Losing stomach fat

I always lose my stomach fat last. I have been weight lifting since January and it is slowly improving. I think its dropping your body fat and a whole lot of patience

Just keep doing what you're doing to reduce overall body fat. You can't spot reduce, and eating special bread or low sugar won't do anything to reduce fat on one part of your body, neither will any exercise. If it has been getting smaller with your current eating plan then you are on the right track, but if you find that your weight loss has stalled then you may need to re-calculate your calorie goal and tighten up your logging and measuring.

You haven't given any info about your height, weight, goal weight, age or sex - you might get some more specific advice on here if you provide those details.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161603-so-you-want-a-nice-stomach?page=1

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Thanks.

As there isn't a precise way to measure calories burned during weights, I allow 85kal per 20 minutes.

So if i am reducing fat and increasing muscle wouldn't that account for the stall in my weight? Or would I continue to lose weight if my deficit was correct?

From what I understand, you can't really gain significant muscle weight if you are in a calorie deficit. Most people who want to cut fat and gain muscle do a bulk and cut cycle, where they eat a a deficit to lose fat then switch to eating a surplus of calories while lifting heavy weights to build muscle. While new lifters can gain a small amount initially, this wouldn't really be accounting for a stall in weight, especially if you are not noticing fat loss- weightlifting while in a deficit really only retains the muscle you have i.e preventing muscle loss. However, you can retain a bunch of water when you introduce new exercises- repairing muscles retain water.If you have just started squats then that might explain no loss for the last few weeks? Once you have settled into an exercise regime for a few weeks the water retention should go away.

Do you weigh and measure all your food?

As for the stomach fat question, people have given good advice for that - basically, you can't spot reduce. You just have to be patient, because we all lose fat differently. Eventually it WILL come off from your stomach too!

As for the stall in weight loss, have you tried taking measurements? If you really think you're losing fat but gaining muscle, your measurements would still be getting smaller because muscle takes up less space than fat, per pound. So even if your weight stayed the same you'd see a decrease in measurements. Maybe try taking measurements now and then measure again a month from now - if at that point you've lost inches but not weight, you know you're on the right path. If your measurements AND weight haven't changed, you probably have calculated your calorie goals wrong.

Hope that helps and best of luck!

"I'd heard that building muscle behind the stomach wouldn't help as this would make it protrude and look worse so have avoided too much stomach exercise - just ab crunches and planking. "

That is the stupidest reason ever not to exercise your stomach. IN fact a slack stomach causes stomach protrusion. I know because i have a slack stomach from too much sitting at my desk and it protrudes even when i've got no stomach fat left.

At the moment, i am not at my skinniest so i still have some stomach fat. As i've aged (50 now) this bit of fat is more resistant than it was when i was younger.

Anyway there's nothing you can do to change this except lose more weight. If you are skinny everywhere else and have just a bit of fat on your tummy, it would be much wiser to accept to rather than getting too skinny. Imperfection is fine and normal. Perfection is rare. Whenever i've been at my skinniest i haven't been able to sustain it. IT takes a lot of work to maintain a super skinny self. Its not worth it. If you look around you, guys like all shapes of women, not just the perfect ones. And we apparently seem to like all shapes of men.

I would recommend taking measurements if your weight loss has stalled. I take regular measurements and often find that when my weight stabilizes I lose inches instead. Take several different measurements (arms, chest, waist, hips etc) as, depending on the exercise you're doing, you may increase size in some areas due to muscle build up

Fat comes off where it wants. No way to spot reduce

There is really no way to spot reduce its more of an overall reduction. A nice clean diet and an increase in exercise and mix up what you do for exercise. As for the building muscle on the stomach would make it protude is a matter of technique. When you work abs hold them tight through the exercise.

you're not alone, and there's not much to do about it except keep going, build more muscle and possibly cut a few more calories per day.

i've lost almost 90 pounds but only 2 inches around my belly, although i've lost 5 to 6 inches in several other areas. my belly is literally now several clothing sizes larger than the rest of me. hopefully in the future it will catch up...

Pilates + a reasonable diet. I've always avoided doing pilates until recently, and I was certainly missing out. I have never been this strong and flexible before. I do have a very muscular build to begin with (overweight yet can see and feel various muscles in my legs and arms as I walk, sit, move, etc). My abdominal and my back have always been weak spots (daily back pain since a childhood accident). These weak spots are becoming much stronger since I've started doing pilates. I have lost over an inch from my waist since the beginning of September, and I hold most of my fat in my middle.

I don't believe that pilates is causing me to lose belly fat. But, it is making that area of my body much stronger by developing the muscles of that area. Eating less than you burn is key to losing fat. Genetics decide where you lose it, as far as I can tell. Be patient. Eat well and exercise.