[missrae]

Hi everyone,
I'm so glad to have discovered this wonderful forum! My first post!

I was diagnosed with PCOS in September -- and on the advice of my gyno, have seriously been working on dropping the extra weight since then. Slow going, but steadily lost 1/2-1 pound a week combining calorie counting with regular exercise (until I kinda went off the rails a few weeks ago, but that's another story )

Anyways, in reading postings in other parts of the forum, I always come across references to the dreaded "tummy apron" -- that lower tummy pooch. Weirdly, I find that I'm having the opposite problem -- my lower tummy is shrinking quite nicely, but it's the *upper* belly (above the belly button) that's not -- so frustrating, as the overhang over the top of my pants seems to be getting bigger as the lower belly shrinks and the upper does not! Just wondering if this is a PCOS - related thing (?male-pattern weight distribution) and if this is something you ladies experienced as you lost weight? And does it eventually even out or will I end up with my hip measurements the same as my waist .

Help!

Rae

[Holdensmom]

I have pcos too, but I'm alot heavier than you, so I can't compare. My educated guess is that it will all even out if you keep going. the upper and lower tummy thing is really wierd. Even when I was pregnant I had two tummies, the bottom one was just fat and the top was the baby.... Hang in there..

[tabitha]

Missrae, you say that you've started exercising. Years ago, when I was slimmer (so nearer your build judging by your weight and height) and had a bit of a pot belly but was flatter above the waistline, I started swimming and developed exactly the kind of upper belly you're describing, very quickly. I think it's because I was developing those muscles so they started to protrude, but they were under a layer of fat so looked quite weird. When I got a bit fitter it flattened out fine

If you're doing exercise that's building up and strengthening your abdomen that may be what's caused this. It's like the top part of a six pack emerging!

I do have PCOS as well, diagnosed 18 years ago, but ten years ago I had a completely flat stomach after being at least 30lb overweight a few years before so it can be done! If only I'd appreciated then what I had...

You're doing brilliantly, I really admire you for how much weight you've lost.