Help with belly fat
 

Hey everyone,
I'm 23 years old, and i've been struggling with belly fat all my life. I'm the girl who everyone questions when i'm trying to lose weight, because i hide it so well, and am not heavy anywhere else. I hate wearing bathing suits, and you'll never catch me in a bikini, and i always have a pillow of sweater on me when i'm sitting down.
I just wanted to throw this post out there, to see if anyone can give me some tips that have worked for them, or just to share what they are experiencing right now! any advice is appreciated! :)

Hi

Belly fat is notorious as the hardest place to lose and in most weight lost cases the last place to be lost.

If you say your not heavy anywhere else then the issue may be bloating rather than fat. You may need to look at your diet to see what may be causing bloating, or if it is fat then you need to lean yourself by cardio excerise. Training your core should also help but if there is fat that will just hide your abs.

Really the best thing to get rid of belly fat, and I have the same issues, is a lot of cardio and a good diet. Nothing salty or sugary. Just healthy natural food and be sure to get at least 30 mins of cardio in 4-5 days a week. Plus add weights since that helps with your metabolism too. Be sure to eat small meals and snacks throughout the day so you don't end up starving and go to town on chips or burgers, etc. It takes a lot of work but stick with it and you will see results.

Eliminate or severly restrict alcohol and simple carbs. As previous posters suggested spread you calories through out the day by eating 5 to 6 meals. This helps you avoid eating more calories than you need to refill your glycogen reserves. This is important because as soon as those reserves get full the rest of the calories you consumed get stored as fat. So eating 1500 calories spread over 5 meals/snacks helps you lose more weight than eating one big meal of 1500 calories.

Good luck!

In addition to the great suggestions above, also look into lifting weights. This can be as simple as running down to the nearest playground and doing sit-ups, push-ups, chin-ups, monkey bars, climbing, lunging, and jumping. I've found that in addition to being an AWESOME fat burning tool (the more muscle you have, the more fat you burn), it also helps with some bloat as your body reroutes excess water towards your muscles.

I'm 36, and even before kids, my belly is, has always been, will always be an issue. Pilates does help some, but really after all is said and done, all I can do is accept it for what it is. Unless I go in for cosmetic surgery, and I'm not willing to go to that extreme. I have a lot of curvature to my lower back, so that just makes the belly stick out further. The media does NOT help those of us with a belly either. Flat washboard abs just aren't in my genetic makeup, and this stupid low-rise trend that just won't go away is my mortal enemy. I've lost 38 pounds so far, and in pants that hit about an inch below my belly button, I feel comfortable. Anything even remotely "low rise" is just muffintop city. I may even be able to do a bikini this year, but it's going to be hard to find a pair of bottoms that don't hit just at the bottom of the "pooch", which just makes my belly look like it's flopping out even when it isn't. Maybe I can buy some boy-shorts. Empire waist shirts and peasant blouses just don't suit, either. Those just make me look pregnant :mad:

I'm a real fan of Lee One True Fit jeans and a good tailored button-down shirt in a fabric with some body to it. For dress pants and skirts, look for a wide waistband and preferably a side or offcenter closure. Structured seams are your friend, spandex and jersey knits are not. Neither are sweatshirts and chunky sweaters, yeah they hide your belly but they don't show off any of your assets either. A good supportive bra helps too, gotta have the "girls" out farther than the abs :D. Find a body part you DO like, and dress to accentuate that. For me, that's my legs.

Also open your eyes and take a good look around. Even my 6 year old, 39 lb toothpick of a daughter has a belly pooch. Most celebs do too, they just stand at that 3/4 turned angle with their elbows pulled back to hide it.

Lizzy girl, we have much in common, only my belly was an non-issue before children.

In addition to all the above suggestions I'm going to toss "body ball" on top of it. I've been doing this exercise using the body ball that is a tremendous core strengthening workout. My abs are on fire top to bottom afterward. I put the ball on the floor and get on my knees next to it, then I put my stomach on the ball and roll forward using my hands to sort of "wheelbarrow" (for lack of a better term), until only my feet and lower calves are on the ball. Then I hold that pose for a count of 30, then do 10 "push-up +'s" and then roll back to the starting position. I do this 10x, 3-4 days/week. The push-up+ is part of a shoulder rehab routine, it's not a push up so much as keeping the arms straight while dropping the chest down. The movement is minimal, but you can really feel it across your shoulders and back.