighs, and am very high waisted. I couldn't tell you quite what size I am. From an American 2 to an American 6 most of the time.0
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I had the SAME idea before I lost weight. I thought I'd have a flatter belly after losing 50-55 pounds.... maybe not totally flat, but more proportionate, you know? Well, I've lost over 60 and my proportions are STILL the same! I'm thinner, but still not quite proportionate.
But I know I just need to lose more. If I keep losing, the body will have no choice but to let go of the belly.0 -
<== U.S. size 0, but I had a flat stomach at a U.S. size 4. Belly fat is 80% what you eat.0
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generally speaking, the stomach is the hardest place for women to lose fat, as the squishy bit below your bellybutton is there to protect your ovaries - i have been maintaining for a while but i still have that little bit of fat that wont budge!
do u do strength training? if not start, it'll help with reducing bodyfat.
^ this , no matter how hard I try this stomach fat will not go!0 -
Dress size has absolutely nothing to do with how flat your stomach is. It's not an accurate measure of your body in any way.
I'm a US size 4-6, between having a completely flat stomach and not a flat stomach at all, my pant/dress size didn't change at all. Always a 4-6.
It really would be a mistake to use clothing size as a measurement or even an idea of what your body will look like when you achieve a smaller size.0 -
This is a bit of a strange question but bear with me :ohwell:
I used to be a size UK size 18 (US size 16) and much to my amazement (and thanks to MFP) I am now just about a size 12 (US size 10). I always used to imagine that I size 12 was pretty small and that being a size 10 would involve a flat stomach. But now, at size 12, I still have a sizeable belly and I'm not quite at a healthy BMI or Body Fat % yet. You can't see my big stomach so much when I'm wearing clothes though so I am wondering - are many of the skinny looking girls out there hiding a belly under those nice clothes?
What dress size are you if you do have a completely flat stomach? I used to think I wouldn't go below a size 12 but I'm looking to revise my goals to fit in with being a healthy weight/body fat %.
I am right there with you! I started MFP with a tight 16, now I am a size 12.
I still have a very squishy, and depending on what I eat it sticks out. Basically-- chub likes to hang out in my belly region and I have a feeling it will be the last fat to go.
Why not just keep losing and upping your fitness goals until you're happy with what you see and feel? It may not be a number goal, but a goal to reach that content feeling with your body. Just a thought.
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I know how you feel, i am far from my goal weight, but my whole body except my tummy is shrinking (ok slight exagerration) basically everywhere else but my tummy has shed quickly and the process for my tummy is sloooooow
This is me. I have lost 25 lbs total ( some before finding MFP) and my pants are sooo baggy in the legs and the waist is getting way to big but when I put on the next size down, it still pulls across the tummy.0 -
Several of my friends are larger than me- but have no qualms about getting in a bikini, because they have a (rounded) but flat belly. Mine has always been lumpy and somewhat segmented.
I'm currently at 26% body fat (started out at 35%). Truly I believed that at this weight, my belly would be flat... it's not! I just took pictures and from the front & back- the change is amazing... from the side- not so much. My body shape has stayed the same with the pooch under my belly button. Currently I'm reading the new rules of weight lifting for women- and plan to begin that program very soon- hoping that my body shape will change....0 -
My tummy and I are not friends but someday we will be! :laugh:0
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I know how you feel, i am far from my goal weight, but my whole body except my tummy is shrinking (ok slight exagerration) basically everywhere else but my tummy has shed quickly and the process for my tummy is sloooooow
This is me. I have lost 25 lbs total ( some before finding MFP) and my pants are sooo baggy in the legs and the waist is getting way to big but when I put on the next size down, it still pulls across the tummy.
Same here. What scares me is have have the loose skin between my pelvis and belly button that my mom had. So while I don't have any fat rolls, I'm pretty straight all around, I have a saggy 'roll" there that is mostly skin from pregnancy. My mom worked out with a trainer, ate clean and had a fairly low BF % when her trainer told her, that skin wasn't going to ever stretch back. It had lost it's elasticity from pregnancy, though she had nearly no fat. She ended up having a tummy tuck to remove the loose skin and show off her flat belly.
I watcher her go through that and refuse to ever have that done. Then again, I am not as vain as my mom so I can deal with it.0 -
I'm at a comfortable weight and size 4 basically. I still have a slight pooch under my belly button. I always have as long as I can remember. For me its been the last thing to go. But with good nutrition and lifting I'm noticing its shrinking away!0
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I am convinced that no matter how thin I get, I will always have a little bit of belly fat. I've been doing a lot more ab work than I have in the past though, and I do feel like I'm toning up. I just tend to carry more weight there than other places.0
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It depends what your problem area is. I have rearly hidden a belly under my clothes, but my problem area is better seen from behind . . . I you can't really hide anything back there.0
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it should be gone once you get to US size 4/6 unless your tiny, then you might go lower. Also, even when flat, it's possible that it will be a bit saggy - due to loose skin. Skin needs some time to shrink0
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My stomach suprisingly has shrunk pretty quick..but the minute I slip up my stomach is the first to take it back! :P I also bloat really bad so anytime I eat or drink ANYTHING I look pregnant! I can have a cup of water and look 5 months pregnant! Gah! I hate that!0
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I've got abs sorta happening in the upper part of my abdomen, I've gone down a band size in my bra but that little muffin top under my belly button isn't budging. I've lost 50 pounds offa everywhere else. Grrrrrrr.0
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i think it also has to do with shape.
Even when i was a skinny thing weighing 42kg in high school, i had a tummy. i have an apple shape and thats the first place i put on weight.
i've seen larger pear shaped women with flat tummy's who are 3 or 4 sizes bigger than me!0 -
no way will i talk about my tummy .. LOL .. so u can figure out the answer .. lost my butt not my tumm ..0
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My tummy is the 2nd place I lose weight (after my boobs:mad: ) so I have a flat a flat stomach even when I'm a size 12. However, my hips and thighs are fat no matter what size/weight I am. Everyone carries weight in their own way. I hope to one day get down to a weight where I have "normal" looking thighs.0
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If you ate within 24 hrs prior to taking a look at your belly, you would have a bulging stomach, no matter how thin you are. The models with flat bellies in the pics fast for a day or two before the shots. If you had at least one child, the bulge after eating will likely be more pronounced. Reducing bloating substances in your diet will help (grains, dairy, cabbages, fruit, legumes; see GAPS diet for recommendations)
That's said, everyone will have an individual weight/size when the stomach starts flattening out. I can tell my weight by the size of my stomach unless I am bloated.
There is a fine line as well between flat stomach and skin flap. I got to 113 lbs for like 2 days, and my stomach got flat, almost concave, and here it was, skin flap. Never seen it before.0 -
I know what you mean, my stomach is the only thing I am trying to lose and it is very resistant:) My goal has been to lose 4 inches which would be a size to size in a half as I am between sizes. I know for example most US designers (from reading their size guides) the hips being 10 inches bigger than the waist. So you maybe a smaller sized pant by hips but have a waist out of their proportions. I would be a 12 in pants but need a 16 for my son's former home.
I wish I had the answer, I am still looking for it. All i know is I eat a whole food diet (mostly from wholefoods), drink 10-12 glasses of water a day, exercise 6 days a week but still have the majority of the belly I had a month after giving birth. It has a lot of muscle there now from all the ab work I do, but it is still larger than I would like as I feel being short and on me is what makes me look fatish.0 -
Looking back at pictures of myself when I was a size 12, I was pretty squishy. My tummy was flatter than it is now (at a US 16), but it was still very squishy. Tummy fat is the toughest kind of fat to lose. You may want to look into the Abs Diet (it's not an actual diet, but it's about changing your diet so you can have the flat tummy you want). I have the Abs Diet for Women book and it's really awesome!0
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It's body fat (skinny fat) I still had a belly at size 6 US (5'6 @ 130lbs).
If you want to lose it then you need to reduce body fat. The closer to goal weight you are the more you need to work out / lift weights IF you are concerned about showing off your belly. Personally it's not a goal of mine so I don't care if I'm a little squishy without my clothes.0 -
Definitely has more to do with what you eat. I am a US 2/4 but still get a lil' pooch if I drink a lot and eat l like crap.0
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i am a size 6 dress size -size 4 in jeans - and i do have a little tummy. i wear tummy control undergarments (thankfully victorias secret makes some sexy ones) when i'm wearing a really tight dress. i've been doing 200 crunches a day to combat this "motherhood pudge". so hopefully it will be making it's exit soon.
Doing 200 crunches a day will not burn the fat just in the stomach region. You can't spot reduce. You need to do exercises that burn fat- they'll burn fat in your entire body. Crunches will help build the ab muscles underneath the fat, but not just burn off the stomach fat.0
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