Skinny but still have big stomach? Carry on losing weight?

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tonia_xo
tonia_xo Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I will start by telling you I am 19, 5'9", 124 pounds or 8 stone 12.

Over the last 4 months I have been on a diet and have lost almost 2 stone. My diet consists of:

Breakfast: Porridge with skimmed milk and sultanas, 250 calories.
Morning snack: If I workout a protein bar, 140 calories, if not I go without.
Lunch: wholemeal pitta bread with low fat mayonnaise, ham and salad, 200 calories.
Afternoon snack: usually just an apple or some other fruit. I allow 80 calories roughly.
Dinner: varies but most often either chicken salad with mashed potato or pasta with veg, meatballs or mince. I allow 750 calories as I can't resist big dinners! If I know it's less than that I will make up for it by eating more fruit or something.
So, 1420 calories if I workout or 1280 if I don't. Obviously this is only a rough idea.

My workouts consist of 30 mins cardio, a mix of treadmill, rowing machine and bike, I usually burn around 250 calories minimum. 3-5 times a week.

I've got to the point now where I am at my target weight but am still not happy with the way I look.. My BMI is 18.5 so is on the low end of the scale, but I still have a big stomach! My arms and legs are super thin but all of my fat seems to be in my middle section. What do I do? I've been trying to tone up by doing sit ups, crunches, leg lifts, etc, but feel as though its probably all going to waste as I still have a lot of fat on my stomach, and I can't see any progress.

Please advise me where I am going wrong! Whether its my diet, exercise etc. should I stop trying to lose any more weight? Thanks!
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Replies

  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    Needs strength training
  • IronFiend
    IronFiend Posts: 44 Member
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    Hit the iron.
  • ashdawg8790
    ashdawg8790 Posts: 819 Member
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    What the above poster said - add in some weight training. :)
  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
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    Your BMI is 18.3 you are under weight.

    I think it's best if you eat at a slight surplus and try to gain muscle tone in your stomach. Continuing to lose weight is not going to make your stomach look any better. Try searching the fitness forum for ideas on how to gain more muscle mass.

    Hint: you can't gain muscle mass while eating at a caloric deficit.
  • tequila09
    tequila09 Posts: 764 Member
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    You are very much undereating and as a result have probably lost a good amount of any muscle you had. Google tdee calculators find out how many calories you need to stay at a healthy weight which for your height is more than your current one. Eat your tdee and focus on weight lifting.
  • kelseyhere
    kelseyhere Posts: 1,123 Member
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    yep, I used to have this problem. Lots of weight training has really helped, especially compound, full body lifts like squats and deadlifts. No amount of crunches will get you that flat stomach you are looking for, you need to build a solid, muscular core.

    Also some foods will make you bloat more. Try experimenting with removing dairy and wheat from your diet one at a time. I'm not gluten free but I have noticed too much wheat makes my stomach bloat.
  • BarbieAS
    BarbieAS Posts: 1,414 Member
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    Agree with all of the above!

    Eat at maintenance or just slightly above. Get plenty of protein. Poke around in the fitness forums to find a good weight training program (lifting heavy things) and ease up on the cardio a little. Focus on building muscle rather than losing fat. Re-evaluate in a few months.
  • kelseyhere
    kelseyhere Posts: 1,123 Member
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    Also agree that you may be undereating, causing your body to actually hold on to fat
  • choijanro
    choijanro Posts: 754 Member
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    Add lifting in your exercise routine,, to make your skin fit and ripped,, and to have a 6 pack abs
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    Don't try to lose any more weight.

    Strength training and increasing your calories to at least maintenance level would be good!

    Also, everyone needs a little fat, people's bodies store fat in different areas.

    Young girls tend to think their stomach is a lot bigger than it really is. It's normal to have fluctuations (bloating), and to see changes when you wear tight pants and slouch and scrunch the body up. Or for it too look bigger, when you look down at it (not what people see when you are actively moving around). What you perceive to be big is based on whether your goals are realistic or not. When I was younger I had six pack abs and was always thinking my belly was big because I'd get slightly bloated, or just because of unrealistic standards. I had a tiny waist/fit midsection.
  • tonia_xo
    tonia_xo Posts: 8 Member
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    No girls I know do strength training yet they still have flat stomachs? I don't understand why I'm not the same? Could anyone recommend any websites which will help me find a strength training programme? I really don't know a thing about it so dont know where to start!
  • valorieflowers
    valorieflowers Posts: 154
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    I wonder if your stomach is actually fat or if you just have a different body shape than you are hoping for. I know I always idealized the long thin waist, but I have now learned that fit or not, I will never have that shape and have pretty much come to terms with that. And my husband couldn't care less about a dramatic waistline. Some girls are just not shaped to have very small stomachs. Howerver, if you have a lot of actual fat on your belly, you could try asking a doctor, I beleive I have read that some hormone and blood sugar disorders can cause excessive belly fat when everywhere else is thin. However that is probably not likely, so again I would ask a doctor.
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
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    Do you want to be healthy or just skinny? You are already underweight (that's my opinion) and no doubt you have lost much muscle mass with your dieting. Doing what you are doing for a long time may cause you permanent health problems.

    You need to build strength (no matter what the other girls are doing-worry about YOU) and you need to eat enough and your body desperately needs adequate healthy dietary fat. Please, eat more. Please, increase your fat intake drastically (since it appears that you are avoiding fat). If you start a weight program, you will need more protein as well. Fat and protein are your best friends for optimal health, muscle building and fat loss. Really.
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
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    It is possible you are seeing it as looking large, because the rest of you is so thin. You are underweight. When I weighed the same as you, and I am just a tad bit taller, I too looked to have a tummy, because the rest of my had just about disappeared. I gained a stone, took up strength training, lost bodyfat(yes, even though I weigh more) and built some muscle, and now I have a rock hard tummy which is infinitely preferable. A good looking body is not only down to weight, it is also down to bodyfat% and what you do to work your body. You would be better to change your focus from the number on the scale, to how you want to look in the mirror, which may well mean weighing more.
  • tonia_xo
    tonia_xo Posts: 8 Member
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    Thank you for all of your advice, I thought it was probably time to stop eating so little but wanted confirmation. So how many calories should I be eating and what equipment should I get to use for strength training? I don't have a gym membership so it's just a case of finding what will do the job as affordably as possible.
  • debbiebofjc
    debbiebofjc Posts: 2
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    Way too much carbohydrates! I realize 99% of the folks on here are probably low fat, calories in/calories out dieters. I have never had a flat stomach in my life till I started low carb. MY advice would be to keep carbs under 100g a day and don't worry so much about the calories. Read "Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It" by Gary Taubes, or "Wheat Belly" (can't remember author's name).
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
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    My advice is to ignore the poor advice above, low carbs are only necessary for those with certain metabolic issues or diabetes, and even then, not always so. I have carbs, and my tummy is flat, the same as plenty of others on this site.

    For strength, you can use your own body weight and invest in a book such as 'you are your own gym' or 'bring it' by Tony Horton, you could invest in some dumbbells and a book called 'new rules of lifting for women'...argos does fairly reasonable deals if you are Uk based. A fitness ball can be useful for abs and core work and there are free diagrams online of exercises using those.

    There are also various free video workouts online, on sites such as Fitness blender. Jillian Michaels 30 day shred is also around online, I believe, on youtube.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
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    Don't lose weight be the healthiest and strongest you can be
  • thisdamselflies
    thisdamselflies Posts: 92 Member
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    No girls I know do strength training yet they still have flat stomachs? I don't understand why I'm not the same? Could anyone recommend any websites which will help me find a strength training programme? I really don't know a thing about it so dont know where to start!

    I just discovered this thread today:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/113609-relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner

    It's super helpful. Basically, it talks about lifting, cardio, how much you should be eating based on your body weight, etc. There is a ton of useful information there, and it goes for pages and pages, and the very helpful OP on that thread (stroutman81) is willing to answer any questions you have, so you can post to the thread or PM him if you want to ask something he doesn't cover. He seems super friendly. I just started a bodyweight strength training program called Body By You, by Mark Lauren, and I really like it. Every move targets major and minor muscle groups, the program lets you customize the workouts to your own level, and if you really challenge yourself, you can get a lot out of it. I tried New Rules of Lifting for Women a while ago, but you need to have a gym membership or a barbell rack at home, so I switched to something that didn't require equipment. If you do have a gym membership or barbell rack, NROLFW is another great strength training program.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    I just discovered this thread today:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/113609-relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner

    Thanks! There is always more work to do and always times when things can shift/change/fluctuate. It's something that is always worth finding more info about.

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