Ladies, tell me about your tummies
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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.
^This. I haven't change in size or weight since I started exercising, but my stomach is not as jiggly as it was.0 -
I'm a UK size 6-8 (US size 2-4?) and my friend describe me as skinny, but I HATE HATE HATE my tummy.
It's huge and out of proportion with the rest of my body. I have tiny legs, and a tiny bum (and huge knockers ha ha) but my tummy just looks WRONG. I can wear stuff to hide it, but I don't want to have to.
I have looked into a tummy tuck but the pain scares me (I already had a breast reduction).
I had two kids who were nearly 9lb, so I guess it's just that but it sucks.0 -
Do you think if I tell my fat that I'm not planning on using those ovaries any more that it will bugger off? :laugh:the squishy bit below your bellybutton is there to protect your ovaries0 -
Even when I was a UK 10/12 and had a BMI of 22, I still didn't have a flat tummy. I guess that's the way I am!
10 years and 2 kids later and my belly is definitely bigger than then, but I can do up some size 12 trousers now. I guess if i keep working out and eating well it'll shrink, but I honestly don't think I'll ever have a flat stomach.
By the way, a UK 12 is a US 8, not 10.0 -
Thanks for the responses everyone! It's reasuring to know I am not alone at least
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!
I had started doing doing NROL4W but I've injured my knee recently so I've had to adapt to only upper body exercises (lat pull downs, shoulder press, bicep curls etc) and abs work for a while. My body fat % did seem to decrease more quickly when I was doing it though. I can't wait to get back to it. I am thinking once I get safely into a healthy BMI I will eat at maintenance and go for it even harder with the strength training.
ThanksYou 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! I will check that out. What sort of foods do people think make a positive and negative difference?
I think I would just feel more confident if it wasn't so obviously there. Somehow, even when I know I've come a long way still seeing that big roll of fat there makes me feel big and fat still! Silly I knowIf 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 -
My stomach was soft and squishy at 135 pounds and, if not quite flat, then at least firm at 123 pounds. Those last 12 pounds came almost entirely from that region of my anatomy, and pretty much had to. My other major fat deposits had already been whittled away.
And on sizes, I'll be 60 on my next birthday and weigh roughly the same as I did when I was in my 20s. Back then I was a size 10, now I'm a 4, or even a 2 in some things. And I've lost some muscle since then so my body isn't as compact as it was. A US size 10 isn't so small anymore.0 -
I lost most of my weight from my stomach area than any other place. I am a mom to 4 kids so Most of my weight was in my stomach area.. I was able to lose that tummy weight in just a few months!!!0
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By the way, a UK 12 is a US 8, not 10.
Ooops sorry, I must have read the chart wrong. There was me trying to be helpful and inclusive of the MFPers overseas :laugh:0 -
I have lost 18ls+ have lost a dress size all over and almost 2 dress sizes on my top half, however I haven't lost an inch off my tummy yet.
Hoping with another 18lbs I might lost a few inches!
(I started at a UK 16, I'm now a UK 12/14) and aim to be a 10/120 -
By the way, a UK 12 is a US 8, not 10.
Ooops sorry, I must have read the chart wrong. There was me trying to be helpful and inclusive of the MFPers overseas :laugh:
lol I'm English, but I was a UK12 in trousers when I went to the US in 2003, and I now fit into my size 8 Abercrombie & Fitch trousers I bought then. So nice to wear something with 8 in the label 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.
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.
i also do 60 mins cardio prior to the crunches, just felt that wasnt really relevant as i'm not doing it just to lose tummy fat but i can see where you're getting at :flowerforyou:0 -
Tummy is definitely my number one problem area. I went from a 13/14 to a 7/8 with the help of MFP and JM30DS and I'm starting to notice my belly shrinking. Strength training seems to be helping it a lot! So I would definitely suggest adding strength into your workout routine 0
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It is completely dependent of body type. Even at my highest weight, I wore a size 12 and had a relatively flat tummy.0
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I have always had muscular arms and legs, but my midsection is such an issue for me, I was a size 18 and am now an 8 and I feel that my stomach simply looks like a smaller version of itself, not tone of flat at all.0
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Oh yeah, my sister is petite but she has a small belly (doesn't stick out like mine but it's not flat like a board) and she's always complaining about it.. I'm over here trying to get a flat belly so I can show off the muscles I have underneath D; I've heard that a flat stomach is made in the kitchen so that means I'm trying to lessen my sugar intake (but I always go over my daily goal because of fruit and my morning milk) and sodium. I've been doing my regime for a week now and it seems to be paying off so far... My stomach was always just this bulge of a food baby and now it seems to be [slowly] working its way down, or at least that's how it appears to me. Let's hope it goes all the way down!0
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Oh yeah, my sister is petite but she has a small belly (doesn't stick out like mine but it's not flat like a board) and she's always complaining about it.. I'm over here trying to get a flat belly so I can show off the muscles I have underneath D; I've heard that a flat stomach is made in the kitchen so that means I'm trying to lessen my sugar intake (but I always go over my daily goal because of fruit and my morning milk) and sodium. I've been doing my regime for a week now and it seems to be paying off so far... My stomach was always just this bulge of a food baby and now it seems to be [slowly] working its way down, or at least that's how it appears to me. Let's hope it goes all the way down!0
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I'm a US size 2 and i still have a belly!0
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I still wear childrens clothes(age 11-12) as the womens sizes are generally too big for me and I still have a tummy, a big one lol:( Everyone says I'm really skinny but my tummy tells me a different story lol0
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so many things may make it the way it is. My tummy is firm, but its large from having a baby (my goal is to get to 31 inches, now I am 35) I have alot of testosterone and not much progesterone so that maybe part of the deal. I know i have to wear a bigger size because my waist is out of proportion (it should be 31 based on my hips). I know for me I have a clean diet, I can't eat bread products so not much there, and drink only water or unsweetened tea. I also have a lactose thing so I don't eat all dairy products, just hard cheese. Its weird, it is the only place I feel I want to loose weight but not much has happened (lost 2-3 inches since I gained it from pregnancy over the past 10 years) I think I am learning that it will be easier to learn to accept it, than be frustrated I can't change it. (I also do lots of cardio, lift, dance, yoga ect ect). So maybe learning to find the beauty in it is the answer for some who don't have health issues and its about vanity.0
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It varies widely depending on the individual. When I got to about the 30-pounds-lost mark, I got rather distressed because I suddenly looked heavier. Why? Because I had dropped the weight from everywhere except the belly and suddenly it was huge by comparison. Then a lot of it all came off at once; now I seem to be losing more proportionately.
It is true though that even very thin women do have some belly fat under their clothes. It takes quite a low body fat percentage before you hit washboard abs territory and most people are happy enough with just a slightly-squishy abdomen since it's hidden by clothes anyway.0 -
That is probably very sound advice. The main reason I got into all this was to get healthier - be able to do more physical challenges and reduce my risk of things like diabetes and stroke but of course the vanity creeps in and having a flat stomach would be amazing. Perhaps when I reach a healthy weight and body fat % then I will be able to say "you are healthy now, you are not obese no matter what your tummy seems to say" :laugh:I think I am learning that it will be easier to learn to accept it, than be frustrated I can't change it. (I also do lots of cardio, lift, dance, yoga ect ect). So maybe learning to find the beauty in it is the answer for some who don't have health issues and its about vanity.0 -
My tummy was looking so much better then I got sick, and now I have a Colostomy... so it's gross... maternity pants. they rock.0
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ab work is isolated and reflects our nutritional intake. in other words when you see a six pack there is a process for obtaining that and it has to be adhered to religiously. i had the commitment to have a six pack only once in my life and only made it to a three pack...it is a hard road to travel.0
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Yes, I have a bit of a belly still and I'm still 30 pounds away from the goal. I'm hoping to lose that little pooch under the belly button but that seems to be a hard place to lose it. I'm a size 16 so I'm not small either.
Of topic here but OP, is your profile picture Liriel from the Elaine Cunningham "Daughter of the Drow"? Love those books. 0 -
I'm a UK size 10 and have what can be best described as a gunt. I had it when I was size 8 too.0
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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 %.
It probably depends on your height. But for me when I first started my weight loss journey I thought I'd be happy if I got under a size 10 because I was there once, and the smallest I'd ever been as a young adult was size 8. So once I got to size 10 I decided size 8 would be it. I looked good in jeans, but not a bikini, and I got a lot of compliments about my weight loss. But then I found a workout that pushed me to shoot for the "golden ratio" so I kept going. I'm only 5'1" so I still had a tummy at size 6. It wasn't until I got to a size 4 that my tummy stopped looking fat.0 -
squishy bit!!! yea that about describes it! lol I try as hard as possible and it's gotten smaller but never ever flat. I will just be happy when it's flat when I am lying down!!! :-)0
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Do you think if I tell my fat that I'm not planning on using those ovaries any more that it will bugger off? :laugh:the squishy bit below your bellybutton is there to protect your ovaries
What about me? I have no ovaries so I should need the tummy?
My tummy is the worst part of me. When I sit on my bed and look in the mirror it doesn't look like I've lost weight.0 -
I have a similar issue. I am between a 10-12 US size. I still have a pouch which has improved through diet and exercise. I was going to make a post on how to lose it... what exercise I should be doing. I have 20 pounds that I would like to lose for myself to be in a healthy BMI. MFP has me needed to lose 37 more pounds that would put me at 140 which for me would probably not look right. Since I have gut.. am I supposed to keep with the cardio and strength training? Should I be doing my abs exercises. I would like help with this too.0
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I have this problem too. At the moment I'm around a UK size 16 so obviously have a very large stomach, but even when I was a UK size 4-6 I still had a stomach! Obviously, it wasn't huge back then but I didn't have a really flat stomach and had to stay away from really tight clothing as I looked podgy.
Back then however, I lost weight through diet alone and didn't exercise at all. I'm hoping that by doing lots of cardio as well as strength training, I can achieve a flatter stomach. I would like to get down to a UK size 10 and hopefully have a flattish stomach at that size even though when I've been a size 10 before, my stomach has been a bit on the chubby side. Just hoping the exercise will help me lose the flabby stomach!0
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