Belly fat help

jsmillermt
jsmillermt Posts: 6
edited September 30 in Health and Weight Loss
Everything I have read indicates that belly fat will come off as you lose weight. Visceral fat, supposedly, is supposed to be the first fat you lose. However, in the last 6.5 months, I have lost 46 pounds (from 194 to 148), and reduced my body fat percentage from 41% to 28%. I am 5' 4.5", so I'm only a couple of pounds away from a normal BMI. Clearly, I am losing weight and a lot of it is body fat. However, in all that time, my waist circumferrence has only gone down ONE inch, from 38" to 37". That's still two inches into the "unhealthy" range. I'm eating 25% or less of my calories from fat (usually less - I recently did the math and realized that at least over the last 1.5 months, my average fat calories are only 15% of my calorie intake) and my saturated fat is usually less than 7% of my total calories, and always (except maybe one day a month) under 10%. Any suggestions?

Replies

  • kmeekhof
    kmeekhof Posts: 456 Member
    What are you doing for exercise?
  • Marcieb21
    Marcieb21 Posts: 127 Member
    I found that when I started running my middle has begun to get smaller...but that may just be me
  • treebranch75
    treebranch75 Posts: 7
    Yeah, I'm curious about this too.
  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
    Keep doing what you are, 46 pounds is amazing. We are all a different shape and you are just the type who will lose around your belly last. As we age that is the place it really likes to hang on.
  • jsmillermt
    jsmillermt Posts: 6
    In a typical week, usually working out about three or four days. One hour of kickboxing one day a week, usually 30 minutes of jogging once a week, and then a day of interval training, where I work on my speed. Lately, I have been doing more hiking instead of jogging, now that the weather is nice.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
    Women's bodies, as a rule, hold onto belly, hip and thigh fat the longest. It will eventually come off - but it is a sloooow process. Trust me. I have a small belly and love handles and that is about the only fat I have left on my body. Been told to not give up - keep running, doing strength training and be patient. Women's bodies tend to fight VERY hard to hold onto weight in this area.

    Keep going. It'll come off - when your body is ready for it to come off and not a second sooner, unfortunately.
  • knittnponder
    knittnponder Posts: 1,953 Member
    I dropped my carbs lower and bumped my fat up (coconut oil, butter or olive oil but no other vegetable fats) and lost an inch in my waist in under two weeks. No other changes. I was pretty amazed and i'm going to keep with it and see how it goes. I decided to do this after reading about a study where they had three groups on controlled diets and the ones with the higher fat count/lower carbs lost more belly fat than the low fat/higher carb group.
  • bjohs
    bjohs Posts: 1,225 Member
    What is working for me is cardio (to keep lowering my body fat percentage), core/ab workouts (to tighten and pull in the abs muscles which were stretched with 2 pregnancies), clean diet (lots of fruits and vegetables) and believe it or not... dark chocolate with a cocoa percentage higher than 60%. Seriously, 2 oz of dark chocolate on most nights before bed and my belly fat is visibly shrinking fast. :)
  • 4KidFather
    4KidFather Posts: 134
    Belly fat - you're referring to the adipose tissue on top of your abdominal muscles right?
    This is often the LAST to go for a variety of reasons.
    Try this,

    Reduce stress ;sleep good and long, sleep some more, then sleep.
    Avoid sugar spikes - including tropical fruits with fructose, and processed dairy milks, avoid gluten too for gut recovery.
    Get enough Vit D3, and healthy fats from seafood.

    Basically the pooch fat is from cortisol favoring abdominal adiposity -we're told it's the most unhealthy fat distribution - apple shaped.
    If you look at my profile pictures you'll see my before pooch when I was a long distance runner (no abs there).
    I quit that for P90X and stopped looking like a pregnant pencil, (voila abs).
    Worked for quite a few folks I work with too -women especially!
    Hope this helps someone :)
  • NancyAnne1960
    NancyAnne1960 Posts: 500 Member
    Avacados for healthy fat.
  • kittyloo123
    kittyloo123 Posts: 300 Member
    i could have been writing this. I have been on this journey since January. My belly measurement has barely moved. However i have lost 80lbs. For me, i have the wonderful fat flap, spare tire around my mid section. It's been slowly going down, my size pant has been going down, but not the inches. This is hard to describe, but i think that the fat, is shrinking from the bottom of the spare tire. My belly is pretty much the same number too. It's where we are measuring. (and it is the correct place) I also heard, that as you lose the weight, that's the last/final place that you lose it. Don't put so much stock into numbers. You know the changes your body has made.
  • luv_lea
    luv_lea Posts: 1,094 Member
    Bump. Some interesting suggestions here. Thanks! :)
  • femmerides
    femmerides Posts: 843 Member
    I found that when I started running my middle has begun to get smaller...but that may just be me

    RUNNING WORKS!!! I do turbo fire and i love it. i eat healthy and i love it. however, my waist measurements didn't go down until i started running 4 miles a day. i lost 4 inches in my waist in 4 weeks! and i've lost a total of 8 inches since january. seriously, running has changed my measurements like crazy!
  • jsmillermt
    jsmillermt Posts: 6
    i could have been writing this. I have been on this journey since January. My belly measurement has barely moved. However i have lost 80lbs. For me, i have the wonderful fat flap, spare tire around my mid section. It's been slowly going down, my size pant has been going down, but not the inches. This is hard to describe, but i think that the fat, is shrinking from the bottom of the spare tire. My belly is pretty much the same number too. It's where we are measuring. (and it is the correct place) I also heard, that as you lose the weight, that's the last/final place that you lose it. Don't put so much stock into numbers. You know the changes your body has made.

    It's not a vanity issue. The problem is that many reliable studies have shown that if you carry 10 extra pounds on your hips or butt, you are a lot healthier than someone carrying 10 extra pounds in their belly. Belly fat messes with insulin & hormone production. I'm nearing a point where I feel I can work on maintaining instead of losing, and I don't think I need to lose more than 5-10 more pounds, but my belly fat is still an "unhealthy" number. I'm just about done losing, and the belly is still there. I'm trying to figure out how to get the waist circumference to a healthy number without having to drop 20 more pounds, which I think would be way too much for my frame.
  • sunkisses
    sunkisses Posts: 2,365 Member
    I wasn't losing belly fat (from my mom-gut area) until I started Boot Camp which involves doing a ridiculous amount of varied crunches and other abdominal exercises. I lost a half inch in just the first 3 days of it.
  • Heatherbelle_87
    Heatherbelle_87 Posts: 1,078 Member
    i could have been writing this. I have been on this journey since January. My belly measurement has barely moved. However i have lost 80lbs. For me, i have the wonderful fat flap, spare tire around my mid section. It's been slowly going down, my size pant has been going down, but not the inches. This is hard to describe, but i think that the fat, is shrinking from the bottom of the spare tire. My belly is pretty much the same number too. It's where we are measuring. (and it is the correct place) I also heard, that as you lose the weight, that's the last/final place that you lose it. Don't put so much stock into numbers. You know the changes your body has made.

    It's not a vanity issue. The problem is that many reliable studies have shown that if you carry 10 extra pounds on your hips or butt, you are a lot healthier than someone carrying 10 extra pounds in their belly. Belly fat messes with insulin & hormone production. I'm nearing a point where I feel I can work on maintaining instead of losing, and I don't think I need to lose more than 5-10 more pounds, but my belly fat is still an "unhealthy" number. I'm just about done losing, and the belly is still there. I'm trying to figure out how to get the waist circumference to a healthy number without having to drop 20 more pounds, which I think would be way too much for my frame.

    So as everyone has stated a better diet, more sleep, lots of cardio, and ALL OVER weight training will help with the abs (I cant find that darn article that was on yahoo this morning it was 8 ways to shrink your belly) So even if you are close to your goal weight, adding strength training MAY bring you back up a couple of pounds BUT you will have a lower body fat percentage. Muscle burns more cals while at rest so its beneficial to you regardless. You can lose alot of weight and still have an unhealthy fat level if you arent strength training. Some think Im crazy for being plus size on the weights but when 3 doctors and 2 personal trainers recommend it (all of which I truly trust) you cant go wrong.

    Now for the belly flap. See my signature, 63 lbs and one pant size. Why am I OK with this? because I to have a belly flap that flattens out then shrinks UP rounding back out then flattens out again. As long as I see that flap going UP I know I am losing belly fat (just because it hangs past the pelvic line does not mean its not belly fat!). SO you are not alone in this struggle at all.

    Also your body can still tighten for a year after reaching a healthy weight, even if you lost it slowly. So losing a large amount of weight is amazing, doing it slowly so your skin has a better chance of shrinking too, even better. But you STILL need to let your body catch up, some bodies are just slower!
  • Dunkirk
    Dunkirk Posts: 465 Member
    Does anyone know if corticosteroids (asthma medication) have any bearing on weight loss/tummy fat? Thanks!
  • gnat45
    gnat45 Posts: 833 Member
    Yep, those meds will tend to make you store fat in your stomach.
  • vivid2012
    vivid2012 Posts: 31
    Yep, those meds will tend to make you store fat in your stomach.
    that's true.
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