thin body, very large stomach
 

When Im in clothes, and i tell people i want to lose more weight, theyre genuinely shocked and think i may have a more serious mental setback.

However, in a bikini, people start to realize what im talking about...
im super thin everywhere except my stomach. When I sit, i have two rolls, the bottom one actually being very noticeable.
My exercise consists of a whole lot of spinning, and occasional situps/ab work and i havent really been dropping weight yet because like i said, everywhere else on my body is thin.. i just dont even think i can drop thaaat much more, or if i can, it wont be easy at all.

im not sure what to do. ive even tried eating less in size to get my stomach to shrink but didnt work.

help?

(my display is not up to date)

I'm not sure how people will react to my response, but if you are 5'7 and in the 140s and you have as much extra fat in your stomach as you're describing, I'd look into lipo.

Now, it's not because of your stomach, it's because of the way YOU feel about it. If getting this little thing fixed up a bit will make you feel better, then go for it. But if you are eating right and exercising and it's still not happening, why not get a little help.

Although what you're describing is not common with females - it is extremely common with men.

At a certain point - your body will decide to start losing the fat in your abdomen and then you'll lose it fairly quickly.

However, if you're like a lot of guys, it will feel like you'll never get to this point because you probably have more fat on your body than you think.

what do you mean at a certain point?

Have you tried cutting back on carbs? For a week you could try Atkins or south beach and see what happens. This is the only thing that works for me.

I've had the same response, by the way.

At a certain point means you'll continue to lose fat in various places in your body and finally your stomach area.

Where exactly? It depends.

For most guys - this point is when they have very lean arms and shoulders and pretty lean chests.

Sometimes it's just the way we are built.

I'm 5'5", 138, 53, had twins, over 6 pounds each! My abs took a beating. Pot gut in women runs in the family. Along with big ole girls! Still a DD!:dizzy: So be it.

Without the benefit of a tummy tuck, lipo, and if it exists, a way to get rid of the stretch marks, my tummy is what it is. No amount of carb cutting, or ab exercises is going to change this.

The girls! Oh my! That's another day.

The good news is, genetically, I have great arms and legs! I love them, and don't worry about what I can't change.:D

If you are at a healthy weight, maintaining, eating a healthy diet, getting some exercise, and treating your body well, that's all you need! :hug::D

It's weird that we're all advocating lipo (if it REALLY bugs you), but it may be the best way to go. I had the same problem, maybe worse, and the belly fat didn't disappear even when I reached the bottom of my BMI range. In fact, it only disappeared, for the first time in my life, when I slipped, accidentally, and not necessarily healthily, below it. Thrilled to finally have a flat belly, but the result, on my arms & legs, is not so nice. Thinking lipo would get you the best of both worlds.

Before you do lipo please try pilates first!

I think you should try regular strength training.

Not to scare you but I would make sure you had a check up. A number of benign and not so benign conditions can cause a large looking abdomen. My mother had a benign ovarian cyst that had grown to a very large size. Once she had it removed (and the water around it disappeared) she looked completely different. My doctor tells me I have uterine fibroids and although also benign she says it does contribute a small bit to my belly.

My round stomach runs in the family, but at a certain point in my weight fluctuation journey, I do lose there. Agree on Pilates. Would not personally do lipo though because I like my body the way it is. Also since going gluten free & wheat free, the stomach has healed from things that were bothering it & it tends for the most part to be flatter.

One more thing to OP, you look fabulous in your avatar, can't see anything large happening in ab area.

So many great points in the responses! Seriously I agree with all the answers so far.

Worth making a doctor's appointment, I have had patients with round bellies that were otherwise thin that have ended up being diagnosed with an ovarian tumor / other issues just as Emma was talking about. We're not trying to scare you, but its worth ruling out.

Have you had kids? Many women cannot get their bellies completely flat after kids.

Cutting out or down carbs can may also help. Something with the carbs/ sugar --> insulin-->increases abdominal fat. I don't remember the details...

Also sometimes you really do just have those 5 extra pounds like John said and it will come off. I know I have a very very small frame. When I was 140 lbs (though I'm shorter) I was just getting into a size 6. And in clothes I couldn't even tell people I was still trying to lose because I got sick of the too thin comments, but naked was a different story, I had this fat on my hips that was still there, and that weird knee fat, yeah pretty mental image...anyway, I was just one of those people that probably needed to be 120s to finally get rid of those last few puggy spots.

Toning can also help. You can't spot reduce, but increase muscle mass will increase your basal metabolic rate, and help you lose. Also, toned areas do look better.

And finally lipo is also a good option. If you really are happy with everything else, and you're a healthy weight, sometimes lipo helps you get rid of that last 5 lbs. I don't know much about lipo but I think that you might be at risk to regain the weight though.

I don't have this problem (kinda pear shaped), but I do low carb and on the low carb forums, I've seen people say that it's the only way they lose their bellies. I also wonder if it's partly bc when you're eating low carb, you almost naturally go wheat free. I am not celiac, as far as I know, but stopping wheat (and I avoid gluten, too, kinda just for the h*ll of it, since I'm 99% there anyway) has solved so many little health problems for me.

If it were me, I'd try low carb/no wheat and probably pilates first. But I don't see any shame in lipo, if you are so inclined.

ETA: callenetics is also supposed to be awesome for abs.

This ...

I am only 21, no kids, and lipo isnt an option for me. I do not want to go under the knife just to potentially have a "flat belly" and I'm in kinesiology, so we learned the true benefits of lipo and its not alot. Almost nothing actually. The difference is barely noticeable unless you're significantly overweight.

As for ovarian cysts/tumors.. I looked them up and I dont have any of the symptoms. Cysts are a little more likely though because (TMI) my periods are like **** on earth. I need to take Naproxen for them, prescribed by my doctor.

I still dont think its that however.. It doesnt look "bloated" or even rounder in shape which you typically see with tumors/cysts, it literally just looks fat. The two rolls are not symmetrical, it just looks.. fat haha.

I want to try pilates, but my gym doesnt seem to have a good program for it at all. :S I tried it, and it was definitely a different kind of pilates because it was more slow-paced and had a lot of older women in the class lol.

Thank you! I hide it well :P

Well at 21 I do think that is unlikely. :)

Diet change! I had a flubby lower tummy and lost it while nursing baby #4 as I was on a VERY strict diet due to her eczema (for about 4 mo all I ate was beef, chicken, pears, broccoli, apple, brown rice and added soy milk in the last month out of that 4). I not only went from 115# to 95# (and felt AWESOME-tons of energy), but I TOTALLY lost my belly. It was COMPLETELY flat and I didn't have to suck in! =)
THEN after I got done nursing her, it all came back when I went back to my old ways of eating =(
Had baby #5 in 2008 and had the flubby lower belly until last year when I tried the Raw Food Detox diet. I had been running 3-4X a week at this point and watching what I ate and was around 105# and 5'2 but STILL that yucky lower tummy! Only 3 days on that diet and very noticeable changes in my tummy! BUT, being who I am, I hopped off it and lost that =( I'm looking forward to trying it again though

I have pretty much finished losing weight and have been eating off my diet plan a bit. I notice when I eat poorly my stomach really grows. Like all my progress there goes out the window. I never really got much into ab excercises I seem to have focused in my arms first which I got to where I wanted, right now it's my butt and legs maybe soon it will be my stomach. Anyway when I have an event coming up where I want my stomach flatter I really watch my sodium and what I eat, usually within a week my stomach appears flatter. But one bad choice seems to stick with me there for days. I know my comment is not a permanent solution but when u have a bikini day coming up u can try my advice

Yes. If you aren't pulling, pushing and picking up super heavy things you haven't exhausted your options! I know I'm prone to a fluffy tummy too and lifting made it MUCH better. Now I'm just at that point where I'm too lazy to eat correctly for a flatter tummy.

Dear,

If you have rolls when you sit and haven't had kids yet, then you're fatter than you think.... (sorry:-/...).

If you've had kids, then it may be extra skin combined with poor abs, combined with...fat.

Do you drink a lot of alcohol and eat a lot of red meat?

I'm the same, I have thin legs, a tiny butt, but a man's belly (and, yes-I love beer). It's just the way we gain weight.

Diet until it goes away (and yes no carb works wonders)

Eh? Swimsuit models have rolls when they sit down. It's called being human. How fat you are determines the size of these rolls.

my best advice is to eat three meals a day, and stop eating at 5 pm or 6 pm at the latest. this will not only fix your sleeping shedule after a few days, but it will vanish the tummy because after one day my tummy was already looking flatter. eat your breakfast at like 7am. dont eat anything or chew or eat lollies or gum after 5 the point is to fix your body clock. the belly will melt off

How does not eating after 5 make your tummy vanish? And what does it have to do with the body clock? This makes no sense at all.

Interesting because I had the flattest tummy when I didn't even wake UP until 5pm! :D

I guess Catherine is confusing stomach bloat in the evening with actual stomach fat.