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Belly fat and disproportional weight loss

dhalsim2
dhalsim2 Posts: 10 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a 42 year old, 5'11" man and have had great success with MFP. I went from 214 lbs. to 147 lbs. However, my weight loss wasn't very proportional. My friends and family were saying that 147 lbs. was too low and that I was starting to look unhealthy. I agreed to an extent, but I had gone that low because despite being thin in the face, chest, legs, and arms, I still had a big belly. My doctor told me that I should gain some of the weight back, so I went up to 170 lbs. and my face looks healthy now, but most of that gained weight went back onto my belly. I'm trying to find a good balance to minimize my belly without looking skeletal elsewhere.

Any tips?

Replies

  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
    How quickly did you gain the weight back? Was it a controlled bulk or just a free for all?
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,113 Member
    The curse of being human is that we can't choose where our bodies lose weight.

    I'm a female, and I'm an apple - which means my arms, legs, face, chest will all lose first, while I still have a nice, plump, bulbous middle section.

    I can't get rid of that until my body fat is low enough to force my body to use it up.

    It can suck, as I will will have visible muscles above and below that, including serratus that look great, but still have a belly (not a good bikini look).
  • db121215
    db121215 Posts: 60 Member
    edited January 2018
    HoneyBadger155 wrote: »
    The curse of being human is that we can't choose where our bodies lose weight.

    I'm a female, and I'm an apple - which means my arms, legs, face, chest will all lose first, while I still have a nice, plump, bulbous middle section.

    I can't get rid of that until my body fat is low enough to force my body to use it up.

    It can suck, as I will will have visible muscles above and below that, including serratus that look great, but still have a belly (not a good bikini look).

    Agreed HoneyB. My huge boobs are long gone. And while I look great with cloths on, I have the dreaded belly flap. I can't comfortably do a two piece, or a very fitted on piece dress. I keep working at it, but as you said, it's the last place of considerable fat. I just try to keep toning the area as much as a can. I wish I could have kept some boob and lost the flap LOL
  • dhalsim2
    dhalsim2 Posts: 10 Member
    mitch16 wrote: »
    How quickly did you gain the weight back? Was it a controlled bulk or just a free for all?

    I was on a 1200 net calorie diet for about a year to lose weight. When my doctor said that I needed to gain weight (mostly because of a heart surgery that I am recovering from), I took it up to 1800 calories and started a slow weight gain. But next time I saw my doctor, he said, "No, that's not nearly enough. Go for 3000 calories. If you can't get that many calories eating healthy food, then start eating junk food." I didn't argue with him. :wink:

    So my climb from 147 lbs. to 150 was slow and controlled, but then I got up to 170 lbs. by binging. I really didn't want to undo all the work that I had done over so long, so I decided to see a nutritionist. She said that my cardiologist didn't know what he was talking about and that the 1800 calorie diet would have been perfect.
  • Fflpnari
    Fflpnari Posts: 975 Member
    Do you weight lift?? time to recomp?
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    Start a heavy lifting program while eating at a surplus. You'll also need a decent protein intake. Opinions vary, but around .8 grams per pound of body weight is a common goal. So you're looking at 130 grams or so a day.
  • megs_1985
    megs_1985 Posts: 199 Member
    https://thinkeatlift.com/how-to-lose-fat-and-gain-muscle-at-the-same-time/. Also check out Alan Aragon and Lou Schuler. Eat at maintenance and do a progressive strength program.
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