[love1384]

So I am down 60 pounds, and my stomach which was not that huge (44 inches, lower abdomen 49 in. ) in the first place, is the first place to go (waist 36 inches, lower abdomen 41 )!.

For months now I believe I have avoided "skin" (even though this I guess is not really skin) but the folds from sitting down are getting on my nerves, and I am realizing my belly button is starting too look like a frown . I am 24, not a smoker and very active, for months now I have been doing strictly cardio with a sprinkle of weight training. Early last summer I did a lot of weight training and I was just maintaining the weight I was at, therefore, I went back to cardio. My goal is to try to get to 199 before i continue weight training again. However, this "fold-age" MUST STOP.

SO WHAT SHOULD I DO!!! .. Will sit ups help prevent the folds or is it inevitable?

[Meg]

Hi Love! Congrats on the 60 pounds gone!

Situps, crunches, and ab exercises will strengthen your ab muscles, and core strength is important. But they can't do anything for the fat layer on top of the muscle or any excess skin that you might have left over from weight loss.

Cardio and diet will help get rid of your remaining abdominal fat, but skin is a different story. You might want to check out this sticky for an overview on how weight loss can affect our skin: Weight Loss And Skin FAQs

Only time will tell whether you have an issue with fat or skin, so just focus on losing the rest of the fat for now. But I encourage you to add weight training back into your exercise program now -- it really will help with fat loss.

[FakeFrowns]

Unfortunately even skinny people get folds but i think that as long as it isn't excess skin then doing sit ups will certainly tighten it up a bit! But if the folds are caused by fat then the only thing to make them go away is losing the weight as even if the muscles underneath the fat are tight it won't make much of a difference.