Fat Belly

[gingersnap]

I am 41 years old and a mother of 2. 5'5'', 120lbs, I lift weights alternating upper and lower body with 20-30 min of cardio on the off days. I have always had a fat belly even when I was very very skinny.....Ugh! Ok, what is the best thing I can do? I personally feel that cardio has helped me the most with this.... but then I hear too much cardio interferes with muscle growth? Ugh! I am about ready for Lipo but I hear mesotherapy will be coming soon to my city? Will too much ab work make it stick out more? or is this just a myth? Any advice is welcome, Thanks!

 

[NWinters]

I always thought Lipo looked painful, the way they jam that rod in ya. What does your diet look like? You may need to cut the carbs, at 41 your metabolism wasnt as good as it was when you were 21.

 

[gingersnap]

Yeah, the thing is my belly stuck out when I was 21 and 100lbs....age and having babies has added insult to injury. I was anorexic in my twenties and about 80lbs (gross, I know) and an excercise maniac, and my belly still stuck out! My friends that have had lipo have little marks where the cannula went in, I don't like that....I would do Mesotherapy if they had it in my city...I'm sure it will be here soon.....anyway, my personal trainer says it is impossible to overwork your abs, yet others have said it could make them stick out more?

 

[Mike_Rojas]

Build up all the muscles of the body. Don't be afraid to work the big moves like squats. More muscle leads to a higher metabolism.

Modify your diet. There's different approaches - find one that works for you. Check out the diet board. Be sure to eat often though - 5 small meals are much better than 3 big ones.

Work your ab muscles like any other - don't over do it. Don't pound away on them forever - that doesn't do anything. You can't burn fat off your stomach by doing crunches.

Cardio's good in moderation. 3-4 times a week for 20 minutes should be enough. Most fat loss is a result of changes in your diet.

You might look into HIIT. That is basically alternating sprinting and jogging. Do a search on that. It burns fat and builds muscle.

Good luck!

 

[JOKER47]

I would avoid lipo at all costs.

I saw a documentary on it, and it was horrible . Even the guy they followed who had it done, said he wouldn't do it if given the chance again to re-think it.

They are not gentle when they do it, and permanent damage can, and has, been done.

Not worth it for $6k or better. IMO.

Mike is right on, IMO as well.


Joker

 

[gingersnap]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone. I'll look into HIIT. It seems I had the flatest abs when I was a runner, that was a LOT of cardio. I also have ordered the "South Beach Diet" book, supposedly this diet removes abdominal fat first...we'll see.

 

[Exodus]

well you admitted to being anorexic......... and i hate to break it too you, but there is no way you have a fat belly at 5'5 and 80 lbs.

i would like to see a picture of what your so called "fat belly" looks like first. i have a feeling its not near as bad as you say.

just speaking from experience of a guy who watched 2 of his friends have to go to the doctor for anorexia.

X

 

[from zero]

I also have ordered the "South Beach Diet" book, supposedly this diet removes abdominal fat first...we'll see.

No diet will spot reduce. It just is not possible. I think Mike gave some excellent advice. I suggest you follow it explicitly.

Diet. (Perhaps spatts' cutting diet?)
Lift hard. Seriously. Hard. Heavy. Intense.
Cardio. In moderation. You don't need to run 4235252 miles a day.

In that order.

 

[FitFossil]

The good news is belly fat is typically easier to loose than thigh fat for females. When I was anorexic and 80 pounds, my thighs were still soft and fat. But now at 5'5" 125lbs, they're not. I'm a great believer in HIIT cardio - it's an awesome fat burner, no matter where that fat is. It's hard, but it works Takes less time too.

One thing with belly fat - it can result from elevated cortisol (a stress hormone). Day to day stress, skipping meals, eating a lot of highly processed foods, esp. simple (white and/or sweet) carbohydrates can all contribute to this.

Also stressful is overtraining, especially in the case of too much and too long cardio sessions. I see this in the gym a lot - people spending lots of time on cardio and very little (if any) time weight training. They think they're burning fat, but too much cardio will also burn muscle, making it even harder to lose or maintain their weight.

Here's a good article on the effects of too much cardio:
http://home.eol.ca/~philla/bodyessence/Pages/Articles/aerobicvstrength/chunkysyndrome.html

 

[Generic MALE]

I agree with Exodus. I wish you would post a pic. Being anorexic you are prone to not seeing what you look like accurately - you are prone to seeing yourself ALWAYS as fat - no matter how thin you are. I too find it hard to believe you were 5'5" 80 LBS and had a gut. I do believe you THINK you had a huge gut.

Also if you have very tight hamstrings you might stand swaybacked (increased lordotic curve, rounding of the lowback) and that will make your abdomen protrude although it is not fat. So if you are swaybacked and sticking your ass out your abdomen might be them ost prominent thing.

Again post a pic - and show us your tits...j/k (sort of)