[azraelya]

I have a lot of weight to lose, and I'm losing it pretty steadily as of lately. For exercise, I've been doing light cardio (namely dancing and my exercise bike, some walks too) daily.

I was watching a documentary where this guy lost a lot of weight fairly quickly, and due to his lack of exercise, he had a lot of excess skin left over. My weight is fairly proportioned in my body, EXCEPT for my lower abdomen, "the pooch." It is very large, like I can litereally lift it up separate and it feels very heavy... I have been trying to incorporate sit-ups into my exercise, and while I can feel and notice a difference in my actual stomach, the pooch (right below the belly button) seems to remain unaffected I can't even feel any muscles there! It just feels like pure fat..

So I'm looking for help! Can anyone give me guidance on specific lower-ab related exercise I can incorporate into my workout ruitine daily that will help me better with losing fat in this particular area? I have heard that exercises that just focus on one particular area won't do you much good when you have a lot of weight to lose everywhere, but I just really want to start doing SOMETHING so I don't have to worry about a lot of extra skin if I keep losing weight steadily.

Thank you all in advance!!

[PhotoChick]

Doing exercises is not going to help extra skin. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Whether or not you'll have skin left over has to do with a lot of factors that include your age, the general elasticity of your skin, the amount of time you've been overweight, etc. It also often takes skin a good bit more time to shrink or reshape itself after weight loss than losing the actual weight takes.

Most of us who are older and who have been significantly overweight for a long period of time are or will deal with skin issues. For me, it won't be much anywhere on the rest of my body, but around my stomach. I also have the "pooch" and the apron of skin and the more weight I lose, the more obvious it becomes. I have already decided that plastic surgery of some kind will be in my future to help trim down the leftover skin around my middle.

There's a great FAQ in the Maintainers section about Weight Loss and Skin Issues: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36040

I'd suggest reading up there for more really good info.

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[azraelya]

Hi PhotoChick, thanks for the reply!

I am aware that exercise won't help the extra skin after it's already there, but I guess what I'm moreso concerned about is losing the pooch area in general, and exercises that can help with it. Like I had said, I can feel and see a difference in my UPPER abs with exercise, but I am generally looking for advice with specific 'toning' exercises I can do daily for shrinking the pooch. I know there might be some extra skin even with that, but I'm young and hopefully my body (or skin, rather! ) can bounce back!

I would greatly appreciate any more input =)

[Apple Cheeks]

Every woman on my Mom's side of the family, no matter how slim or overweight, has one physical trait in common : the poodge. I have it, too. It was much smaller when I was a scrawny kid, but I still had it.

I know exactly what you are talking about when you say you can pinch it and it's nothing but fat: when I pinch my own poodge I can feel that there is really nothing in there, and I wish a doctor could just snip the whole thing off. Without that poodge, my tummy would be flat.

From what I've observed in my family, and with my own body, it will get smaller the slimmer you are but it will never go away completely without lipo or some other kind of surgical intevention. (Which I am planning to have next year to finally get rid of this stupid poodge once and for all! )

[PhotoChick]

Well the other thing is that there's nothing you can do to spot "tone" or spot reduce. Sorry ... I know I haven't been exactly a beacon of fun info.

Many of us have found that the very last place we lose weight is in our tummies - it's just one of those annoying and sad facts. The first place you gain weight is usually the last place you lose it.

Sorry!!

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[azraelya]

Haha, it's fine PhotoChick, I really appreciate the replies! =)

And Applecheeks, I know what you mean! My mother and sister both have it as well... none of us have ever really been anywhere close to on the "slim" side though, so I can only hope eventually it will go down a bit...

In the meantime though, I dunno, there HAS to be some kind of exercises designed for it!! I refuse to belief there's NOTHING I can do to at least help it a liiiiitle bit along the way! LOL, I'm as stubborn as my pooch! ~_~

So to further redirect the question, what are some examples of exercises where you at least FEEL like you're working the lower abs/pooch? I have tried looking some up and I dunno if I am doing them improperly, but I only feel it in my upper abs. I'm just desperately looking for a variation of crunches or SOMETHING so that I can at least feel like I'm working on it.. even if it's just a placebo!! LoL

[Amany]

Oh that danged "pooch"!

I have it. Even when I was much smaller (sz 8 another lifetime ago), I had it. I have read that women have it to protect babies while pregnant. I've also read that it takes a tummy tuck to get rid of it. That seems rather extreme to me though.

Callanetics seem to be some of the best exercises you can do. Also Lotte Berke, T-Tapp and exercises like that. If any exercise can rid you of the pooch, those are probably the ones.

I think crunches are supposedly better than situps. Situps use mostly back muscles, whereas crunches effectively work the stomach muscles more.

Good luck!

[Fat Melanie]

Bicycle crunches will work your lower abs. Of course, you already know that doing this will not spot-reduce that area. Only losing weight over-all will do that, but in the meantime, do this:

Lay on your back in crunch position, but lift up your legs and 'bicycle' them as you 'crunch'... then see if you can feel it in your lower abs.