How do I Get my muffin to go down?

I have been working out for 2 months now and my muffin top and my lower belly will NOT go down!!! What can I do to start seeing some results for my belly? HELP

Replies

  • st476
    st476 Posts: 357 Member
    Nothing except keep doing what you're doing. You can't spot reduce but losing fat will make it go away eventually. I know it's not what you wanna hear though :)
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Have you been in a calorie deficit/are you tracking calories?
  • hiyomi
    hiyomi Posts: 906 Member
    Shana67 wrote: »
    This sounds mean, but I promise that I'm not a mean person and I don't mean it that way :) Buy pants that fit. If you have a muffin top, they are too tight. Buy larger jeans, wah-lah!! No muffin top :)

    I didn't wanna be the one to say it...lol x.x
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    You've only been at it for two months. Give it some time. You might already have some nice definition starting to develop under there. The problem is, you'll have to lower your total body fat (which is covering it up) in order to see it. You can't will the fat to come off in a specific place. Your body does what it wants. A lot of people find that belly fat comes off last, unfortunately. Exercise alone probably won't help you achieve your goals. You have to get your body fat down along with it.

    So continue with the exercise, make sure you're in a calorie deficit, and be patient. Try to incorporate strength training while you lose, so you can maintain as much lean mass as possible while losing the fat. It worked well for me, but it was a long-term investment. Nothing good comes fast and easy or everybody would have it! If you stick with it long-term you'll see it eventually! :)
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    Beat me to it. When you wear correctly fitted clothing, there is no muffin top.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    It sounds like you're only working out and not eating at a deficit as well. Start logging EVERYTHING you consume.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Am I the only one who sniggered at title?

    OP you eat at a defecit to lose fat

    Follow a progressive resistance programme to work on musculature

    And you keep doing it until you get to a point you want to
  • marm1962
    marm1962 Posts: 950 Member
    hiyomi wrote: »
    Wear pants above your waist! Sounds cheesy, I always thought it was forever too, but the difference is amazing! Once you lose your weight, it will go away on its own :)

    not easy to find pants that are at my waist let alone above...lol. I hate pants that sit at the hip or "just below" the waist. I am high waisted so pants that are suppose to be just at or below the waist sit too low on me.....I long for the high waist pants of the 70's
  • nickisa28
    nickisa28 Posts: 116 Member
    Abs are made in the kitchen. Lots of sugar and carbs will stick to that tummy no matter how many planks you do. As others have said, you can't just lose weight around your tummy so will have to lose weight overall and stay away from sweet stuff. I've been dieting and working out for 5 weeks now and my muffin top has pretty much gone but the 'mum tum' is still a work in progress. Now I'm close to my target weight, I've started focusing on abs and core exercises so when those last few pounds come of my tum, it will reveal those muscles I've been working on :)
  • smotheredincheese
    smotheredincheese Posts: 559 Member
    Shana67 wrote: »
    This sounds mean, but I promise that I'm not a mean person and I don't mean it that way :) Buy pants that fit. If you have a muffin top, they are too tight. Buy larger jeans, wah-lah!! No muffin top :)

    Not necessarily true, some people have a muffin top that's created by being squeezed in to too-tight trousers, but for some of us it's just how our body is shaped and it would take pants with an armpit high waist to smooth it out.
    My Muffin top has shrunk dramatically with weightloss but even now at 134lbs I've still got a ring donut on my hips.
  • ouryve
    ouryve Posts: 572 Member
    Shana67 wrote: »
    This sounds mean, but I promise that I'm not a mean person and I don't mean it that way :) Buy pants that fit. If you have a muffin top, they are too tight. Buy larger jeans, wah-lah!! No muffin top :)

    That doesn't work for apples, unfortunately. Bigger jeans just sag and fall down, even with a belt, which needs to be so tight that the muffin top persists.

    A higher waist does make a big difference, though.
  • irishmisst
    irishmisst Posts: 9 Member
    Have you checked to see if you have a stomach separation? If you have had children and still have "mummy tummy" it's prob down to this?
  • samchez0
    samchez0 Posts: 364 Member
    The same way you get everything else to go down. I wish there was a way to spot reduce but weight comes off where it wants.
  • DaisyM01
    DaisyM01 Posts: 6 Member
    Many people have already said you can't spot reduce fat so I won't repeat. However I watched something recently that demonstrated that sit ups (or other ab exercises I suppose) can reduce your waist by a couple of inches - you won't lose fat but stronger ab muscles with hold the fat in better. (I think it was Trust Me I'm a Doctor on BBC.)
  • Ws2016
    Ws2016 Posts: 432 Member
    Eat less, drinks lots of water so you're not retaining water, lift weights, do lots of cardio. You will lose that fat.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    DaisyM01 wrote: »
    Many people have already said you can't spot reduce fat so I won't repeat. However I watched something recently that demonstrated that sit ups (or other ab exercises I suppose) can reduce your waist by a couple of inches - you won't lose fat but stronger ab muscles with hold the fat in better. (I think it was Trust Me I'm a Doctor on BBC.)

    That's a crock

    Sit ups are an ineffective ab exercise and don't whittle your waist ...muscles don't hold in fat...fat sits on top
  • ilex70
    ilex70 Posts: 727 Member
    edited August 2016
    marm1962 wrote: »
    hiyomi wrote: »
    Wear pants above your waist! Sounds cheesy, I always thought it was forever too, but the difference is amazing! Once you lose your weight, it will go away on its own :)

    not easy to find pants that are at my waist let alone above...lol. I hate pants that sit at the hip or "just below" the waist. I am high waisted so pants that are suppose to be just at or below the waist sit too low on me.....I long for the high waist pants of the 70's

    Sounds like you are looking for hi rise:

    https://www.ae.com/women-aeo-denim-x-collection/web/s-cat/7630010?icid=AE:HP:sec1:Women:Bottoms:Jeans:TheAEODenimXCollection:ShopWomensJeans

    I am short waisted (nearly no waist) and I actually prefer a lower rise because higher rise pants hit around the bottom of my bra.
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,213 Member
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    DaisyM01 wrote: »
    Many people have already said you can't spot reduce fat so I won't repeat. However I watched something recently that demonstrated that sit ups (or other ab exercises I suppose) can reduce your waist by a couple of inches - you won't lose fat but stronger ab muscles with hold the fat in better. (I think it was Trust Me I'm a Doctor on BBC.)

    That's a crock

    Sit ups are an ineffective ab exercise and don't whittle your waist ...muscles don't hold in fat...fat sits on top

    From the shape of my body, I would guess that I had more visceral fat than I had sitting on top. Theoretically a stronger core could have helped "hold this in". I've never had any luck making my core strong enough to hold in visceral fat though. I've had far more luck dieting it away.

  • DaisyM01
    DaisyM01 Posts: 6 Member
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    DaisyM01 wrote: »
    Many people have already said you can't spot reduce fat so I won't repeat. However I watched something recently that demonstrated that sit ups (or other ab exercises I suppose) can reduce your waist by a couple of inches - you won't lose fat but stronger ab muscles with hold the fat in better. (I think it was Trust Me I'm a Doctor on BBC.)

    That's a crock

    Sit ups are an ineffective ab exercise and don't whittle your waist ...muscles don't hold in fat...fat sits on top

    FWIW I somewhat agree with you - I have never bothered with sit ups. I was just relaying the experiment in case anyone found it useful.

    They only tested a handful of people and I don't know whether they isolated other factors, but the sit up group lost a couple of inches athough their fat % stayed the same. That muscles "hold the fat in" may have been my misleading wording, but I don't think it's inconceivable that stronger ab muscles could change your posture or make you hold yourself better
  • geneticsteacher
    geneticsteacher Posts: 623 Member
    Shana67 wrote: »
    This sounds mean, but I promise that I'm not a mean person and I don't mean it that way :) Buy pants that fit. If you have a muffin top, they are too tight. Buy larger jeans, wah-lah!! No muffin top :)

    Not necessarily true, some people have a muffin top that's created by being squeezed in to too-tight trousers, but for some of us it's just how our body is shaped and it would take pants with an armpit high waist to smooth it out.
    My Muffin top has shrunk dramatically with weightloss but even now at 134lbs I've still got a ring donut on my hips.

    Yes, I still had a muffin top even at 113 lbs. after an illness. But good luck with finding pants that actually hit at the waist and are not skin tight; I am still looking.
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Am I the only one who sniggered at title?

    No.

    We've got quite a collection of saucy thread titles today.

    Re: stomach muscles holding fat in, I agree it's better to lose it; however fat is not the only culprit. Your core muscles are responsible for holding that whole bag of soft squashy organs in place. If they're weakened then the belly is going to bulge out. This is what causes second and third pregnancies to show more. I don't think abs are the main culprit, I think the transverse is more important in that role, so sit ups will have limited effect, you need proper core exercises. The transverse is a notoriously tricky muscle to exercise, though we were taught how to flex it in prenatal classes.