Abdominal fat! But I’m classed as underweight.
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christinaannelewis9655
Posts: 13 Member
I wonder if anyone can give me some real advice please. Basically I am 4ft 11 and weigh 6st 9. I believe my BMI is just underweight, almost in the safe zone. The problem I have is I am super skinny everywhere on my body apart from my stomach! I have had four children and eat and drink a lot of *kitten*! I want to tone my stomach but I need to do cardio to get rid of the fat around my stomach but at the same time I shouldn’t really be loosing weight 😬 As I’m already under. Can anyone advice me please.
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Replies
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Weight lifting is the best way to remain the same weight while redistributing weight away from your abdomen. Check out the threads on recomposition.
Also, if your belly is very large compared to the rest of you, have a check up for any issues which may cause belly fat, such as insulin resistance, Cushing's, or PCOS.10 -
It’s not very large, I’m just not happy with it, but I can grab about 2” if fat 😳 I would like to get rid of that and tone but in a way that won’t cause me to be underweight and ill.0
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Find a progressive overload lifting program. That'll strengthen everything. Cardio won't make that happen for you at this point. Recomp is probably a good bet.6
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Will that help get rid of the abdominal fat? .... It sounds like it’s going to be months before I see results 😬1
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Since you are underweight or close to it, if you aren't happy with your body composition it is more a result of lacking muscle vs the actual fat that is the issue.
I would recommend gaining muscle, running a lean bulk while following a progressive lifting program or at the very least maintaining your weight to recomp (although being so lean it becomes less optimal). While gaining can be uncomfortable as you will put on some fat, keeping the gain slow and steady can help.
Also to clarify, while cardio is great for health and adding to a deficit, it is not necessary for fat loss.7 -
This thread on recomposition may be helpful to you:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat7 -
Toning isn't a thing - there's only losing and gaining fat, and losing and gaining muscle. What most people mean by toning is gaining a moderate amount of muscle while losing the fat layer over it.
You can't work on your stomach selectively, unfortunately - if you want the fat layer gone there, you have to lower your fat percentage of your whole body. But if you gain muscle you will not be underweight. Also, gaining muscle in your abdomen will help hold your stomach in more attractively, and muscles in your arms and legs will make your waist look smaller.
Don't be afraid of getting bulky, this is almost impossible for a woman to do by accident.11 -
christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »Will that help get rid of the abdominal fat? .... It sounds like it’s going to be months before I see results 😬
Your results may vary, but yes it typically takes time. There are very few shortcuts. If you want it, you have to be ready to work for it. It's not hard in terms of what to do, and you don't have to spend enormous time doing it, but you have to take time to work the process.
Eat at maintenance or close to it and do not under-eat. That won't help you.6 -
christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »Will that help get rid of the abdominal fat? .... It sounds like it’s going to be months before I see results 😬
Anything short of liposuction is going to take time. A good strength training program will give you some results in a couple months, how much so is unpredictable.7 -
Here's another thread to look over:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p16 -
What is eat at maintenance? I am prepared to do the work. Eat healthy and whatever excersise it takes but I just don’t know how 😂 Last time I tried for a few months and it seems I don’t do things right. Eg. I didn’t give myself a break day or change the area to work on etc. I literally need someone who knows what they are doing to write me a menu and work out routine and I’ll do it 😂1
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Thank you everyone for your advice I will look into what everyone’s saying2
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christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »What is eat at maintenance? I am prepared to do the work. Eat healthy and whatever excersise it takes but I just don’t know how 😂 Last time I tried for a few months and it seems I don’t do things right. Eg. I didn’t give myself a break day or change the area to work on etc. I literally need someone who knows what they are doing to write me a menu and work out routine and I’ll do it 😂
That's the sort of thing that's in the threads we posted links to, above. Maybe take a look?10 -
christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »What is eat at maintenance? I am prepared to do the work. Eat healthy and whatever excersise it takes but I just don’t know how 😂 Last time I tried for a few months and it seems I don’t do things right. Eg. I didn’t give myself a break day or change the area to work on etc. I literally need someone who knows what they are doing to write me a menu and work out routine and I’ll do it 😂
Eating at maintenance is eating to keep your weight as is.. not losing, not gaining (within 3- 5lbs up or down)
Again you can start there for a while but I strongly urge you to think about gaining weight to really improve your body composition.3 -
Okay, thank you guys. You are all very helpful.2
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christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »What is eat at maintenance? I am prepared to do the work. Eat healthy and whatever excersise it takes but I just don’t know how 😂 Last time I tried for a few months and it seems I don’t do things right. Eg. I didn’t give myself a break day or change the area to work on etc. I literally need someone who knows what they are doing to write me a menu and work out routine and I’ll do it 😂
Eating at maintenance is eating to keep your weight as is.. not losing, not gaining (within 3- 5lbs up or down)
Again you can start there for a while but I strongly urge you to think about gaining weight to really improve your body composition.
You urge me to gain weight? I don’t understand though as I need to loose it? ... or that’s what I believe I need to do, around my stomach that is.
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christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »What is eat at maintenance? I am prepared to do the work. Eat healthy and whatever excersise it takes but I just don’t know how 😂 Last time I tried for a few months and it seems I don’t do things right. Eg. I didn’t give myself a break day or change the area to work on etc. I literally need someone who knows what they are doing to write me a menu and work out routine and I’ll do it 😂
Eating at maintenance is eating to keep your weight as is.. not losing, not gaining (within 3- 5lbs up or down)
Again you can start there for a while but I strongly urge you to think about gaining weight to really improve your body composition.
You urge me to gain weight? I don’t understand though as I need to loose it? ... or that’s what I believe I need to do, around my stomach that is.
The thing is, you likely have a normal amount of fat.. however you also likely have a lack of muscle base under it. A bit of fat looks completely different over muscle. So you should gain weight to gain more muscle. So you have to kind of take a step back before you move forward, if that makes any sense. Basically, you have nowhere to go but up.
Believe me, I've been there.. almost underweight, unhappy with my body composition, I gained 10lbs, then cut down a bit to lose the fat gained.. it really made a huge difference.
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christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »What is eat at maintenance? I am prepared to do the work. Eat healthy and whatever excersise it takes but I just don’t know how 😂 Last time I tried for a few months and it seems I don’t do things right. Eg. I didn’t give myself a break day or change the area to work on etc. I literally need someone who knows what they are doing to write me a menu and work out routine and I’ll do it 😂
Eating at maintenance is eating to keep your weight as is.. not losing, not gaining (within 3- 5lbs up or down)
Again you can start there for a while but I strongly urge you to think about gaining weight to really improve your body composition.
You urge me to gain weight? I don’t understand though as I need to loose it? ... or that’s what I believe I need to do, around my stomach that is.
You're working under a common misconception. What it seems like you are trying to do is change your shape. Nothing will do that better than lifting. In order to make that process work best, it's likely going to be better to gain weight at first. It's much easier to lose fat after you've gained muscle than it is to gain muscle after you've lost fat. Don't worry about "bulking up" or only trying to "tone".
1. If you want to lose weight - eat at a deficit. Meaning eat less calories than you burn. You have already said that you are borderline under weight. You should eat as much as you burn, maybe even a little more.
2. If you want to be in better aerobic shape, do cardio - which I would not recommend unless you really like cardio, but that will stall your progress on #3.
3. If you want to shape your body, lift heavy weights (start very slow).
Always eat enough to fuel what you do.4 -
That makes a lot more sense now. Sorry guys I’m a bit slow 🙈 ... Thank you. Lifting weights? Does that target the stomach?2
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It targets everything...provided you are doing compound movements....core included. Check out the links above from the other posters. There's another one about "which lifting program is right for you". I'll find the thread and link it in a minute.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you
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Okay thank you so much 😊 and eating? Just healthy food and not worry about calories? ...1
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If you want to gain you want to be in a surplus. This thread might help for more information.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10226536/bulking-for-beginners/p1
Also check out the recomp thread and lifting link posted above3 -
I would always recommend tracking your calories. There's no better tool to know where you are in your process and it's a lifetime healthy habit.
You can eat too much healthy food also, so don't just focus on that. I would recommend finding out how many calories you would need to eat to maintain your current weight. Do that by inputting your information into MFP and set your weight loss goal to zero or select maintenance (can't remember if that's an option or not). Once you know how much you can eat, eat what you like and control your portions to eat the amount of calories that fit your goal.
Adjust as you go, but don't adjust constantly. It takes 4-6 weeks or more to determine if you are doing things right on the diet side.
In the meantime, start a lifting program. You won't be sorry.4 -
christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »It’s not very large, I’m just not happy with it, but I can grab about 2” if fat 😳 I would like to get rid of that and tone but in a way that won’t cause me to be underweight and ill.
Even if you achieve a "flat" stomach, chances are you'll still be able to grab some fat/skin. Especially when sitting. That's perfectly normal. What you can do is make everything "look" better.christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »Will that help get rid of the abdominal fat? .... It sounds like it’s going to be months before I see results 😬
Yes, yes it will be. The good news is that you are already thin, do results will show that much quicker. But be prepared for it to take time. Best thing about that, God willing we all have time in a abundance. You can do nothing and look the same or worse in s couple of years, or start applying the advice given here and look dramaticly different in a couple of years.nutmegoreo wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »Will that help get rid of the abdominal fat? .... It sounds like it’s going to be months before I see results 😬
Anything short of liposuction is going to take time. A good strength training program will give you some results in a couple months, how much so is unpredictable.
Agreedchristinaannelewis9655 wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »What is eat at maintenance? I am prepared to do the work. Eat healthy and whatever excersise it takes but I just don’t know how 😂 Last time I tried for a few months and it seems I don’t do things right. Eg. I didn’t give myself a break day or change the area to work on etc. I literally need someone who knows what they are doing to write me a menu and work out routine and I’ll do it 😂
If you are already easily maintaining your weight, just keep doing what you are doing and add progressive strength training. Maybe even add in a 250cal treat each day. An ice cream, handful of nuts, candy bar, whatever.
Eating at maintenance is eating to keep your weight as is.. not losing, not gaining (within 3- 5lbs up or down)
Again you can start there for a while but I strongly urge you to think about gaining weight to really improve your body composition.
You urge me to gain weight? I don’t understand though as I need to loose it? ... or that’s what I believe I need to do, around my stomach that is.
When you are your size, don't think about weight. You can totally gain weight and look smaller. I'm close to your stats. There's a progress photo under my profile showing how drastically your body composition can change at the same weight. And what a 10lb gain can look like.7 -
mom23mangos wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »It’s not very large, I’m just not happy with it, but I can grab about 2” if fat 😳 I would like to get rid of that and tone but in a way that won’t cause me to be underweight and ill.
Even if you achieve a "flat" stomach, chances are you'll still be able to grab some fat/skin. Especially when sitting. That's perfectly normal. What you can do is make everything "look" better.christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »Will that help get rid of the abdominal fat? .... It sounds like it’s going to be months before I see results 😬
Yes, yes it will be. The good news is that you are already thin, do results will show that much quicker. But be prepared for it to take time. Best thing about that, God willing we all have time in a abundance. You can do nothing and look the same or worse in s couple of years, or start applying the advice given here and look dramaticly different in a couple of years.nutmegoreo wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »Will that help get rid of the abdominal fat? .... It sounds like it’s going to be months before I see results 😬
Anything short of liposuction is going to take time. A good strength training program will give you some results in a couple months, how much so is unpredictable.
Agreedchristinaannelewis9655 wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »What is eat at maintenance? I am prepared to do the work. Eat healthy and whatever excersise it takes but I just don’t know how 😂 Last time I tried for a few months and it seems I don’t do things right. Eg. I didn’t give myself a break day or change the area to work on etc. I literally need someone who knows what they are doing to write me a menu and work out routine and I’ll do it 😂
If you are already easily maintaining your weight, just keep doing what you are doing and add progressive strength training. Maybe even add in a 250cal treat each day. An ice cream, handful of nuts, candy bar, whatever.
Eating at maintenance is eating to keep your weight as is.. not losing, not gaining (within 3- 5lbs up or down)
Again you can start there for a while but I strongly urge you to think about gaining weight to really improve your body composition.
You urge me to gain weight? I don’t understand though as I need to loose it? ... or that’s what I believe I need to do, around my stomach that is.
When you are your size, don't think about weight. You can totally gain weight and look smaller. I'm close to your stats. There's a progress photo under my profile showing how drastically your body composition can change at the same weight. And what a 10lb gain can look like.mom23mangos wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »It’s not very large, I’m just not happy with it, but I can grab about 2” if fat 😳 I would like to get rid of that and tone but in a way that won’t cause me to be underweight and ill.
Even if you achieve a "flat" stomach, chances are you'll still be able to grab some fat/skin. Especially when sitting. That's perfectly normal. What you can do is make everything "look" better.christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »Will that help get rid of the abdominal fat? .... It sounds like it’s going to be months before I see results 😬
Yes, yes it will be. The good news is that you are already thin, do results will show that much quicker. But be prepared for it to take time. Best thing about that, God willing we all have time in a abundance. You can do nothing and look the same or worse in s couple of years, or start applying the advice given here and look dramaticly different in a couple of years.nutmegoreo wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »Will that help get rid of the abdominal fat? .... It sounds like it’s going to be months before I see results 😬
Anything short of liposuction is going to take time. A good strength training program will give you some results in a couple months, how much so is unpredictable.
Agreedchristinaannelewis9655 wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »What is eat at maintenance? I am prepared to do the work. Eat healthy and whatever excersise it takes but I just don’t know how 😂 Last time I tried for a few months and it seems I don’t do things right. Eg. I didn’t give myself a break day or change the area to work on etc. I literally need someone who knows what they are doing to write me a menu and work out routine and I’ll do it 😂
If you are already easily maintaining your weight, just keep doing what you are doing and add progressive strength training. Maybe even add in a 250cal treat each day. An ice cream, handful of nuts, candy bar, whatever.
Eating at maintenance is eating to keep your weight as is.. not losing, not gaining (within 3- 5lbs up or down)
Again you can start there for a while but I strongly urge you to think about gaining weight to really improve your body composition.
You urge me to gain weight? I don’t understand though as I need to loose it? ... or that’s what I believe I need to do, around my stomach that is.
When you are your size, don't think about weight. You can totally gain weight and look smaller. I'm close to your stats. There's a progress photo under my profile showing how drastically your body composition can change at the same weight. And what a 10lb gain can look like.
How do I see your pictures? I clicked on your name but nothing shows 🤔 ... Thanks for your help 😊🤞
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christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »What is eat at maintenance? I am prepared to do the work. Eat healthy and whatever excersise it takes but I just don’t know how 😂 Last time I tried for a few months and it seems I don’t do things right. Eg. I didn’t give myself a break day or change the area to work on etc. I literally need someone who knows what they are doing to write me a menu and work out routine and I’ll do it 😂
Eating at maintenance is eating to keep your weight as is.. not losing, not gaining (within 3- 5lbs up or down)
Again you can start there for a while but I strongly urge you to think about gaining weight to really improve your body composition.
You urge me to gain weight? I don’t understand though as I need to loose it? ... or that’s what I believe I need to do, around my stomach that is.
You're underweight. You don't need to lose it. You need to do a recomp routine so that you can keep your current weight (and gain to a healthy level), while keeping your measurements slim.3 -
christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »mom23mangos wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »It’s not very large, I’m just not happy with it, but I can grab about 2” if fat 😳 I would like to get rid of that and tone but in a way that won’t cause me to be underweight and ill.
Even if you achieve a "flat" stomach, chances are you'll still be able to grab some fat/skin. Especially when sitting. That's perfectly normal. What you can do is make everything "look" better.christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »Will that help get rid of the abdominal fat? .... It sounds like it’s going to be months before I see results 😬
Yes, yes it will be. The good news is that you are already thin, do results will show that much quicker. But be prepared for it to take time. Best thing about that, God willing we all have time in a abundance. You can do nothing and look the same or worse in s couple of years, or start applying the advice given here and look dramaticly different in a couple of years.nutmegoreo wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »Will that help get rid of the abdominal fat? .... It sounds like it’s going to be months before I see results 😬
Anything short of liposuction is going to take time. A good strength training program will give you some results in a couple months, how much so is unpredictable.
Agreedchristinaannelewis9655 wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »What is eat at maintenance? I am prepared to do the work. Eat healthy and whatever excersise it takes but I just don’t know how 😂 Last time I tried for a few months and it seems I don’t do things right. Eg. I didn’t give myself a break day or change the area to work on etc. I literally need someone who knows what they are doing to write me a menu and work out routine and I’ll do it 😂
If you are already easily maintaining your weight, just keep doing what you are doing and add progressive strength training. Maybe even add in a 250cal treat each day. An ice cream, handful of nuts, candy bar, whatever.
Eating at maintenance is eating to keep your weight as is.. not losing, not gaining (within 3- 5lbs up or down)
Again you can start there for a while but I strongly urge you to think about gaining weight to really improve your body composition.
You urge me to gain weight? I don’t understand though as I need to loose it? ... or that’s what I believe I need to do, around my stomach that is.
When you are your size, don't think about weight. You can totally gain weight and look smaller. I'm close to your stats. There's a progress photo under my profile showing how drastically your body composition can change at the same weight. And what a 10lb gain can look like.mom23mangos wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »It’s not very large, I’m just not happy with it, but I can grab about 2” if fat 😳 I would like to get rid of that and tone but in a way that won’t cause me to be underweight and ill.
Even if you achieve a "flat" stomach, chances are you'll still be able to grab some fat/skin. Especially when sitting. That's perfectly normal. What you can do is make everything "look" better.christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »Will that help get rid of the abdominal fat? .... It sounds like it’s going to be months before I see results 😬
Yes, yes it will be. The good news is that you are already thin, do results will show that much quicker. But be prepared for it to take time. Best thing about that, God willing we all have time in a abundance. You can do nothing and look the same or worse in s couple of years, or start applying the advice given here and look dramaticly different in a couple of years.nutmegoreo wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »Will that help get rid of the abdominal fat? .... It sounds like it’s going to be months before I see results 😬
Anything short of liposuction is going to take time. A good strength training program will give you some results in a couple months, how much so is unpredictable.
Agreedchristinaannelewis9655 wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »What is eat at maintenance? I am prepared to do the work. Eat healthy and whatever excersise it takes but I just don’t know how 😂 Last time I tried for a few months and it seems I don’t do things right. Eg. I didn’t give myself a break day or change the area to work on etc. I literally need someone who knows what they are doing to write me a menu and work out routine and I’ll do it 😂
If you are already easily maintaining your weight, just keep doing what you are doing and add progressive strength training. Maybe even add in a 250cal treat each day. An ice cream, handful of nuts, candy bar, whatever.
Eating at maintenance is eating to keep your weight as is.. not losing, not gaining (within 3- 5lbs up or down)
Again you can start there for a while but I strongly urge you to think about gaining weight to really improve your body composition.
You urge me to gain weight? I don’t understand though as I need to loose it? ... or that’s what I believe I need to do, around my stomach that is.
When you are your size, don't think about weight. You can totally gain weight and look smaller. I'm close to your stats. There's a progress photo under my profile showing how drastically your body composition can change at the same weight. And what a 10lb gain can look like.
How do I see your pictures? I clicked on your name but nothing shows 🤔 ... Thanks for your help 😊🤞
You have to do it from the desktop version. The app doesn't allow it unfortunately.0 -
Maybe you just have loose abdominal muscles from your four pregnancies and an abdominal diastasis causing you to have a potbelly. That's got nothing to do with fat.4
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christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »Okay thank you so much 😊 and eating? Just healthy food and not worry about calories? ...
No, you still need to track calories. You want to maximize muscle gain and minimize fat gain. To give yourself the best chance of doing that, you need to do three things: (1) have a progressive resistance program (lifting heavier things or adding reps or sets or doing more challenging exercises to be sure you continue to challenge your muscles); (2) get enough protein; and (3) eat at a small surplus (I recommend 200 to 300 kcal above maintenance).
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christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »christinaannelewis9655 wrote: »What is eat at maintenance? I am prepared to do the work. Eat healthy and whatever excersise it takes but I just don’t know how 😂 Last time I tried for a few months and it seems I don’t do things right. Eg. I didn’t give myself a break day or change the area to work on etc. I literally need someone who knows what they are doing to write me a menu and work out routine and I’ll do it 😂
Eating at maintenance is eating to keep your weight as is.. not losing, not gaining (within 3- 5lbs up or down)
Again you can start there for a while but I strongly urge you to think about gaining weight to really improve your body composition.
You urge me to gain weight? I don’t understand though as I need to loose it? ... or that’s what I believe I need to do, around my stomach that is.
If you agree that this woman looks better in the picture on the right (note that she is 18 pounds heavier from the middle picture) then yes, you want to change your body composition.
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