Belly fat! Grrr....

runnerdiver77 · February 2013

I'm 5'7" and I weigh 116 pounds. I'm not concerned with what the scales say - I'd like to get a flat belly. I've always exercised and eaten a healthy diet, but for the past 4 weeks, I've taken it very seriously.
Smoothie for breakfast (with fruits, avocado, and spinach).
Salads for lunch.
For supper, I'll make grilled chicken wraps with lots of veggies, or turkey burgers, or grilled fish.
I only drink water (about 50 ounces a day). No sodas, no sweets, nothing artificial/processed, very few excessively starchy foods (potatoes, pasta) and no gluten/wheat. I try to eat "healthy" fats - avocados, walnuts, olive oil.
I run an average of 10 miles a week (I run 3 days a week, cross-train 2 days - normally riding a bike or swimming - and take 2 rest days).

Also, I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it or not, but I get 6-8 hours of sleep every night.

WHY is my belly fat hanging on? Am I doing something wrong? Or have I just not given myself enough time to really see results?

concordancia · February 2013

At your size, I doubt that is fat, what with being underweight. Have you tried exercises for toning your abs?

You will have to do some research on actual exercises, because not all strong abs are model abs. Look at the belly dancers.

khall86790 · February 2013

My friend is a fitness instructor and she advised me to get a toned(/flat) stomach you should cut out carbs where possible.
I also have another friend who is a fitness freak and she transformed her (already flat) stomach to a lovely washboard stomach by cutting out carbs.
However, both of these girls also exercise. One teaches classes (zumba, body combat, etc.) and the other is a runner. So advice from both of them is cut carbs and increase cardio.

It's good you don't care what the scales say as you may find you put on weight as you are building muscle. It may be a good idea to add some sit ups/crunches in there too

firstsip · February 2013

Carbs =/= belly fat. Carbs can make some people bloat, based on certain intolerances, amount of water + fiber in their diet, etc... but carbs do not create belly fat anymore than fat, protein, whatever do... it's an overconsumption of these things that leads to belly fat.

Furthermore, there is no certain exercise to "tone" your abs, though there are exercises to strengthen those muscles.

However, at your height and weight, it's most likely not belly fat. It's possible it's posture (look into things to correct "swayback"), inflammation of your bowels (you may have an intolerance or allergy you're unaware of, which can lead to a protruding lower belly from inflammation), or...

It IS belly fat, minimal as it is at your weight, and you are unhappy with it. In this case, rather than cutting anything further from your diet, try adding weight training. Weight training is crucial to lowering body fat, a.k.a, "body recomposition."

taso42 · February 2013

you need to increase muscle mass. the most efficient path would be heavy lifting and calorie surplus. good luck.

babyblake11 · February 2013

you need to increase muscle mass. the most efficient path would be heavy lifting and calorie surplus. good luck.

BOOM! on the money.
you have a high body fat percentage. and not enough muscle mass to get your desired 'tone'.
do what he said.

strikerjb007 · February 2013

There are factors that can prevent you from losing fat, but for the the average, I think it's crap! You just need to dial in your calories to either lose weight so you can lower your BF% OR dial in your maintenance calories and you will lose body fat but it will take a little longer.

strikerjb007 · February 2013

Also, lower body fat is the last to go. So be patient. If you are happy with your current looks minus belly fat, stay at maintenance and the fat will melt. Be patient.

PikaKnight · February 2013

Carbs =/= belly fat. Carbs can make some people bloat, based on certain intolerances, amount of water + fiber in their diet, etc... but carbs do not create belly fat anymore than fat, protein, whatever do... it's an overconsumption of these things that leads to belly fat.

Furthermore, there is no certain exercise to "tone" your abs, though there are exercises to strengthen those muscles.

However, at your height and weight, it's most likely not belly fat. It's possible it's posture (look into things to correct "swayback"), inflammation of your bowels (you may have an intolerance or allergy you're unaware of, which can lead to a protruding lower belly from inflammation), or...

It IS belly fat, minimal as it is at your weight, and you are unhappy with it. In this case, rather than cutting anything further from your diet, try adding weight training. Weight training is crucial to lowering body fat, a.k.a, "body recomposition."

Sarauk2sf · February 2013

Eat more, lift weights.

Crankstr · February 2013

Eat more, lift weights.

Capt_Apollo · February 2013

the more i lift, the flatter my stomach gets.

Brad805 · February 2013

How much do you eat? 5'7 and 116lb, you sound seriously underweight. I think eat more, lift and tone down the cardio would be the best plan.

runnerdiver77 · February 2013

I'm pretty sure I eat enough :huh:
I don't short myself, I always eat till I'm completely full.
Calorie-wise, a good 2500 calories a day or better. I'm not sure what burn when I run - I'm guessing a few hundred.

runnerdiver77 · February 2013

Thank you all so much!

SaraLily85 · February 2013

I'm 5'7" and I weigh 116 pounds. I'm not concerned with what the scales say - I'd like to get a flat belly. I've always exercised and eaten a healthy diet, but for the past 4 weeks, I've taken it very seriously.
Smoothie for breakfast (with fruits, avocado, and spinach).
Salads for lunch.
For supper, I'll make grilled chicken wraps with lots of veggies, or turkey burgers, or grilled fish.
I only drink water (about 50 ounces a day). No sodas, no sweets, nothing artificial/processed, very few excessively starchy foods (potatoes, pasta) and no gluten/wheat. I try to eat "healthy" fats - avocados, walnuts, olive oil.
I run an average of 10 miles a week (I run 3 days a week, cross-train 2 days - normally riding a bike or swimming - and take 2 rest days).

Also, I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it or not, but I get 6-8 hours of sleep every night.

WHY is my belly fat hanging on? Am I doing something wrong? Or have I just not given myself enough time to really see results?

PILATES!

Brad805 · February 2013

I am not trying to be rude about your training or eating habits. Clearly you put forward a lot of effort. I think you are missing a part of the puzzle to achieve your goal. I still suspect your intake is a bit low considering the amount of long duration exercise you do. If you want to have a body like a sprinter, you need to train and eat like one. If you want to look more like a long distance runner, that's an option too. The weights are your friend. Good luck.

br2012 · February 2013

So interesting that you added that you sleep less than 8 hours a night. I do a bootcamp 5 days a week and home videos other 2. Im 5'3" and 113 lbs. My mother died in hospice in december and I was not sleeping and was obviously very stressed. I kept up MFP proportions (although sometimes skipping meals and not making calories) and exercise but gained 5 lbs and got noticeably thicker in the belly. I think it was lack of sleep and stress cortisol. both of these are said to contribute to belly girth.

Are you bloated? Maybe an eliminaton diet where you remove certain things every three weeks or so. People with abs eat carbs so no reason to be zero carbs. try gluten first?

Belly fat! Grrr....

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