i wiegh 100 lbs, but have a belly. HELP!

[emobebe726]

i have a somewhat minor problem, but if anyone has any suggesstions, please let me know, because im clueless. I am 18, 19 in 2 months, im a female, im 5"4, and my wieght should be between 100-120 i believe. I weigh 100 lbs., i have a very petite body, its small framed ...i know im not too skinny, but for some reason i have fat on my belly. i work all the time, so i fiqure i get my excersice doing that. i do a lot of liftin and running around at my job. plus, i dont eat a lot of crap, or even eat a lot during the day. yet i still see a lot of fat growing on my stomach, my upper stomach, and the lower of my back. its not huge like abeer belly, but its just too chubby for the rest of my body. what do i do???

[LucreziaBorgia]

Do you suffer from a lot of stress? Your body could be reacting to any number of outside stressors, and as a biological survival tactic: causing your body to put aside fat stores - unfortunately, it happens to settle right into the belly area. So, you try to exercise it off and the body will just interpret this as putting more stress on itself and will react to protect itself from what you are doing to it: by... putting aside more fat stores from wherever it can get them. Its a vicious cycle, but you'll have to find a balance between diet, exercise and rest that will allow your body to not interpret what you are doing as 'stress', while still allowing yourself to maintain a healthy body weight. Too much exercise = stress. Diets/starvation = stress. Not enough rest = stress.

 

You will want to talk to a doctor about this: about whether or not you are at a healthy weight (not just from reading charts you see, but an actual health screening), realistic ways of viewing your body, ways to reduce stress in your life, ways to make sure that not only are you eating healthy stuff, but eating it in such a way that your body gets maximum potential use from it as a fuel to keep your body going.

[emobebe726]

makes sense. i have had a lot of stress in the past few months. also, i think a big problem is my job is so time-consuming. sometimes i dont even have time to eat, i feel like my stomach is eating itself. i get a nausous feeling and then i really cant eat. i dont know what this is. but the fat is driving me crazy becuse the rest of my body is so skinny! =(

[emobebe726]

plus what i really dont understand is sometimes i wiegh 98 lbs but still have a stomach. i bowel regularly, everything seems fine, i dont have pains...only when im at work all the time and i feel nausiated sometimes...whats wrong with me?

[LucreziaBorgia]

i dont know what this is.

 

It is your body is trying to protect itself from what it sees as stress and starvation. Under the circumstances, your body will 'eat' its own muscle tissue before it goes into the 'emergency fat stores'. You will want to schedule an appointment for a health screening and get on a better eating schedule. That might help a lot. You'll want to consider trying to grab a healthy snack - even if its just a piece of fruit, or some nuts, or beef jerky, or yogurt smoothie drinks every couple of hours, to keep your body maintaining properly.

[sarah12]

It's called getting older.

 

I'm just a bit older than you and I am the exact same size/proportions as you are. I also started to notice the fat growing at the top of my stomach when I turned 19, and the little bits of fat above my hips are just starting to show now. My stomach used to turn in, not out, and now there's even a lil pudge right between/below the rib cages in the upper part of my stomach.

 

You have to realize that at this age, your hips are growing more, and your metabolism isn't working as fast as it did when you were in your teens. When you were younger, you could eat anything and not exercise and still stay skinny as a toothpick, but now it's going to get harder to burn the fat away. Nothing you can do about it but exercise more. Personally I don't mind having a little bit of chub on me as long as it doesn't get out of control. I look much healthier this way than I did when I was in my late teens.

 

Also, I would take LB's suggestions of grabbing a healthy snack every few hours. A girl's got to eat!

[dawn duval]

You mentioned that you exercise a lot but do you specifically work out your stomach area with situps and all that? I was similar for a long time -- I was working out like crazy and very in shape but I always had a bit of a belly. Only after I started targeting that area did it look toned.

 

oops -- just noticed what you said about all that stress and irregular eating, that can definitely be screwing with you, as LB says.

[SexKitten]

Originally posted by dawn duval

You mentioned that you exercise a lot but do you specifically work out your stomach area with situps and all that? I was similar for a long time -- I was working out like crazy and very in shape but I always had a bit of a belly. Only after I started targeting that area did it look toned.

 

oops -- just noticed what you said about all that stress and irregular eating, that can definitely be screwing with you, as LB says.

 

 

 

be careful with crunches and sit-ups though...they have actually found that doing them incorrectly (or sometimes, even correctly) can cause air pockets or something that stay there as almost like a fat roll that is impossible to get rid of.

 

my sister's best friend is a doctor, and she watched me do a crunch and said "oh honey, i didn't know you were working on getting an innertube."

 

i never did a crunch again.

[moimeme]

they have actually found that doing them incorrectly (or sometimes, even correctly) can cause air pockets or something that stay there as almost like a fat roll that is impossible to get rid of.

 

I seriously doubt that. More than seriously; I'm sure this is complete bull. Sounds like an Enquirer story if you ask me.

[RecordProducer]

Certain food goes directly to your stomach, such as beer. But beer is not the only one. Carbohydrates and fats also do that. Your belly is a matter of genes. But you can correct it by choosing specific exercises for your belly.

[moimeme]

Um. Not true. There is no particular food that goes 'directly to your belly'. However, if you are under a lot of stress, a chemical called cortisol causes your body to deposit fat around the belly. The best thing to do about this is speak to a physician and be sure it's not some sort of ailment causing bloating.

[sky44]

hey! i have the same problem. im really skinny as well. the only area that i gain weight is on my stomach and it really sucks. i went for a physical checkup and i told my doctor about how all the food just goes down my stomach. she said are u doing exercises? does ur family have a history of pouchy stomach if they do they do crunches and run. she said stress can cause it as well. she said to make a gyno appt as well because my doctor told me when she was young she had a belly and no matter how much exercise she would do it wouldnt go away and she went to see a gyno and they found this thing inside of her it was some gross thing but she said its common in women who are in their 40s but she had gotten whatever she got at an early age. so just make an appt.

[SexKitten]

Originally posted by moimeme

I seriously doubt that. More than seriously; I'm sure this is complete bull. Sounds like an Enquirer story if you ask me.

 

i don't read the enquirer.

 

feel free to look it up.

[suegail]

I tend to worry when a young lady who stands 5ft 4in and weighs only 100 lbs is concerned that she's got fat on her body. I just hope you're not seeing fat that doesn't exist, because that does happen that women who obsess about their weight see an image in the mirror which does not please them while others see them as thin or far too thin.

 

Just be careful. Eat right and excercise, but don't go overboard.

[SexKitten]

body dysmorphic disorder.

 

i definitely have it.

[sarah12]

I tend to worry when a young lady who stands 5ft 4in and weighs only 100 lbs is concerned that she's got fat on her body. I just hope you're not seeing fat that doesn't exist, because that does happen that women who obsess about their weight see an image in the mirror which does not please them while others see them as thin or far too thin.

 

body dysmorphic disorder.

 

i definitely have it.

 

BDD is pretty serious. I mean I am as thin as a toothpick so I can understand how others feel when they have a little pudge on them, cause it's a pretty big deal, but it's nothing that can't be worked off. emobebe726 did mention that it's a minor problem so I don't think there's much to worry about. But SexKitten, I hope your BDD isn't too serious. You seem like a fairly confident person, hopefully that exudes into your physical beauty as well.

[SexKitten]

Originally posted by sarah12

But SexKitten, I hope your BDD isn't too serious. You seem like a fairly confident person, hopefully that exudes into your physical beauty as well.

 

thanks.

 

[emobebe726]

no, i definitly am not obsessed about it. i was just asking advice on how to gain good weight and tone up in my tummy area. i used to do crunches, but it started hurting my neck and back...and i tryed cardio for about a year...i guess i was upset i didnt see much results so i stopped. plus, a teacher i was close to way back in high school..he was a wrestling coach, i asked him what to do and he told me there's no such thing as "spot" training. i cant do crunches and expect a 6 pack lol. so i was really confuzed. he said the only way to do it is diet and run....but im skinny already...i cant diet. so what do i do??? lol

[scarlyjones]

Originally posted by SexKitten

be careful with crunches and sit-ups though...they have actually found that doing them incorrectly (or sometimes, even correctly) can cause air pockets or something that stay there as almost like a fat roll that is impossible to get rid of.

 

my sister's best friend is a doctor, and she watched me do a crunch and said "oh honey, i didn't know you were working on getting an innertube."

 

i never did a crunch again.

 

This is the most ridiculous thing Ive ever heard............

[SexKitten]

Originally posted by scarlyjones

 

 

This is the most ridiculous thing Ive ever heard............

 

doesn't mean it's not true.

 

try talking to a doctor. even speech pathologists and audiologists learn about it. or better yet, go to medical school. you learn a lot of ridiculously true things.

 

it's crazy.

[sarah12]

Originally posted by emobebe726

i was just asking advice on how to gain good weight and tone up in my tummy area.

I would try running. I'd run for about half an hour a day, and if you don't like to run, you can split it up into running 15 minutes twice a day.

[shaf140]

go see a doctor.

 

i have a gf who had a gut and couldnt understand it, she was skinny, started working out, doing cardo, etc and she still had a gut. she saw a couple doctors, and a gyn and got an xray and found out she had a cyst. it was filled up with liquid the size of a 2 liter.

 

so you should go get your stomach examined and maybe get an xray because it might not necessarily be fat.

[HotCaliGirl]

Originally posted by SexKitten

be careful with crunches and sit-ups though...they have actually found that doing them incorrectly (or sometimes, even correctly) can cause air pockets or something that stay there as almost like a fat roll that is impossible to get rid of.

 

my sister's best friend is a doctor, and she watched me do a crunch and said "oh honey, i didn't know you were working on getting an innertube."

 

i never did a crunch again.

And some people get injured from running, choke on food or get food poisoning and die in car accidents, but I still run, eat and drive.

 

Anyways, the best way to slim your belly is to run and after about a year start doing some crunches too to strengthen the muscles you form from running. That's the answer/solution considering you have ruled out any health issues. My flat, hard as a rock stomach is proof I'm in the majority who hasn't developed air pockets so take a risk as you should in life if you want to gain something out of it.

[SoleMate]

emobebe, please do see a doctor, because there is a small but real possibility of the "belly" problem being due to something other than ordinary fat and lack of muscle tone. Particularly in your case. Like a benign ovarian cyst, which if present, should be removed right away before it causes damage. Or another condition.

 

I'm all for playing Marcus Welby, and in this case, I really must advise seeing a doctor.

[9Lives]

Originally posted by emobebe726

no, i definitly am not obsessed about it. i was just asking advice on how to gain good weight and tone up in my tummy area. i used to do crunches, but it started hurting my neck and back...and i tryed cardio for about a year...i guess i was upset i didnt see much results so i stopped. plus, a teacher i was close to way back in high school..he was a wrestling coach, i asked him what to do and he told me there's no such thing as "spot" training. i cant do crunches and expect a 6 pack lol. so i was really confuzed. he said the only way to do it is diet and run....but im skinny already...i cant diet. so what do i do??? lol

 

I have the exact same problem and it sucks..What has worked for you..I think I am going

to have to start runnuing