I'm frustrated today. Not so frustrated that I can't laugh about it though.

Here's my dilemma. I have the dreaded "B" belly; great big roll, waist and then great big roll below it. As I lose, it becomes way more pronounced, or at least more obvious.

Today I realized that with shape wear I get one belly... BUT I look like I'm pregnant and/or smuggling in a beach ball.

However without shapewear, I look like I stole a giant alphabet letter from Sesame street and tucked it under my dress.

I guess I'll just flip a coin

I have a B belly. And a weird dimple below my belly button that looks like I have another belly button! eugh! At least we can laugh about it though, right?

B is for Belly? Sorry, couldn't resist!

While I don't have the "B" problem (yet?), I'm an apple and have always been self-conscious of my belly being at least two sizes larger than the rest of my body; my current hip to waist ratio is 1.12, as opposed to the so-called ideal of 0.7 (it at least gets less drastic as I progress).

Several years ago I worked at a small, family-run shop in a mall. The mother was the owner, and her two daughters were managers; I was the only member of management that was not related in any way but was often assumed to be one of the daughters. When word spread that the owner was going to be a grandma, everyone at the mall assumed I was the one expecting! I actually had customers and employees from other stores congratulate my pregnancy, and when I'd explain that I wasn't the one pregnant they'd look down at my figure and ask, "Are you sure?" with genuine confusion. Um, awkward! I hadn't even gotten my first kiss yet so yeah, I was pretty sure.

I have noticed that the more I lose, the more of a crease I get going across my belly button, so I may be running into that "B" problem soon myself. It doesn't exactly help that jeans either have to cut into my belly button crease or go all the way up to my ribcage in order to not fall down.

That's where my pants sit, and the skin is actually discolored from decades of too tight waistbands rubbing.

I'm going to be a sight when I'm at goal weight. Good thing nudist camps aren't high on my list!

I recall sitting in the doctor's exam room in junior high and the doctor lecturing me that my pants were too tight in the waist (and was actually constricting my asthmatic lungs) but anything that fit "properly" would just fall right off!

When I was in my late 20's I got sick of the waists of my jeans painfully cutting into my belly and breaking zippers, so I started wearing high-waisted stretch pants, which actually allowed me to wear several sizes smaller than I normally would have. I think it ended up being one of my downfalls, as I gained over 100 pounds the one year on top of already being 100 pounds overweight. As I've mentioned in other threads I had other issues going on, but the fact that my pants grew with me helped me stay oblivious until the moment I went shopping with a friend and realized not one pair of jeans in the plus sized store would fasten over my waist. Over my legs and over my hips? Sure! My butt? Not a problem! But my stomach? A big tall glass of nope.

I dread to think about all my excess skin when I hit goal, as I've already got plenty of batwing and mother's apron material going on. I'm never going to look good naked (too bad, I'd love the freedom of a nudist camp, lol), but I'm going to look into surgical options for the sake of comfort if any excess bits start getting in the way.

I hear you on the stretchy pants. I bought a pair of shorts in grade 12 when I was 240 ish, to wear around the house and to the pool. They had so much give in them that I wore them all the way up to nearly 500. I finally threw the darn things out.

I can't believe how much time I spent in too tight pants. Right now I have a pair of 26's that I can get on and zip, but have zero give. It was a shock to me when I put them on and remembered how much time I spent wearing pants so tight I couldn't breathe.

oh the B belly - it is a pain! I hope that it will become less pronounced (maybe a nice lower case) as I lose weight....mostly I want to lose these big ol' thighs and upper arms!

I have the B belly too. Almost always had it. I just wear longer shirts or light sweaters. Just sitting here hoping I'll fix it before it gets too hot out if not switch to dresses that hide it somewhat well.

I've always had a giant B belly and can't imagine what my body might look like without one - not that I have to, it doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

I found, as I lost weight, I also felt that it got more prominent - like the rest of me was shrinking way faster, so it became sort of the focus of all my fat. I find that the lower half of the B is shrinking faster than the upper part, which means that I can wear a size 10 jean but my tops are still XL at the minimum so I feel very awkward about myself.

I have no idea what my goal weight will be (I've been morbidly obese since I was a little kid) but as I get smaller and smaller, and my belly is still a big B, I worry that my goal is farther away than I think it is.