Protruding Stomach, Looks like I'm Pregnant, but I'm Not
 

Ok, so I've lost 80 pounds so far ( My ticker needs to be updated!), and I feel good. Or, at least my feelings about myself and my body are off and on. Anyways. I have this one major issue - my stomach seems to be protruding. I'm pretty tiny now, and I have this little bump for a belly that feels hard - not flabby. It's right between my hip bones, around the lower abs / pelvis I guess you could say. I'm not pregnant, and I know that I've been working out my abs a lot, but theres no "six pack" developing. I feel as if it looks like I'm pregnant. I stopped doing ab work outs because I want to see if perhaps I just have too much muscle there.

Does anyone know what this could be? Perhaps it has to do with nutrition? Am I lacking some food/nutrient/something else? It's driving me crazy.

A large fibroid tumor can cause a woman to look pregnant. Usually they don't show up until your 30s (you don't say how old you are), and they can get to be quite large. You might ask your OB/GYN at your next annual if you haven't found another culprit by then. Fibroids are usually asymptomatic in most women, but can sometimes cause excess bleeding and painful periods. The good news is they aren't malignant and almost never become so.

Anne

Or it could just be your abdominal wall. I thought that I had a bump of fat there and my doctor pinched it and said that there is no fat there at all-- it was skin and muscle. :)

See your doctor to rule out a hernia?

Kitty

Definitely see a doctor!

Fat or thin, I thought I was just destined to have a protruding stomach... then I was diagnosed with fibroids, ovarian cysts and endometriosis. The doctor mentioned that overweight women often don't know they have these problems because the excess weight can actually mask the symptoms.

A friend of mine lost a lot of weight, still had a protruding stomach and discovered through her doctor that her abdominal wall had separated to support the additional weight she had been carrying around her waist.

Good luck!