I'm back and I'm starting over

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MaiLinna
MaiLinna Posts: 580 Member
edited November 2023 in Getting Started
Hello again community! I need your help. I just came back after about a half year hiatus I think it was, and now I need to lose the weight I gained back. I have one big problem area and I don't know how to deal with it - my belly.

All of my weight sits in my belly. There's a little around my torso, but the rest is in my belly and I'm tired of my mother calling me pregnant. She's been calling me pregnant for literally 3 years now. I'm tired of it.

Do any of you have success in losing your belly fat and toning it? I don't want a sagging tummy when I finally lose weight. I want to feel beautiful again.
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Replies

  • triniechu
    triniechu Posts: 51
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    Everyone is beautiful in their own way, regardless if there is a belly or not :-P
    I myself have a belly, but it is very slowly shrinking. To lose fat in that area is mostly eating healthy and have a great diet. Losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise, and they go hand in hand! Feel free to add me, if you like :)

    Katrina
  • MaiLinna
    MaiLinna Posts: 580 Member
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    <3 Thank you so much. I added you.
    I'm focusing mostly on my diet right now, but I do walk to the store when it's not raining. It's the only exercise I have at the moment.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    You can't spot reduce.
  • MaiLinna
    MaiLinna Posts: 580 Member
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    You can't spot reduce.

    Spot reduce? What's that mean?
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    You can't spot reduce.

    Spot reduce? What's that mean?
    you don't like your belly. Many of us don't, but there's no way to reduce just the belly.. or calves.. or thighs.. etc. It comes off wherever it comes off. Do some heavy lifting, hiit, lower your overall body fat and the tummy will eventually thin out too.
  • MaiLinna
    MaiLinna Posts: 580 Member
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    [/quote] you don't like your belly. Many of us don't, but there's no way to reduce just the belly.. or calves.. or thighs.. etc. It comes off wherever it comes off. Do some heavy lifting, hiit, lower your overall body fat and the tummy will eventually thin out too.
    [/quote]

    Oh okay. I just have such an awkward body right now. I honestly look pregnant - that's how concentrated the fat is in my belly. I also bloat a ton too.
  • Liebechen
    Liebechen Posts: 3
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    I am back and starting over as well, I am diabetic and tend to carry a lot of the weight in my belly. First of all, I think you should talk to your mom and tell her how you feel about her calling you prego, I had that issues and it hurts and causes us to give up easier as well as(in my case) get mad and overeat out of anger. I just figure that as long as I am decreasing all over, the belly will improve as well. I am however doing more exercises that tend to target the abdominal muscles to strengthen them, thus reducing the "flab"...lol. I will see how it goes, but anything is better than nothing in my book. If you would like to add me as a friend, go ahead, Lord knows we can always use the help and support of those on the same road as we are.
  • NickieCR1
    NickieCR1 Posts: 20
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    It's not all about losing your body fat...it's about being healthy there are times when I have ate healthy and not lost weight but I have lost inches.

    I know your mother keeps calling you pregnant but if you just let her know you have made the decision to become healthy and are losing inches off your hips, waist and abdomen then you will lose the fat around your belly in time

    Weight loss takes time obviously depending on how much weight you have to lose.

    Also let her know you have chosen to eat healthier options, I don't know your mum but I would think a mother would be pretty happy if she knew her child was making the effort?

    If you need tips or help with anything let me know I go to a dietitian and she has been the best person in my life to date...she has helped me to a point where I am happy about myself and I have a motivation to succeed in my weight loss.
  • susanne3081
    susanne3081 Posts: 8
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    I have the same issue, I have lost a couple inches by doing C25K and a 30 day squat challenge . I have had 2 C-sections so for me I know I will never have a flat stomach but I will be happy with any amount of inches I lose.
  • MDGirlLovesFood
    MDGirlLovesFood Posts: 24 Member
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    Well said, Katrina! I am back ss well, my 5th day of my journey. I've had some obstacles this week. My dear aunt Shirley passed away yesterday and work gas been stressful. I made it through the week without comfort food to sooth my sorrow. I need to learn, food is not a crutch in difficult times.
  • SkinnyWannabeGal
    SkinnyWannabeGal Posts: 143 Member
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    Lose, lose, lose.

    The more fat you burn off of your body, the more you'll see your belly shrink.

    I would like a flat tummy again too and how I wish I could pick and choose where the weight comes off of. But since I can't, then heck, get it allllll off of me!
  • Markguns
    Markguns Posts: 554 Member
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    If your body likes to store fat in say your belly area, then that is the last place it will be when you still have some. As you lose weight, it proportionally drops from all over your body not just one spot. a.k.a. You can't spot reduce. :bigsmile: Oh yes, you can add me if you like.
  • NickieCR1
    NickieCR1 Posts: 20
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    MDGIRL I am sorry to hear that.

    If you are wanting things like chocolate why not change to dark chocolate there is not many calories in 4 squares of that,

    I know that it doesn't sound like a lot but it is an alternative if you are wanting something sweet and yummy:) and you don't want to feel bad about the intake.

    Even if you brought a dark chocolate sorbet OMFG yum and not many calories either:)

    Even though we are all wanting to loss weight there is alternatives.
  • Arsenal1919
    Arsenal1919 Posts: 211 Member
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    I know where you are shouting from.

    My father, as good as he was to me in so many ways during my childhood and adulthood, had one really draining nasty habit - focusing on my weight, especially any increases in my weight.

    What I needed him to say and what I heard him actually say were poles apart.

    I knew my problem. I DID NOT need him to AMPLIFY or MAGNIFY it. My dad retired in 1981 with a sizable pot belly and some extra bulges spread around his body. Retirement gave him time away from his office (of course) and time to make better lifestyle choices and grabbed both those parcels of time.

    Dad put on an old cassette walkman and played Scottish marching/military music through his headphones while he walked/marched a little farther on the soft beach sand near the family home every day. 200m quickly became 400m and, within a fortnight he was up to 2km (2000m).

    After six months, he was doing a minimum of 5km per day 5 days per week. Within a year, he was managing two days of 5km, two days of 10km and one of 15km-18km.

    He became lean and healthy and was still able to enjoy home-brewing ... the making and the drinking ... without fear of belly creep, thanks to his regimen of exercise and (generally healthy) eating.

    How he treated me and my younger sister was another side of him altogether. Rude comments about our weight. Suggestions of (near to) impossible targets for working people with kids. Some of these comments were loaded with disdain and disrespect.

    He wasn't doing or saying anything to help. More than likely he was feeding our sense of depression and hopelessness.

    - - -

    After he died (2001), I did not have the negativity of him or my ex-wife in my life and I had children living at home who were almost independent. So I had time to exercise and to take control in a full-time way.

    Each attempt at dieting failed for some reason but I was hearing positives at home and at work.

    When I remarried, I had with me an encouraging, supportive partner.

    After a few balking attempts, I finally got all the weight loss jigsaw pieces in place. 2006 saw me shed weight to fall from 192kg to 145kg.

    A new job in 2007 increased my sitting hours and I lost control ... not all my control but enough to get back up to 176kg-plus .. by October 2012. (My scales only go to 176)

    The 2012-2013 me decided not to aim for big weight losses but very steady weight losses.

    I began a weights only gym program July 2012 and started on calorie controlled eating in October. I tried 2450, then 2150 then 2250 calories per day ... finally settling on a net target of 2480 calories per day.

    I am down 21kg since February this year. (that's when my scales stopped saying "error" and began to register my weight/mass again.

    So, currently 155kg and losing that steady 200g-600g most weeks. I average nine gym visits of 90 minutes weights exercise per fortnight plus about 8000-11000 steps per day walking.

    No dad. No negative people. I listen to myself as I go about getting fit and into a retirement lifestyle. (I am due to retire in mid 2016 and I want to be around 80-81kg by then.)

    It's low stress stuff when you listen to the beat of your own drum and have no negative people among your close family and associates.
  • amazondakini
    amazondakini Posts: 69 Member
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    welcome back!! I have found what the other posts said true as well, that more than 80% of the weight loss is the diet. I find that eating way fewer carbs ,not no carbs, but way less, like choosing what starch in your day you will have, perhaps bread on a sandwich, or pasta/rice/potato at dinner, but not a big old white starch at every meal helped me flatten my tummy. I also had noticeable slimming with Jillian Michael's 30 day shred, it took inches off in 30 days, as well as zumba, which includes a lot of core muscles with all that sweaty latin dancing. Also just in general, posture is so huge, sitting up straight and tall, and keeping those abs engaged is great for your lower back, as well as your overall appearance.
    Mums can be hard, for sure, keep up the good work, FOR YOU.
  • mlindenmuth36
    mlindenmuth36 Posts: 35 Member
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    Gosh I'm irritated at your Mom. Sheesh. Welcome back! Get your self into a routine that works on your core. I have a friend who had great success hula hooping with a weighted hoop to slim her waist.
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
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    Oh okay. I just have such an awkward body right now. I honestly look pregnant - that's how concentrated the fat is in my belly. I also bloat a ton too.

    have you had your doctor check you out for the various digestive disorders that could cause excessive bloating around your tummy area? I mean by all means eat healthily and exercise sensibly, but sometimes if your body is not digesting things properly (Dairy, wheat, fructose, meat etc etc) you look swollen and bloated around your midsection.
  • MaiLinna
    MaiLinna Posts: 580 Member
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    Thanks for all of the encouraging words guys! I'm still starting out in the world and I haven't had a chance to go to a doctor since the time I sprained my ankle and bruised my bones during a work accident. Once I have access to a doctor I'll have to see what the problem is. I think past of it is my posture. I'm on the computer almost all day due to work, but my chairs are never supportive and I end up slouching and creating this crease in my midsection. I had good posture in school, but the desks there were so much more supportive than a throwaway barstool. I'll have to look into that. Thanks.
  • CountdownToBeth
    CountdownToBeth Posts: 7
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    I just came back too, after a little over a year. I too have belly issues. All my weight sits there, no matter what. I have had people tell me that pregnant people shouldn't drink coffee, shouldn't be having that Corona, etc. It is humiliating to say the least. I always come back with a breezy flip remark but it does hurt to hear people call you pregnant when you are just fat. One thing that I have been doing lately that I think might be working on my stomach, its too early to tell, is the Scientific 7. Supposedly they have figured out a way to shove an entire run and weight session into a 7 minute HIT session and I tell you what, it is miserable but I think I can see results already and Ive only been at it three weeks, and even then not consistent. Good luck! I will request you. We need all the support we can all get on here!
  • cdahl383
    cdahl383 Posts: 726 Member
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    To my knowledge there is no way to spot reduce fat, you just have to lose the weight and your body will take it off naturally in various places. It sounds like your belly is where your body loses fat last. So you'll probably have to work pretty hard to lose it, but its not impossible or something. I would just shoot for 1-2 lbs of weight loss per week, eat healthy, do cardio as much as possible as your schedule permits, drink lots of water, and give yourself a reasonable timeframe to work with (i.e. 3-6 months, not 3 weeks or something). I'm sure you can get there with hard work and persistence. The main thing is that you believe that you can do it, that you see yourself how you want to look, and then work towards that.
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