When I look at the pictures of people that are the exact same height as me and the within the same weight range as me (I'm 5'6" and 133lbs), that usually those people have trim flat bellies. I have a huge pooch belly still! Can anyone enlighten me on this??? PLEASE?!?!? I ahve had four kids, but it is my upper belly (above my belly button that sticks out more- and you can clearly see that I still have a LOT and I mean a LOT of fat on my body. WHY?????? It is easy to grab a handful of fat from all around my midsection.

Oh lord, girl, I know how you feel!

I love looking at progress pics and just all the pictures in general on 3FC, but sometimes it leaves me feeling kind of confused and depressed. Maybe I'm just super critical of myself, but I look at girls my height and weight (or even shorter and heavier) and I think they all look SOOO much better than me. Not just in the belly, as is your case, but just overall, I think they all look so much smaller.

I have to refrain from comparing myself to anyone else because apparently, I could be 45 pounds underweight and still look like a heffalump

Could it be that it is your belly? You know we judge ourselves more than other people...

I know how you feel. I've noticed that a lot of people around my height/weight, some even with very similar builds, always seem to have a flatter stomach.

This is SO me. I don't know what it is about my body. Maybe my fat is really fluffy and not dense, maybe I have a smaller frame so fat is very noticeable on me haha but people at my height/weight or larger just look smaller, especially in the belly area. And I haven't had any kids. Oh, and it's not just *me* being critical. It's kind of a known fact/joke among my close family and friends. At this point, I just laugh about it. It used to seem really unfair, but I have just accepted that my body is this way, and I have to weigh a lot less in order to look the way others do at higher weights.

It may not be fat. It may be loose skin. If you tended to gain around your midsection, then you would expect it would become looser there as you lose.

It may tighten up over time, as you keep the weight off. But it takes many months. In the meantime, Spanx can help... Also, working on tightening your abs can lessen the effect.

Jay

You probably just look at other girls' bellies because that's what you consider your "problem area." I do the exact same thing, but for me it's thighs/arms. I feel like my thighs and upper arms are soooo much bigger than other girls my weight, and if my legs and arms were just thinner I could look thin in close. I like my belly but there really aren't many occasions where exposing it is appropriate! I'm sure you look great and are just being hard on yourself. Four kids and you weigh 133? That's awesome all by itself! I can only hope to get to 133, and I don't even have any kids!

Thanks for all the replies- it is something that is REALLY depressing me latley. I am not a depressive person by all means, so that's bugging me even more! My legs are stick skinny and very toned and I'll even add sexy- I love them! My arms are skinny (a bit flabby on the underside, but I don't care too much about that). You can see my collar bones very prominent and even some some chest bone (I don't like but it's liveable). I still have back fat- I can grab it! But my belly bugs me the most! I don't know how to take care of it lol- how would I tell if it is just lose skin? It doesn't seem to be to me- then again I guess I wouldn't really know. I can grab it in handfuls!! Anyone? Help? My abs underneath are rock hard- you just have to poke through the fat to feel them LOL [ok I really don't find it funny ]

Crystal- I wholeheartedly agree w/what bellona said. 133lbs and 4 kids, you should be shouting from the rooftops. I don't have any kids and my stomach is my biggest problem area (along w/thighs, arms, butt, or any other body part I can think about that day).

Well, everybody is different. I listen to Jillian Michael's radio program on my Ipod a lot (she no longer has a show, I listen to all her old ones), and even she has a problem area - her butt, apparently. She says that she could get down to 115 lbs, her face would be drawn, her boobs would be gone, yet she still has fat on her bottom. Her advice is to live with it, although she is always trying something to get that fat off of there.

It is no doubt frustrating to not be able to spot-reduce, but your body apparently wants to store fat there, and only there.

That said, I am sure that you look marvelous!

I know it doesn't change things for you, but I look at your bikini picture and I think your stomach looks perfect! It is how mine used to look and I want it again. Not sure it will happen for me, but that is my dream.

Trust me girl you will get there with time. When I was 207lbs my stomach looked absolutely terrible. It jiggled when I walked, I had an overlap when I was naked, and I was busting out of my size 16 jeans. My waist is not where I want it to be, but I think it's just something that I'm going to have to live with. Whatever shape your tummy takes when you are at your goal, trust me, it will be beautiful

Well- I still know I have a lot of fat on my belly lol- my body fat analysis says that I still have 29% body fat! I was told that that was way too much. I don't know what it means in terms of how many pounds I still need to lose, but a rough guesstimate would be nice. Is there a way to lower my body fat %, trim myself more and still weigh roughly the same? If I was brave enough, I'd post pictures....

As for you question about the skin-sometimes loose skin can be a bit flabby. Like, limper than regular fat and more saggy. Really bad loose skin looks kind of droopy and dimply.