I'm feeling kinda down and frustrated. I keep checking myself in the mirror to see if my stomach is any smaller and despite a 26 pound loss, almost nothing about it has changed. I seem to carry most of my weight below the bellybutton so it just hangs there like a pouch.

Even when I weighed 130 my stomach still held that same unattractive shape. Am I ever gonna get rid of it? Do I gotta weigh like 110 just to get it off? The thought of it never going away is really getting me down since I don't think situps and the like will help because that just targets the muscle, not the fat my body is storing there.

i can definitely relate to you on that! i was also at 130 at one point and my stomach hang was still there. personally i think the more we lose the more things will tone up and look better. i have an issue with my upper stomach hanging, and my lower stomach used to have that same issue when i was bigger but it has tightened up completely with more weight loss. it just takes some more time and weight loss i think.

You need to build muscle. Not just in your stomach, but everywhere. Skinny fat is just that- skinny fat. Want a nicer stomach? Work for it. Not saying you'll get the stomach of your dreams, but you will get much closer with exercise And weight loss at this point than just losing more weight,

Great post!

And for me, belly fat was the hardest to lose and the hardest to maintain. I gained 2-4 pounds over the past month from surgery and traveling, and due to not working out As much, my belly is where that 2-4 pounds went!

Boo hoo. But eating clean again and getting back to an active lifestyle will cure it.

Well, obviously. I wasn't asking how to get it sitting on my butt.

I'm glad you understand because it's frustrating. I was working out 3+ times a week back then and I still work out now. Everything on me is shrinking, even my stomach, but in relation to everything else, it is the only thing actually giving away my weight. It's exaggerated.

Do you do a lot of sit-ups and the like? I've heard that exercise works the muscles but doesn't really help remove the fat. As you lose it'll come off wherever it chooses to and you can't change that. =/

Go ahead and do the situps, leg & knee lifts, tummy tucks, and any ab toning exercises you know of -- regardless of what people say. They will help tone your stomach, lower tummy, and obligues at least to some degree. You will lose some inches too ...

i wasn't sure why that poster said that in reply to your post either..

but anyway, i'm the same. i store my weight everywhere but my stomach is the most noticeable it's quite annoying.
yeah, even when i was working out super hard, 6-7 days a week i still had the stomach problem. i've done sit ups and such as well, but they didn't really help. it's true that they don't help with weight loss. better off doing cardio (that's how i got rid of my "spare tire"). i really just think we need to keep working and losing weight. don't give up hope that it won't tone up eventually.. i know i'm not!

Thanks, I'll do that! Any advice on how many I should be doing or for how long? I feel I have a grasp on things like jogging/walking and lifting weights (X number of reps, Y number of sets) but given the trouble I've had with my stomach I'm not sure what my goal should be. =/

Thanks for the encouraging words chocohot, I'll try to stay positive that I'll get it off this time. =)

My stomach is a mess of extra skin right now, but it's flatter than it's ever been and it only got that way recently. I carried a lot of weight there and almost all the way down its shape didn't change AT ALL :/ It just shrunk. I totally sympathize with you because it's frustrating to just watch it go down but not change shape.

Even when I was 115 about two months ago it wasn't flat. Now it kinda is. Weight lifting got me here. I did lots and lots of crunches for YEARS and nothing worked. I decided to lift heavier weights, do bodyweight exercises, eat more and voila! I stayed the same weight but lost inches and my tummy got flatter. Lots of extra skin, but at least it looks flat in clothes

@sontaikle

So not necessarily exercises that specifically target the abs?

Nope! You can get flat abs without doing a single crunch. I stopped doing them and I only do them when one of my group fitness classes does about five minutes or so here and there.

The only dedicated ab exercise I regularly do is planks.

Right now I have one day of bodyweight exercises where I work my entire body. I'll do things like pull ups, chin ups, lunges, squats, push ups, planks and whatever else I feel like. Later in the week I have one medium weight training day and then one heavy weight training day. I do cardio days in between but I make sure to have one rest day each week.

I also eat over 2000 calories a day and make sure to get lots of protein.

My weight stayed the same but I lost inches everywhere except my legs and arms, oddly enough.

That's great information, thank you so much!

Yes to everything sontaikle said. You need to do total body weight lifting because that will help you build muscle, which means at the same weight you'll look fitter (which can also help to flatten out your stomach). Doing extra ab workouts won't help because you can't spot reduce. The best exercises are ones that work the most muscles at once becaus they give you the best bang for your buck (so squats, lunges, dumbell presses etc).

FWIW, I totally have the same thing and it's frustrating. I've seen other parts of my body shrink but my stomach is really, really stubborn (and often there are women with much higher weights than me who have waists that are a good 2" smaller than me).

One thing that helps is learning to dress my body. Big baggy shirts actually make me look a lot bigger whereas fitted ones (You can see me in some here) give me a much better shape even though my stomach is still somewhat rounded.

Good luck and just know you're definitely not the only one dealing with this!

What is your body fat percentage ?

I heard that you can only get a flat belly once our body fat falls below 18%.
It was true for me.

Depends where you hold your fat.