Belly Fat Problems!!

Orchidgirl87
Orchidgirl87 Posts: 9 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone,

I was wanting to know if anyone else on here is having trouble loosing their belly fat? The rest of me seems to be slimming down, a little at a time, but my belly still looks the same :(. I have only lost 11lbs. (after adding and subtracting a few lbs. a month) since September and I really need some help with getting this belly flab off. I workout atleast 4 times a week or more for approx 45mins-1 hour with a combination of strength training (weight lifting mostly) and walking/running on treadmil or doing the eliptical.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Jenny
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Replies

  • moustache_flavored_lube
    moustache_flavored_lube Posts: 849 Member
    I'ts just part of the deal. Genetics (and possibly hormones) control where you store / lose fat. There is really nothing you can do to control it.

    Get your body fat numbers down low enough, and the belly fat will go away. A balance of calorie counting, attention to macros, cardio, and strength training will get your body fat down
  • MissyJessy
    MissyJessy Posts: 1,279 Member
    agreed everytime i have lost weight it comes off in different areas. It will take time but keep at it and you will have that flat belly in no time.
  • dorairwin
    dorairwin Posts: 210
    Yes I do have belly fat problems also.... Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated! :smile:
  • julesan902
    julesan902 Posts: 79 Member
    I'ts just part of the deal. Genetics (and possibly hormones) control where you store / lose fat. There is really nothing you can do to control it.

    Get your body fat numbers down low enough, and the belly fat will go away. A balance of calorie counting, attention to macros, cardio, and strength training will get your body fat down

    this. you can't spot reduce. chances are the first place you gained weight, is going to be the last place you lost it.
  • sophayz
    sophayz Posts: 592 Member
    you cant target fat loss , keep doing what you are doing and be patient it will come. try to reduce the stress in your life also helps since cortisol makes you store fat between your digestive organs ... go to the gym and lift heavy !
  • Mustaine4Pres
    Mustaine4Pres Posts: 86
    same with me. it is frustrating, but i have to look at the big picture....it is slowly coming off and i'm eating better and feel better than i did a few months ago. don't get discouraged :) you are not alone...
  • thecanface
    thecanface Posts: 1,180 Member
    yes!! I was even at 105 lbs before, and i still didn't have a super flat, no fat, super awesome tummy... and i was eating right!!


    I think i was cursed. :cry:
  • pigote
    pigote Posts: 615 Member
    Sad to say that I've lost 54 pounds and hit my goal weight and body fat % but there is still some belly fat hanging around.
    If you find the secret pass it on! Good luck with your journey.
  • ilovescarymovies
    ilovescarymovies Posts: 202 Member
    my belly sticks out so far that i look pregnant. ive lost 32 pounds and inches off everywhere but my belly. you just have to keep losing weight and exercising it will eventually get smaller
  • RhodRhod
    RhodRhod Posts: 109
    Sadly I'm starting to think with women this is probably the last to go. I've visibly lost weight everywhere else but here.
  • erinsueburns
    erinsueburns Posts: 865 Member
    Mine is FINALLY starting to move. And it is taking strength training...though right now mostly all I am doing is body weight exercises and a bit with dumbbells.
  • griff7809
    griff7809 Posts: 611 Member
    Hi everyone,

    I was wanting to know if anyone else on here is having trouble loosing their belly fat? The rest of me seems to be slimming down, a little at a time, but my belly still looks the same :(. I have only lost 11lbs. (after adding and subtracting a few lbs. a month) since September and I really need some help with getting this belly flab off. I workout atleast 4 times a week or more for approx 45mins-1 hour with a combination of strength training (weight lifting mostly) and walking/running on treadmil or doing the eliptical.

    Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks,

    Jenny

    Although everybody is different, I have the same issue and what I learned is that my calorie intake was too low for how much I was working out. Basically, I was putting my body in a "starvation mode" which induced belly fat. This problem is what led me to MFP so I can truly catalog what my body was ingesting on a daily basis. So far, I've lost almost three inches of belly fat. Additionally, I learned that my sodium intake was way to high, which led to water storage. What did I do to fix? I try to get all of my carbs from fruits and vegetables (zero empty carbs). Finally, I work very hard to ensure I am eating enough calories throughout the day. The great thing is my MFP buddies keep me in check!
  • 2nicewitit
    2nicewitit Posts: 3 Member
    Belly fat is the hardest to loose...i know. It is the last fat to loose and the hardest. Once you have cut a significant amount of weight, you then have to pay even closer attention to your diet, calorie deficit and sugar intake.

    On top of that I found High Intensity Work Outs to really help out. You have to tap into the fat reserves. So its as if you have to work out soo hard, that your body has no choice but to use its reserves.

    Good Luck!
  • moustache_flavored_lube
    moustache_flavored_lube Posts: 849 Member
    Hi everyone,

    I was wanting to know if anyone else on here is having trouble loosing their belly fat? The rest of me seems to be slimming down, a little at a time, but my belly still looks the same :(. I have only lost 11lbs. (after adding and subtracting a few lbs. a month) since September and I really need some help with getting this belly flab off. I workout atleast 4 times a week or more for approx 45mins-1 hour with a combination of strength training (weight lifting mostly) and walking/running on treadmil or doing the eliptical.

    Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks,

    Jenny

    Although everybody is different, I have the same issue and what I learned is that my calorie intake was too low for how much I was working out. Basically, I was putting my body in a "starvation mode" which induced belly fat. This problem is what led me to MFP so I can truly catalog what my body was ingesting on a daily basis. So far, I've lost almost three inches of belly fat. Additionally, I learned that my sodium intake was way to high, which led to water storage. What did I do to fix? I try to get all of my carbs from fruits and vegetables (zero empty carbs). Finally, I work very hard to ensure I am eating enough calories throughout the day. The great thing is my MFP buddies keep me in check!

    Starvation mode is a myth. You should certainly eat enough calories to sustain yourself (Don't try to lose more than 2 lbs per week), and there is evidence of reduced metabolism at severly restricted calories. But no weight loss due to "starvation mode' is not real.

    This is a good overview of the issue http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/weight-loss/truth-starvation-mode
  • darkheart
    darkheart Posts: 104 Member
    I still have issues with belly fat, and I lost 40 lbs a few years back (whilst gaining and losing the same 5-8, lol). I'm 5'7" and 117 lbs and the area above and below my bellybutton still jiggles and hangs when I do push ups or planks.

    I have to say, I blame my diet. While I do eat clean most of the time, my fondness for quality beer is what holds me back, hahaha. For now, i'm working on holding the beers off til cheat meals, and making sure I get plenty of HIIT cardio in that day!

    Keep fine tuning your eating, and pay attention to sugars and refined carbs (cut them out!!). Lots of HIIT cardio should help lower your overall body fat in combination with strength training (lift heavy!)
  • aulisse
    aulisse Posts: 9 Member
    I have the same issue, sadly. I think what works best for me is watching my carb and sugar intake. Even when I was thin, I still had a lil pooch. I think a lot of women are in the same boat. Also I found that running as my cardio helped my core.
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    you cant target fat loss , keep doing what you are doing and be patient it will come. try to reduce the stress in your life also helps since cortisol makes you store fat between your digestive organs ... go to the gym and lift heavy !
    Liposuction can target fat loss
  • csheaves
    csheaves Posts: 13 Member
    Belly fat seems the hardest to get rid of ...crunches help as well as twists, elbow to oppisite knee, toe touches left hand to right foot..
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    Have you measured? If you were losing everywhere else and your belly was the same size, it probably would look bigger (in comparison). There's a good chance you've lost some inches but don't recognize it because everything else is slimming down too.

    And most women, especially if they've had children, will never completely get rid of the "pooch" (without surgery). There's a lot of internal organs and diet/exercise won't make them smaller. A good, tight set of abs can tuck them in more, but still …
  • KellysDiet78
    KellysDiet78 Posts: 80
    I'm struggling with the same thing, I lost 2stone last year, and my body looked so thin, but I still had this fat belly ?? like a tyre ... i have put 2 stone back on through a cr*p year last year, but Im 2 weeks into the new me and aiming to lose it again, the only difference is I will be doing the gym too not just dieting.. I would say just keep persisting with it.. once there is no fat anywhere else, it will probably start burning the belly fat.. good luck !
  • Weebs628
    Weebs628 Posts: 574 Member
    I know my belly is going to be the last thing to go. I've started weight training and I'm focusing more on my body fat % now.
  • myfitnesslife75
    myfitnesslife75 Posts: 163 Member
    Yep, I hear ya! Jelly belly is that last to go! Been struggling for years now.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    Women genetically store their fat in their hips, butt and thighs. Not the stomach - men store genetically on the stomach. That is visceral fat - not the same as genetically stored fat (subcutaneous fat).

    I follow Primal Blueprint roughly 80% of the time. Before I did this I followed the healthiest version of the SAD; low added sugar, low fat, plenty of "healthy whole grains", lots of fruits and veggies. Lots of exercise. I dropped 10lbs - went from 130 to 120, lost nothing off my belly and was becoming diabetic. (I was 140lbs briefly in 2009. That is the heaviest I have ever weighed and I'm 5'2").

    When I quit grains, beans, processed foods, the majority of fruit and dairy, and backed off the fibrous veggies and all that nasty indigestible fiber - I dropped 4" off my natural waistline and the area below my belly button - within 6-7 weeks. I got a flat tummy for the first time in my life - 26" waist - I didn't think that was possible at 40. My daytime energy went through the roof. And I eat a high-fat (mostly saturated fat) diet now. I dropped 12lbs below my lowest adult weight. I've never been below 120 as an adult and at puberty I was 136lbs. I now hover between 109 and 113 depending on what I'm eating and the time of month. Not to mention every digestive issue I've had has pretty much gone and all my dental issues have disappeared.

    Of course N=1. Be your own scientist!! (But do the research first and understand what 'carb flu' is if you plan on experimenting with removing these items. You will naturally go kind of "low-carb". Replace with healthy, natural fats like pastured butter and coconut oil and you can help combat the carb flu). I had an immediate increase in daytime energy. Drinking a can of full-fat coconut milk gets me buzzing and within an hour I'm bouncing off the walls. It's amazing how well the body/brain will regulate weight and body fat once you are eating real, whole food. And I stopped the progression of diabetes. I can't reverse the damage that is already done, though.

    Before PB I was doing P90X
  • Jojo1859
    Jojo1859 Posts: 58 Member
    I have this same problem and it sucks! I know there isn't a whole lot you can do about where you loose the weight from, but i have heard that if you build up some muscle under your fat , the muscle may help to burn the fat off. And even if it doesn't, there's nothing wrong with doing some ab workouts anyway :)
  • AverageUkDude
    AverageUkDude Posts: 371 Member
    I feel fo you belly fat sucks, especially when it makes you look odd like me, top 4 abs showing above the navel, underneath is where i swear to god all 16% of my bodyfat is sat.
  • Kristyb125
    Kristyb125 Posts: 5 Member
    I have the same problem. Then we I got a personal trainer at the gym she showed me amazing exercises to get rid of belly fat. A lot of it was planks where I'd have an object under my head but between my hands and you tap it with you right and then your left. Also, she had to use a medicine ball and put it between my legs on the ground and stand above it, then pick it up above your head and slam it down, do this over and over again about 20 times and take a break. Do 3 reps. It will hurt like hell but it works a lot of your abs and reduced my belly. Lastly, I use a large thing band and I tied it to a mental stand (at the gym) and then you get in a plank and wrap the band around for wrist and make sure there is slight resitance and then pull you arm down to your mid stomach. Then switch hands. Do 10 times 3 reps each side.
    These seemed to work better for me than the regular crunches and ab work outs i was doing previously.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    Women genetically store their fat in their hips, butt and thighs. Not the stomach - men store genetically on the stomach. That is visceral fat - not the same as genetically stored fat (subcutaneous fat).
    I
    I beg to differ with this as a general statement. It really depends on each individual and your own parents.

    ...I've always stored fat in my mid-section...and not my butt, thighs or hips at all....as have most of the women in my family history.

    To the OP...just keep doing what you're doing and it will shrink eventually. Cutting sugar can help a lot too....
  • Weebs628
    Weebs628 Posts: 574 Member
    Yep... I have no butt to speak of, but I've always had big boobs and a belly. My mom carries her weight in the same spots too.
  • maegmez
    maegmez Posts: 341 Member
    It doesn't sound like you have a problem. 11 pounds isn't a lot to see a huge difference. Measure your waist and hips once a month and you will see a progression of inches lost. If you are an apple shape, you will see more come off your hips at a faster rate than your waist.

    I have lost 60 pounds and about 9 inches off my waist and about 11 off my hips.

    Keep going strong, your waist will shrink!
  • arlenemward
    arlenemward Posts: 1 Member
    so what do you eat?

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