Does This Uterus Make My Stomach Look Fat?
Replies
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StormFiber wrote: »As I sit here, praying for my period to return in hopes of having a baby, I hope this post speaks to other young women fighting anorexia. If only I had known that my uterus would rebel against me and stop working as I starved my body….
[Edited by MFP Moderators]
((Hugs)) @StormFiber. I hope you are getting treatment for your anorexia and I'm so glad that you realized what a gift our womanly bodies are. They may not always look the way we want them to, but they can do magical things.16 -
StormFiber wrote: »As I sit here, praying for my period to return in hopes of having a baby, I hope this post speaks to other young women fighting anorexia. If only I had known that my uterus would rebel against me and stop working as I starved my body….
[Edited by MFP Moderators]
Your profile says you're male :huh:
But any bump of this thread is a good thing :drinker:21 -
I have to admit that even this thread, as awesome and necessary as it is, has me double-thinking my own reality: "Obviously my scale cannot be accurate, because the other ladies in the same ballpark as my height/weight have flatter tummies than I do, or if loose skin it's the crepe-papery thin kind..."
Which is to say, this is hard stuff to deal with even when you're consciously aware of the problem and actively, at this very moment, trying to counter it.
I wish I knew what the answer was to post-massive-weight-loss-body-image-issues, but I sure haven't found the magic pill yet that's going to stop me from thinking this way.31 -
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You look amazing, and you obviously have a lot of strength to stick through it.
Have you seen this thread? It's a different look at the stomach after an approximately 200lb weight loss.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10453193/honest-loose-skin-thoughts-pics9 -
Wow, that's truly amazing!
You've lost more of you than is left. 12 -
I have to admit that even this thread, as awesome and necessary as it is, has me double-thinking my own reality: "Obviously my scale cannot be accurate, because the other ladies in the same ballpark as my height/weight have flatter tummies than I do, or if loose skin it's the crepe-papery thin kind..."
Which is to say, this is hard stuff to deal with even when you're consciously aware of the problem and actively, at this very moment, trying to counter it.
I wish I knew what the answer was to post-massive-weight-loss-body-image-issues, but I sure haven't found the magic pill yet that's going to stop me from thinking this way.
You have had a much larger loss than a lot of us. That's a huge game changer in this whole discussion.
I struggle with this also, because my loose skin (after a 90-95 pound loss) isn't all the crepe-papery kind either, but I've noticed something over the years of seeing these threads, and that's that after a certain age, it's really hard for women to get to that crepe-papery stage everywhere without getting to a very low body fat percentage. For some women, that might be an achievable goal, but from most of the research I've read regarding losing large amounts of weight, I don't think it's a sustainable goal for women who've, well, lost very large amounts of weight.
So knowing all this, I try to make my peace with this. I'm 56, I'm not going to have that perfect body, I can work to make mine better, but I also don't want to make this all a struggle by trying to shoot for an unrealistic goal.
Just throwing some rambling thoughts out there for you to chew on!20 -
I have to admit that even this thread, as awesome and necessary as it is, has me double-thinking my own reality: "Obviously my scale cannot be accurate, because the other ladies in the same ballpark as my height/weight have flatter tummies than I do, or if loose skin it's the crepe-papery thin kind..."
Which is to say, this is hard stuff to deal with even when you're consciously aware of the problem and actively, at this very moment, trying to counter it.
I wish I knew what the answer was to post-massive-weight-loss-body-image-issues, but I sure haven't found the magic pill yet that's going to stop me from thinking this way.
It’s also important to consider amount of weight lost and what exercises are being done. I noticed in the first few pages strength training was a common theme which can help maintain lean body mass during weight loss during weight loss and result in a leaner look. Not everyone had large amounts to lose either.
That said you have done amazing and look fantastic.10 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I have to admit that even this thread, as awesome and necessary as it is, has me double-thinking my own reality: "Obviously my scale cannot be accurate, because the other ladies in the same ballpark as my height/weight have flatter tummies than I do, or if loose skin it's the crepe-papery thin kind..."
Which is to say, this is hard stuff to deal with even when you're consciously aware of the problem and actively, at this very moment, trying to counter it.
I wish I knew what the answer was to post-massive-weight-loss-body-image-issues, but I sure haven't found the magic pill yet that's going to stop me from thinking this way.
You have had a much larger loss than a lot of us. That's a huge game changer in this whole discussion.
I struggle with this also, because my loose skin (after a 90-95 pound loss) isn't all the crepe-papery kind either, but I've noticed something over the years of seeing these threads, and that's that after a certain age, it's really hard for women to get to that crepe-papery stage everywhere without getting to a very low body fat percentage. For some women, that might be an achievable goal, but from most of the research I've read regarding losing large amounts of weight, I don't think it's a sustainable goal for women who've, well, lost very large amounts of weight.
So knowing all this, I try to make my peace with this. I'm 56, I'm not going to have that perfect body, I can work to make mine better, but I also don't want to make this all a struggle by trying to shoot for an unrealistic goal.
Just throwing some rambling thoughts out there for you to chew on!
That's interesting, and supports an experience/suspicion I've had as I try to grapple with just what my goal weight should be. My doctor said 140-150, and that she wouldn't want to see me go below 140 because with as broad a frame and build as I have she really didn't think going down to 125 (which had been my goal) would be healthy and sustainable for me. But as I got closer, I still have all this flab, and I keep hearing people saying "if you can only get down to a low enough BF % your skin folds will be paper thin and not a problem anymore," and I've seen people with this kind of really thin loose skin and thought yeah, I could deal with that a lot better than this whole Shar-Pei look I've got going on.
But I have chronic kidney disease, and just as I was hitting 140 I got hit with one of these massive water-weight fluctuations I'm prone to and overnight shot back up to 156. The really weird thing, though, was that this 16 lb gain was virtually "invisible" -- my clothes all still fit, no appreciable edema in my feet/ankles, to my eyes at least my body looked pretty much the same as it did the day before, except.... all the fine, crepey wrinkles on top of my skin folds were gone. So, the water just spread itself out into the very top layer of my skin, and there's plenty of surface area to work with.
And that's when it hit me -- I could totally lose another 15 lbs from 140 down to 125, and it would probably be exactly as "invisible" in terms of changing the overall shape of my body as this 16 lb fluctuation was. Maybe those crepe-paper wrinkles would be a little more widespread, and my neck and lower/outer legs (which are weirdly lean compared to the rest of me) would probably look gaunt and freaky. So, I decided 140-ish was probably a good plan as the doctor suggested and have been hovering around there since.
So, yeah, my own hunch at this point is that the paper-thin skin folds so many places tout as an appropriate goal just really aren't attainable in my case without going all Holocaust-camp emaciated in the rest of my body, and I wouldn't at all be surprised if this isn't the case with a lot of older women who have lost a-lot-more-weight-than-usual.26 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I have to admit that even this thread, as awesome and necessary as it is, has me double-thinking my own reality: "Obviously my scale cannot be accurate, because the other ladies in the same ballpark as my height/weight have flatter tummies than I do, or if loose skin it's the crepe-papery thin kind..."
Which is to say, this is hard stuff to deal with even when you're consciously aware of the problem and actively, at this very moment, trying to counter it.
I wish I knew what the answer was to post-massive-weight-loss-body-image-issues, but I sure haven't found the magic pill yet that's going to stop me from thinking this way.
You have had a much larger loss than a lot of us. That's a huge game changer in this whole discussion.
I struggle with this also, because my loose skin (after a 90-95 pound loss) isn't all the crepe-papery kind either, but I've noticed something over the years of seeing these threads, and that's that after a certain age, it's really hard for women to get to that crepe-papery stage everywhere without getting to a very low body fat percentage. For some women, that might be an achievable goal, but from most of the research I've read regarding losing large amounts of weight, I don't think it's a sustainable goal for women who've, well, lost very large amounts of weight.
So knowing all this, I try to make my peace with this. I'm 56, I'm not going to have that perfect body, I can work to make mine better, but I also don't want to make this all a struggle by trying to shoot for an unrealistic goal.
Just throwing some rambling thoughts out there for you to chew on!
I love this mentality. I am almost 38, and feel basically the same way. I have no idea what my loose skin will look like, but since I have another 110 lbs to lose, it would be almost impossible not to have it. I will decide then whether or not I want surgery to remove it, but the most important thing is to get the weight off and be healthy. It's just skin.
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Thanks everybody for the support. It's what I love most about this community!23
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nutmegoreo wrote: »
You look amazing, and you obviously have a lot of strength to stick through it.
Have you seen this thread? It's a different look at the stomach after an approximately 200lb weight loss.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10453193/honest-loose-skin-thoughts-pics
Thank you for this link! I remember reading that thread back at the very beginning of my weight loss journey, but going back to it now... wow. Yeah, her body is very, very similar to mine at this point, and she has a great attitude. I really fluctuate, widely, on how I feel about it: There's a part of me that "just wants to be normal" and hates the flab/skin and still feels "fat" because of it in spite of all the solid numbers telling me I am NOT fat; the part of me that is just happy I'm healthy and really couldn't care less what anybody thinks about my looks; and the part of me that secretly loves playing with my loose skin and twisting it around like pizza dough because it's just kinda fun! LOL! And at any given time one of them has control of my brain and my mouth and my typing fingers. Haha!24 -
MelanieCN77 wrote: »WillingtoLose1001984 wrote: »Most of your stomachs are still flat. I'm not seeing anything encouraging really for those who do have stomach issues. I've had a gut since I was a teenager in middle school. My stomach is one of my worst features especially after childbirth because it is covered with stretch marks.
More representation would be great. Someone will have to have the confidence to post, which would hopefully encourage others.
If you want to I can send you more pictures of me a as a teen. I was sz 18 at 15 years old. This shows me at 10 years old and you can see I was obese and fat. I was a sz 22 and 212lbs at 25 (then 190 when I took the pictures on page 1) I do carry it mostly in my legs but my hips dropped 12", my stomach about 10" as well and had a pregnancy in the middle in 2015. I started to loose weight in 2012 at age 25. So while I am not apple shaped but pear my stomach was stretched out most of my life. So 212 to 150 to 204 to 134 --- now I did a bulk and am up some but that is the just of it all.
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Bump for all those ladies who need to see what realistic expectations look like and what a difference posture can make.
Still cannot wait until I'm able to contribute to this thread, not too long now before I'm in normal BMI25 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »
You look amazing, and you obviously have a lot of strength to stick through it.
Have you seen this thread? It's a different look at the stomach after an approximately 200lb weight loss.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10453193/honest-loose-skin-thoughts-pics
Thank you for this link! I remember reading that thread back at the very beginning of my weight loss journey, but going back to it now... wow. Yeah, her body is very, very similar to mine at this point, and she has a great attitude. I really fluctuate, widely, on how I feel about it: There's a part of me that "just wants to be normal" and hates the flab/skin and still feels "fat" because of it in spite of all the solid numbers telling me I am NOT fat; the part of me that is just happy I'm healthy and really couldn't care less what anybody thinks about my looks; and the part of me that secretly loves playing with my loose skin and twisting it around like pizza dough because it's just kinda fun! LOL! And at any given time one of them has control of my brain and my mouth and my typing fingers. Haha!
I just want to say your loss is inspiring @sgriska. And I don't know if you noticed, but you've got some great abs peeking out, even with the excess skin. And I love the lines on your belly. They are like an arrow pointing up to your awesomeness.12 -
cdn.net/5021879/uploads/editor/xt/co24cb90d2wb.jpeg
Lighting and time of day definitely effects how I look. However in all of these pictures I had just eaten (all taken the same day). In some angles I look fluffier than in others. I’m so thankful I found this thread bc I would be beating myself up not understanding why I can’t just have a perfectly flat stomach. The one thing I notice is that the left side of my lower stomach where my uterus is gets slightly inflamed as you can tell in one of the pictures. Almost feels hard. This has me somewhat worried.. is this something I should be concerned about?14 -
@admaarie , it might be worth a check up with your OB/GYN to rule out fibroids or cysts.7
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mom23mangos wrote: »I just want to say your loss is inspiring @sgriska. And I don't know if you noticed, but you've got some great abs peeking out, even with the excess skin. And I love the lines on your belly. They are like an arrow pointing up to your awesomeness.
Thank you SO much! This made my day!10 -
@admaarie Could be any of a number of things, but if it comes and goes at the same time every month, something like a cyst seems likely. An ob/gyn can tell you what's going on in there - if it is cysts it's most likely not a big deal and medication can help. Or it could be a thing with your intestines - again not likely anything to be scared about but something worth checking.1
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mom23mangos wrote: »@admaarie , it might be worth a check up with your OB/GYN to rule out fibroids or cysts.rheddmobile wrote: »@admaarie Could be any of a number of things, but if it comes and goes at the same time every month, something like a cyst seems likely. An ob/gyn can tell you what's going on in there - if it is cysts it's most likely not a big deal and medication can help. Or it could be a thing with your intestines - again not likely anything to be scared about but something worth checking.
Thank you both! I’m gonna make an appointment soon!8 -
Given some posts I've seen lately, this needs a boost back to page 1.18
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Excuse me as I just
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I actually love this thread so much! You're all brave and amazing!!!!!!!!
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Age: 33
Weight: 167.7
Height: 6'0"
BMI: 22.7
BF%: 23.1%
Pregnancies: 0
No health issues.
The top two pictures on the right were taken the night before and then the bottom right and large left were the following morning prior to going to have a bodpod completed. Both of the views from the side are relaxed, my stomach ends up sticking out at least that much everyday. The large front view is good posture and tightened.21 -
Thank you so much for this thread! I was looking at my belly this morning and thinking, what is this going to look like when I’ve lost all the weight? I’m currently trying to lose my baby weight from baby #3. I carried that precious girl all in my belly, and I know it will never be the same. But I feel like I’m normal after seeing this!!!! I also feel like I now have realistic expectations, and I’m relieved. Thank you again, all of you that contributed! I’ll be back when I reach normal BMI.17
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Apologies for the quality of these photos - I blame incompetence on the part of the photographer.
Proper saggy belly, under conditions of relaxation and of tension.
And since this saggy belly is all that renains of the taut and bulging belly of a 27 and a half stone woman, I proclaim it the SAGGY BELLY OF VICTORY.39 -
Wow @ceiswyn! You’ve got great muscle mass. That is definitely a belly of victory. You look amazing and I am in awe of your hard work and dedication.8
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mom23mangos wrote: »@admaarie , it might be worth a check up with your OB/GYN to rule out fibroids or cysts.rheddmobile wrote: »@admaarie Could be any of a number of things, but if it comes and goes at the same time every month, something like a cyst seems likely. An ob/gyn can tell you what's going on in there - if it is cysts it's most likely not a big deal and medication can help. Or it could be a thing with your intestines - again not likely anything to be scared about but something worth checking.
Thank you both! I’m gonna make an appointment soon!
Ya, my fibroids swell up twice a month, more when I ovulate but also during my period. I'm 52 and expect menopause to take care of them when that finally happens, plus I have been with the VA since 2005, but if I knew when I had Blue Cross and Blue Shield what the last 5 years was going to be like I probably would have had surgery to get rid of them.
Also, there is non-invasive Focused UltraSound (FUS) now. The VA doesn't cover it and mine are now too big to get into a study, but if your issue is indeed fibroids and you are surgery-phobic like me and have good health insurance or a spare $20K lying around, that is something to consider.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_focused_ultrasound
I had a VA GYN recommend Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE) but the potential adverse effects on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uterine_artery_embolization scared me off, and then my next GYN said she had a lot of patients present with those same adverse effects post-surgery, and their doctors had not warned them about the possibilities. Plus the original GYN who recommended it to me was not familiar with those adverse effects either. Partially why I'm surgery-phobic. >.<6 -
mom23mangos wrote: »Wow @ceiswyn! You’ve got great muscle mass. That is definitely a belly of victory. You look amazing and I am in awe of your hard work and dedication.
Thankyou! The only strength work I do is BodyPump, which is low weights and high reps, so I suspect I may have just lucked out genetically there.
(I do love my BodyPump though. Nothing is hard work when you enjoy it)5
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