How to lose stubborn belly fat
judbelete
Posts: 6 Member
I have successfully get to my target weight: 5'4" and I weigh 110 lbs. after gaining too much during my pregnancy. My pre-pregnant weight was around 48 kgs and my pregnancy weight reached 65 kg. Right after giving birth, I weighed 57 kgs and for so many reasons, which I think I do not need to enumerate since they are just all excuses 
, I gained back to 63 kgs and until my daughter was around 3 years old that I started to become more aware of how I look.
That's the time I started exercising and watched what I eat and to make the long story short, after the long struggle, I finally got the weight I wanted. So now, for around 2 years, my BMI is in the lowest range of the ideal weight for women my height (5'4")...Unfortunately, even if I am in my ideal weight, i can still see belly fat and I've been struggling to burn it but to no avail. The rest of my body is ok, I guess, but on my belly, I can pinch a good 1.0-1.5 inches of fat around my belly button which is kinda of disgusting. My husband keeps on telling me that I am exercising too much. (But maybe he is just exaggerating it a little bit.
So please anyone out there who have/had the same experience and I beg for any suggestion on how to make this belly fat go away.
To give you an idea on my exercise and diet regimen, I am quiet good at it. I am sure I don't take more than my calorie requirement most of the time. Of course we have these occasions that make us indulge a little bit. But those occasions are maybe approximately 4 times a year.
And with my physical activity, I play tennis almost 6 days a week for approximately 1 hour and after that, I do cardio (jumping jacks, jump rope, mountain climber etc) and do planks (maximum I can do is 4 minutes at a time), do crunches. And for the last week, I went back to strength training which I used to do before I started playing tennis about 5 months ago because of time constraint, I can't do them both. But for one week now, I have to lessen my time in playing tennis to give time for strength training.
Oh my, this is long but that only shows how desperate I am to get rid of this belly fat.
I would really appreciate any suggestion you can give me. And thanks in advance.
, I gained back to 63 kgs and until my daughter was around 3 years old that I started to become more aware of how I look.That's the time I started exercising and watched what I eat and to make the long story short, after the long struggle, I finally got the weight I wanted. So now, for around 2 years, my BMI is in the lowest range of the ideal weight for women my height (5'4")...Unfortunately, even if I am in my ideal weight, i can still see belly fat and I've been struggling to burn it but to no avail. The rest of my body is ok, I guess, but on my belly, I can pinch a good 1.0-1.5 inches of fat around my belly button which is kinda of disgusting. My husband keeps on telling me that I am exercising too much. (But maybe he is just exaggerating it a little bit.
So please anyone out there who have/had the same experience and I beg for any suggestion on how to make this belly fat go away.
To give you an idea on my exercise and diet regimen, I am quiet good at it. I am sure I don't take more than my calorie requirement most of the time. Of course we have these occasions that make us indulge a little bit. But those occasions are maybe approximately 4 times a year.
And with my physical activity, I play tennis almost 6 days a week for approximately 1 hour and after that, I do cardio (jumping jacks, jump rope, mountain climber etc) and do planks (maximum I can do is 4 minutes at a time), do crunches. And for the last week, I went back to strength training which I used to do before I started playing tennis about 5 months ago because of time constraint, I can't do them both. But for one week now, I have to lessen my time in playing tennis to give time for strength training.
Oh my, this is long but that only shows how desperate I am to get rid of this belly fat.
I would really appreciate any suggestion you can give me. And thanks in advance.
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Replies
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5'4" and 110lbs is very low on the weight range. I highly recommend weight training, lifting heavy weights. You may need to eat more as well. Also, are you sure it's belly fat, and not skin. It takes a long time for skin to go back to normal after pregnancy, if it ever does. There is also the possibility of diastasis recti, which is a separation in the ab muscles that makes the tummy look rounded no matter what. A doctor can diagnose it, but there are some self tests you can do at home. It sounds like you're doing too much cardio. So I would trade cardio for weights.0
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^^^^ @VivienneBorchers is on the right track here. You likely don't need to lose more weight.
Here is something else to consider--we don't get to choose where our body stores fat, and abs may be where yours likes to store it. I got down to a very low BMI (healthy but in low end of range) also, and still had belly fat. Building some muscle will help for sure, but even then your shape is genetically pre determined. I have come to the conclusion that for me to lose as much ab fat as I would like, the rest of me would have to look skeletal. So I've changed my goals a bit to working on fitness and building strength, and as much muscle as I can (difficult for a woman my age), and my "acceptable weight range" in my mind is much higher now. Because who wants to look skeletal?0 -
My body stores body fat on my belly too. Like a donut around my belly button and on my high hip area. I am 5'10" and 153#, and even when I was 120# right before college (thyroid issue), I never saw my abs. I can see some definition under the fat along the sides...but nary a six pack ever. I was a high level athlete too.
I have some hand weights and bands at home that I use in the evenings when watching TV. I also do as much as I can with body weight. I try to get a good lift in at the gym once a week (twice if I can!). Lighter weights with lots of reps can do quite a bit for your muscle mass and strength overall.
The most fun I ever had with resistance training was using my kiddos as "weights". The only problem is sometimes they wanted to keep going when I needed to stop for fear of dropping them. LOL0 -
I saw something in a magazine about the abdominal muscles separating during pregnancy in some women causing a potbelly of sorts. That can be fixed through surgery only-ask your doctor at your next visit.0
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I am also trying to shed a bit of belly fat as I am relatively skinny. Based on what I've read I'd say the advice to add more strength training, and I'd also say add an ab/core day - that may do the trick.0
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P.S. There are good goal specific free workout plans on bodybuilding.com or you could try the New Rules of Lifting for Women book0
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Only read some of the replies but maybe this wasn't mentioned. Your exercise sounds sufficient to lose that belly fat, however, you may have to be sure any and all fat you eat is from olive oil, avocado, salmón--i.e. lean and healthy sources of fat.
At some point it could come down to being very strict with your food plan.0 -
I am trying to gain more muscle and my exercise physiologist has told me lower reps and heavier weights. More reps and lower weights helps if you just want tone, but I am trying for muscle and tone. The more muscle the better metabolism.0
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My girlfriend just posted this :http://www.fitnessrxwomen.com/training/print-go-workout/tiny-waist-workout/
As a lesson mills instructor I figure she might have some clue about great workouts. Hope it inspires. I think weight loss (done), weight lifting, pilates, yoga and ab crunches help core stability and appearance. Good luck!0 -
Just back from a doctor who specialises in nutrition. He wants to cure people rather than just give them relief from symptoms. Radical idea! I had fatigue and he thought it may be candida so put me on a low sugar low carb diet. In discussion today (4 weeks later) we celebrated my rapid clearance of all symptoms. I commented how surprised I was to see how many people use low carb diet. He said it was the best diet particularly for loosing belly fat. It helps stabalise the insulin system and that reduces fat storage. He just fixed me after years of me trying and I trust the guy so I am being brave and putting this out there for you to potentially choose if you feel it can help you. Many on mfp will not like this data so go to the low carb daily group if you are keen to learn more.0
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I totally understand your pain. Being a mother of 3 (6, 5, 1.5 yr olds) I have a lot of fat around my middle as well, no matter how much weight I lose. I think a lot of it is skin that may need to be surgically removed. However, if you want to try more options before you go that route, I would recommend this:
Carb-cycling. Have high carb and low carb days. Do high carbs when you do (heavy) weight lifting, and only take in the carbs after your weight training session. Start your day with a high protein, high fat, high fiber (add a fiber supplement) breakfast within one hour of waking up. Do not eat any processed sugar. The only sugar you should eat is from fruit and veggies in whole form. And when you lift weights, you want to lift heavy, steady, slow, controlled, and only do 8-12 reps. Have designated days do to upper/lower/core days. When you do cardio you want to do high intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts. There are a lot of these on YouTube. And make sure you save a day for just stretching. Hope this helps! (I like to follow JJ Virgin podcasts/facebook page too) Good luck!0
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