hi all,

i have been struggling to lose weight for many years now. i lost 40, gained it back and lost 25 within 2 years! currently, i am 198. i'm 5'4" and what i am EXTREMELY frustrated with is my measurements! i carry all of my weight in my stomach. around my ribcage (the smallest part of my waist), i am 34 inches. then when i measure around my bellybutton, i am 50 inches. i know all body types are different, but i know many ladies who are around 200 and have a 38 inch waist. whats worse is, i cant seem to get rid of it! i run 4 times a week between 30 minutes and an hour each time. the other days, i do ab exercises. im a big fan of crunches but NOTHING is helping. please!!! if anyone has any success stories they could share with me, i would greatly appreciate it because seeing "50 inches" when i measure myself is making me sick!!!

I started from 45-46-47 and am now 36-29-39. Still 25 lbs to go, but I went from a size 18/20 to 8/10. The stomach area was one area that would shrink last. Ditto the back side. It just takes time. One step after the other. I just took the first step and never looked back. Exercise will help with toning, but fat loss requires you to cut calories. If you combine the two, you will see results. I also started with Jillian Michaels 30-day shred and while I saw no results on the scale, I did see inches go within two to three months doing it.

I agree with Lolo. I've heard that cutting calories accounts for 80% of weight loss. So start there and then schedule your exercise around your diet plan. Don't give up!

You can't spot reduce but if you cut carbs you will lose the belly fat. The body stores 4 grams of water for every 1 gram of carbs. High protein and lowish (not Atkins) carbs are the way to go.

I understand your frustration A lot of women lose around the middle areas last. Have you had children? Many women that have been pregnant experience a separation in the abdominal muscles that results in a rounder shape, and need special types of exercises to help reduce it - and some types of ab exercises can make it worse.

Don't give up! Keep working, and you'll see a reduction in your size as you get closer to goal

I don't see any mention of what your diet looks like. You can not out exercise a bad diet.

I only lost weight when I started thinking of diet for weight loss and exercise for fitness.

I know how you feel, I have the same problem.

I work as a personal care assistant and my clients have very strick diets. I haven't tried a specific diet or cutting carbs but my eating habits are based off my clients eating habits, since i always cook for them. No fast food or restaraunts, at all. I feel too guilty and disgusted with myself after eating fast food, so i have been able to keep that up for a while. Mostly, i eat only white meat (never fried), a bunch of grilled veggies, salads, and scrambled egg whites. For the past few months I have been trying to cut carbs. Sometimes, i'll eat a whole wheat wrap or something.

That is exactly where I carry the bulk of my weight! So hard to find pants and shorts that fit waist/stomach but that don't look like clown pants around my legs. I have been on a lot of Prednisone the last 2-3 years and it seems to go straight to my upper stomach area and now fat deposits in some other odd places. We just need to keep pushing and reclaim our bodies! Easier said than done

I assume you can rule out cysts or abdominal water retention. To get rid of abdominal fat, I would look for 1200-1500 calories a day depending on how much you exercise. A low carb, ketogenic diet (~50g/day) may help as abdominal fat can contribute to insulin resistance. I had successful weight loss with commercial diets like Medifast and Ideal Protein, which are around 900-1000 calories a day. These diets do not allow intense cardio exercise, though, and may require medical supervision. In principle it should not be too complicated to eat lower carb using regular foods. Since you already are testing it, it may be worth giving it some more time.