Help! Lower Stomach "pooch" on females!

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EpiGaiaRepens
EpiGaiaRepens Posts: 824 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok...So I have lost 35 lbs on MFP. I exercise with some degree of regularity (run about 3-7 x's a week usually, do yoga occasionally, and do lots of hiking, surfing, boarding, etc) and stick to about 1200 net cals a day. Anyways, yesterday I was 'splaining to someone that I could eat right, exercise a bunch, and still have this pooch on my lower belly. Everyone in my family has it. I even once was down to an unreasonable 125 bls (for me that's unreasonable) and still had it.

The response: "I seen girls on TV who had babies and exercised and got skinny again."
Of course that comment made me feel bad as a woman and as a mother. Why compare me to "girls on tv" first of all.
Second of all, those girls were skinny before they had babies. I was never "skinny"....EVER. After I had a baby, I popped right back. In fact I was skinnier because of the nursing and all the walking the baby to soothe him- my calories were down, my exercise was up. Literally, three months I weighed less than my pre-preggo weight. Still had the pooch, tho.
Third, there is this insinuation that I'm not trying hard enough...that's what really bothered me....

So here's my thing- I always thought that belly fat was really a result of calories and carbs. Exercise really only plays a role by increasing the amount of calories you burn (either by having more muscle which needs more calories to exist or by burning calories through cardio). Does anyone really have any advice for me that's different than what I already know and do and have done and still was unable to rid myself of this lard?!?!?! I mean short of surgery????

p.s. I wanna post before and afters just so I can show you that I done a lot of work...and to remind myself that I have, too....

before: 174 lbs
710859_3885.jpg

After: 140 this shows my pooch :(
710859_8239.jpg

Replies

  • kgillikin
    kgillikin Posts: 191 Member
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    I would love to know the answer to this as well since I had the dreaded Pooch.
  • tdy10490
    tdy10490 Posts: 6
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    i have the same problem :( and sorry but im not any help. i think i would be more happy with my body now (even though i am still working on the weight loss) if i could do something about that darn fat pouch. its one of my biggest insecurities!
  • Leannek74
    Leannek74 Posts: 374 Member
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    From what I can see, it's not as bad as you think... pictures don't lie and you're 'pooch' doesn't seem to be there!!!

    I've had 2 c-sections (last one was last April) and now that I'm close to my goal mine is almost gone too. Abdominal Leg raises and 'the plank' seem to tighten things up for me.

    You do look terrific though, be PROUD!!!!
  • HotSouthernMess
    HotSouthernMess Posts: 474 Member
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    i would recommend (if you arent already doing it) reverse crunches or crunches using the yoga ball. it helps to target that lower ab area instead of the upper/mid region. you are looking great though and people on tv typically work 2-5 hrs daily with a trainer or have surgery. that isnt worth it to me. trust that you are doing everything right and youre doing great!
  • BigBootyMimi
    BigBootyMimi Posts: 84 Member
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    I am the same boat as you...I am really actually happy with my body, but it's that darn belly pooch that keeps me from seeing myself as thin. I don't know that I will ever be able to rid myself of that miserable skin...I know plenty of REAL girls that have the same problem and I just chop it up to having a mom's body now. Two gals I know (one a size 0 and one a size 4) have that same glab. And of course the celebrities don't because they get paid to work out, have chefs and get paid to have rockin bodies.

    Sorry, I don't have any advice, just wanted to let you know you are not the only one.
  • FemininGuns
    FemininGuns Posts: 605 Member
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    Funny to see this post today...

    Yesterday I got my "physical assessment" as I'm 10 weeks out from my competition and needed to know what I need to work on.

    Well, the "pooch" was the topic! I was asked "did you drink a lot of wine at some point?" "yeah!" I replied... "well, this is what it results in, any type of alcohol, but wine more so, gives you the "pooch" because of your intolerance to insuline levels... your body gets out of whack and then this "tire" around your mid-section is the hardest to get rid of... You can diet as you want, if you're eating foods that are playing with your insuline tolerance, then no matter what you do it will never go away." Other thing my coach told me was that I may be very 'touchy' when it comes to eating carbs, hence the "pooch" effect... So we are first going to try a VERY LOW carb day to see if that attacks the "pooch" once a week.

    Funny how past behaviors haunt us still today... My coach also explained that women with large thighs (this is where their fat stores go when there is some) have thyroid problems and women with larger arms (fat stored) have problems with estrogen... We women got it all eh?! :)

    Hope this helps!
  • pftjill
    pftjill Posts: 488
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    Girls are always going to have extra fat there to protect our organs and since we have all those precious baby making organs down there-that is where fat likes to go for protection. If you really want to lose it, well the question I ALWAYS ask people-are you strength training? Also, how tall are you? I am 5'10 and the last time I was 145 I saw bones, so that is unhealthy for me. I am trying to bulk up with strength training and I have been doing circuit type workouts and have seen HUGE results in just one week. My belly fat has gone down TONS. Strength train, strength train, strength train. However, you need to do it right. Cardio holds on to fat, because that is where it gets most of it's energy, strength training will help you burn more fat, plus give your body more definition without bulking up. So if I didn't drill it in enough-strength train. Join a boot camp- a real one.
  • ebgbjo
    ebgbjo Posts: 821 Member
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    Congrats on your weight loss! I LOVE your pin-up style outfit!! I wish I could look that sexy in something like that- I always feel like I look like a little girl trying to play dress up. I just want to feel like I look sexy for once. You definitely have the look to pull it off.

    As far as the lower pooch question goes, would love to know the answer myself. :(
  • starboardzor
    starboardzor Posts: 312
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    I don't have the same exact problem, but I was always unhappy with my arms. Could not get rid of the flab no matter how much running I did, until I started doing weights. Now it's completely gone. I know strength training isn't going to give anyone miracle abs, but maybe it will help. I do 15 minutes of ab work out three times a week and it transformed my stomach (along with my lower back).
  • jesseBYAH
    jesseBYAH Posts: 446 Member
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    I have it too, even when I am at a lower weight. What my mom told me when I hit puberty and got the pooch was that our bodies create that in expectance of a child. That extra area of fat is for carrying a baby, and so of course, only women get it. I know guys with beer bellies and such, but I have never seen a man with a pooch problem (lucky us). So, you can take comfort in the fact that most women have seen the pooch!
    As for getting rid of it, I would suggest more yoga and maybe some sort of ab video to target that area. Yoga will lengthen and strengthen your muscles, and an ab video will help you burn some of the fat off your belly. That's just my idea though, I don't have any experience with actually getting rid of it. Good luck with yours but remember that it's a natural part of a woman's body! And btw, you look amazing and I can tell that you have been working very hard!
  • EpiGaiaRepens
    EpiGaiaRepens Posts: 824 Member
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    I do weight train...insofar as I lift weights on my arms and I do yoga (my body is my weight). I used to do ab weight training, but that was what I was doing when I couldn't do anything to get below 174.... Weight training on my arms is like magic- all of sudden they are buff. But the belly- sit ups, running, yoga, even weights for abs did NADA! I'm starting to use one of those "power towers" and do the leg lifts- I dunno what they are called but you're up in the air and bring your knees up...sometime I do 'em straigt, sometimes with a twist. I do this after running....I shoot for 3 x's a week.

    And it's true that my belly has gone down significantly with MFP...so I gotta give myself some credit.

    I am interested in the comment about the wine.... I don't drink booze except wine. A glass here and there... So maybe I need to cut that out altogether. I'm also thinking about trying low carb...I tend to eat more carbs than is suggested because I'm a vegetarian....I'll stick to my calories, but tend to go over on my carbs....
  • kgillikin
    kgillikin Posts: 191 Member
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    From what I can see, it's not as bad as you think... pictures don't lie and you're 'pooch' doesn't seem to be there!!!

    I've had 2 c-sections (last one was last April) and now that I'm close to my goal mine is almost gone too. Abdominal Leg raises and 'the plank' seem to tighten things up for me.

    You do look terrific though, be PROUD!!!!

    That is great!!! How did you lose that baby weight? I would LOVE to be where you are now. I too have had 2 c-sections. My last one in April to deliver twins. My belly is so gross and my weight is stuck between 130-136.
  • shellyblake
    shellyblake Posts: 3 Member
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    I've got the pooch too & I asked my gyn about it. Everyone's pooch might be different, mine seems to be more of an extra leftover stuff from being huge when preggers (& I was HUGE!). My gyn told me that truly, the only way to get rid of it is plastic surgery (& those "girls on tv" want you to think they did it ALL with private trainers, don't believe it). Then he told me to love my body and consider what is more important - getting rid of it, or my family (he obviously doesn't think surgery is the answer).

    With that in mind, since loosing weight w/ MFP I have seen my pooch go down. I STILL have extra skin there (it's that sharpei belly kind of thing). I am not going to delude myself into thinking I'll ever have a belly like Cindy Crawford (got that "sharpei belly" phrase from her) because frankly, I didn't before I had kids either.

    I told hubby today that although I never thought I'd wear a bikini again, after losing all this weight, I might just try one of those higher waisted kind. Don't imagine I'll ever do the low-cut kind cuz I also have stretch marks to worry about ! LOL

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