B Belly / double belly - anyone else?

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  • Teabythesea_
    Teabythesea_ Posts: 559 Member
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    beany200 wrote: »
    Teabythesea_ wrote: »
    I have the same shape, always have regardless of my size. For women like us, high waisted everything is our best friend! Mine has only changed *slightly* by lifting but its definitely still there. I would venture to say most if not all women carry a bit more abdominal fat below the belly button, its natures way of protecting our reproductive organs. I guess nature just decided we needed a little more, ha! I don't have a photo of me at my largest, but at my smallest in this photo you can definitely still see it. Just gotta live with it unfortunately! k6wz0cpnvcup.jpg

    Your tummy looks great! Definitely given me some inspiration, thank you for sharing! I can see the shape but actually it doesn’t look bad at all. I need to keep focused on eating healthy and losing the weight and hopefully with time will learn to accept / love my shape

    Thanks! Since this photo I've gained 15 lbs in a bulk so its definitely much more prominent. Its like theres been zero gained where the line is. Not even worried though. All you can do is just continue to lose and see what happens! Sometimes you've got to just accept what you cant control. 😌
  • sunny_d22
    sunny_d22 Posts: 316 Member
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    sassysmom35 wrote: »
    This is super hard for me to do but I'm going to anyway. I think some people don't really know what a B belly looks like. It doesn't appear to be super common and among my friends when I talk about it are all oh I have that then proceed to bend over or sit down and show me their belly rolls. Then I show them my stomach and without fail they are all well no I've never seen that before. Its NOT the same.

    tq3lakb7otyl.jpg

    So here I am in all my glory. As I mentioned previously 5'3". 169 lbs. My goal is about 123 or so. Starting weight was 230. These pants are size 14.
    As you can see the upper part of the B is bigger than the bottom. I am getting ready to start lifting as well as continue my cardio as I lose but I dont know how much of a difference it will make with this. It's awful and it makes me so self conscious no matter how much I've lost I don't feel I can be confident or comfortable in my skin. I absolutely relate to what pp said about never having been able to feel good about themselves because of this shape. It may not be super rare but it's rare enough to where most people, including women, just think I need to do some crunches or ab exercises but while that may help it just doesn't work that way. The basic shape will never change....it has always been even when I was skinny. And that is such a hard pill to swallow. I feel for my B belly sisters out there. It sucks.

    Thanks for sharing. I have a very similar stomach. I never see people with this. I used to think it was because I was larger but I'm smaller now and I still have it. When I see plus size women at the beach or in magazines they do not have this. it's a difficult shape as you're saying because often is a visible when I wear a t-shirt or certain clothes. I have a strong core so it isn't muscle weakness. my body fat percentage is still too high so I'm hopefully it will go away some when I reduce that.
  • eb8566
    eb8566 Posts: 249 Member
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    @beany200 I should have used an lol or something after that sentence. I am sometimes too sarcastic.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
    edited July 2019
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    I feel like the B belly is more common on smaller and larger women than most of us think, but so many of us are pretty much experts at hiding and disguising it. And women who have a different "desirable" belly shape are way more likely to show it off, even if they're very overweight.

    I know for me, whether it's a size 22 or 8 swimsuit I am wearing, I count on the one piece to tightly hold everything snug. I do not look like I have a B belly at all when I'm wearing a one piece swimsuit. Tankinis are my worst nightmare for this reason...as bad as a bikini in some ways. Most of my friends who are around my same size, but maybe have a little extra belly pudge due to past pregnancies and such, LOVE tankinis. These women don't possess the B belly shape!

    For anyone who may be currently losing a lot, I will say it's way less cringe-inducing to me now when the wind strikes my shirt and hits that bicycle tire upper belly roll than back when it was an enormous upper belly roll. So worth it.
  • leonadixon
    leonadixon Posts: 479 Member
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    Thank you for this thread! :) I thought I have a weird shaped belly and now seems like it is not as uncommon as I had thought!
  • rhtexasgal
    rhtexasgal Posts: 572 Member
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    It wasn't until perimenopause hit that I developed that B belly ... it seems like within 3-6 months, I developed the top part of the B along with the love handles that had been gone for several years. AND, I was not eating any more, still weighing food and rounding up whenever I logged food that could not be easily measured. I have always had a small belly below the belly button, even as a teen and even after reaching my weight loss goals.

    It's just another thing I deal with, although I am constantly tweaking my eating and exercise plans to find the right combo that will help me melt this fat I re-accumulated thanks to perimenopause.
  • beany200
    beany200 Posts: 12 Member
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    rheddmobile wrote: »
    Since your posture is contributing to the appearance of your belly sticking out in front, strengthening your core with exercise will improve your posture and make it look better. Planks, push-ups, strong compound lifts, and ab rollouts are some good exercises for correcting the pelvic tilt which is making you carry your belly out in front of you.

    Thanks, I appreciate the advice. It’s not really the fact it’s sticking out though, it’s the shape more that has concerned me over the years (from 9 stone right to now at 12’9). Then the capital B shape rather than a capital D - it’s kinda like having two permanent rolls when standing.

  • beany200
    beany200 Posts: 12 Member
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    missysippy930 wrote: »
    I always thought it was kind of normal. Women’s waists curve in, and men’s are more straight. I have 6 sisters and a daughter. We all have it.

    It’s not the curve at the waist I’m referring to but the shape of the belly itself - it has two rolls instead of one. Like a capital B instead of a D lol
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,483 Member
    edited July 2019
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    I really recommend this thread (below) to get a good overview of women’s bellies.

    I would post pics of mine here but it is in full view on page 2 of the above mentioned thread in all it’s glory in numerous positions- including the ‘clinging shar-pei’ while planking’ and ‘belt eating while sitting’.

    I tend to not wear too many dresses, skirts, or pants that hit right at my waist because of the belt eating proclivity- I can end up with a rash, unless it is a soft cloth belt, leather and anything over an inch or two are terrible when seated. I also don’t wear shirts or t-shirts tucked in.

    I’ve never thought of it as a problem, just part of me, and never thought my style of dress awkward or particularly catering to a body flaw (I don’t think it is) - more dressing in a style that suits all of my body (small boobs and bottom included) and personality.

    I have had it no matter my weight, and no matter the amount or type of exercise I do or, for most of my life, don’t do.

    I did find belly dancing, mentioned up thread, really thought me how to use all of my abdominal muscles, not just my abs, and that really helped with posture and engagement when doing anything from taking the laundry out of the machine, going for a walk, or lifting heavy things and putting them down again.

    Cheers, h.

    ETA: Oh, and I wear bikinis all the time. If someone has a problem- it’s their’s; not mine.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10689837/does-this-uterus-make-my-stomach-look-fat/p1
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    middlehaitch wrote: »
    I would recommend this thread (below) to get a good overview of women’s bellies.

    I would post pics of mine here but it is in full view on page 2 of the above mentioned thread in all it’s glory in numerous positions- including the ‘clinging shar-pei’ while planking’ and ‘belt eating while sitting’.

    I tend to not wear too many dresses, skirts, or pants that hit right at my waist because of the belt eating proclivity- I can end up with a rash, unless it is a soft cloth belt, leather and anything over an inch or two are terrible when seated. I also don’t wear shirts or t-shirts tucked in.

    I’ve never thought of it as a problem, just part of me, and never thought my style of dress awkward or particularly catering to a body flaw- more dressing in a style that suits all of my body and personality.

    I have had it no matter my weight, and no matter the amount or type of exercise I do or, for most of my life, don’t do.

    I did find belly dancing, mentioned up thread, really thought me how to use all of my abdominal muscles, not just my abs, and that really helped with posture and engagement when doing anything from taking the laundry out of the machine, going for a walk, or lifting heavy things and putting them down again.

    Cheers, h.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10689837/does-this-uterus-make-my-stomach-look-fat/p1

    I had to go look just for the "clinging Shar-pei" :) Now I have a name for my plank belly! I'm very impressed by the level of dedication it must have taken to get a picture of your belly while planking.
  • nooboots
    nooboots Posts: 480 Member
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    beany200 wrote: »
    I’m over weight and the heaviest / biggest and most unhealthy I’ve ever been, with serious lack of control where food is concerned (but that’s for another thread). But beyond being over weight, I have the worst shaped tummy and it has always been that shape - albeit smaller, but still that capital B shape (pic attached). Making it impossible to find clothes that flatter. I’ve never had kids/ been pregnant, my belly has just always been like this for as long as I remember.

    I find my self envying bigger ladies that have belly’s that are “all one” and smooth.

    Does anyone else have this shape of belly? And more has anyone had this shape and successfully lost it? I’d love to see before and after pics if any of you had any. It seems like a really rare body type because I have never come across others online that have openly shared pics of themselves with this shape, except for pics used in tummy tuck “before and afters” and it seems to happen to some pregnant women too.

    I fear that the only way I’ll ever not have it is if I get lipo to remove the fat from the “upper” belly but I can’t afford that.

    I’m tired of it being a “thing” in my life that is holding me back. It’s a kick in the teeth to be “the wrong kind of fat” too. I guess I just need inspiration.

    If you look at more 'naturally' shaped women in the 60s and 70s, (or further back) in bikinis, that is the shape that is natural for most women. You are normal!

    Once you lose weight it will get smaller, you have lovely curves.
  • beany200
    beany200 Posts: 12 Member
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    @seltzermint555 thanks for the encouragement! And I feel you (re: the wind hit your T-shirt and showing that upper tyre!) but you’ve inspired me to keep going :)

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