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

[9Lives]

Originally posted by 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???

 

hey, I found this post on the website regarding your problem

 

I am an instructor. I teach every day, some days, 2 times a day. I do 10-15 mins. of crunches every day in both classes. I know that abs can be worked out every day as apposed to other muscles. You may want to work them more often. I do have a flat stomach and muscular. Also, have you had kids? My top part of the abdominal wall is very tight but the bottom 1/2 due to kids, although still flat and lots of muscle underneath has some loose skin on top. That skin will only go away with a tummy tuck. Sometimes we can never do anything about skin elasticity. Some women have problems with that and even though they do a million crunches, they still have a little pooch due to loose skin. Hope this helps.

[Rosalind]

I don't know...I always thought by nature's design, women were supposed to have a slight pot belly.

[9Lives]

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

nooooooooooooooooooooo

[markraine]

emobebe726.............I worked as Master Fitness, which was the Army's equivalent of a personal trainer, if you'd like I can set you up with somethings that will really help you out. This goes for anyone else, heh, I had a lifelong problem of always having a belly, no matter how skinny I was, especially since I was a long distance runner, this goes for anyone else here as well. My email is [email protected] If you're interested, send me a line, some information about yourself, I'll see what can be done I'm studying to be a pharmacist but I'm also studying to get my personal trainer certificate as a part time deal as well.

[smile95]

Are you a drinker?

[markraine]

yea, alcohol or steroids will give you a belly........I doubt its the latter one though, mostly just body fat that is slightly too high

[smile95]

mark--what are your thoughts on low carb? I have been eating less than 50 a day and can see a great difference in my muscle tone. I have also lost about 5 pounds already. I am 5'7" and about 125 now. 50 a dayshould be safe right? Also, will running tone my legs more?I took spinning classes and my legs got big. Not fat, just too muscular for my liking.

[markraine]

I love low carb, but its hard to maintain and IS NOT a longterm solution. It will help you tone out and lose fat in the short-term, that is what I am doing right now, I want to get my body fat down to add some more definition.

 

Basically, this is what I've observed and what has worked for me and for others.

 

Your body will use glycogen as its primary energy source, if you ingest a lot of carbs before a workout, your body will burn that off before anything else, if you don't eat, your body will resort to cannabilizing muscle, which you DON'T want because in the long run it will slow down your metabolism and the fat will still remain there.

 

To get your body into a fat-burning state, I usually take in a decent amount of protein before a workout, I'm not big on protein, I think people overuse it and eventually it does turn into fat, but I'd say 20-30 grams of protein before a workout is perfect, it is proven to increase your bodies fat-burning and protects your muscles from being used up as they are fed a constant source of protein. People who took in protein before a workout and not carbs, noticed a greater increase in lean body percentage and a bigger drop in fat over the course of 6 weeks then those who did comparable workouts and took in only either carbs or both carbs and protein.

 

If you do go low-carb, you still need one or two days a week that are carb heavy, you don't have to go crazy, but get at least 150 carbs on those days.....this helps repair your muscles and reinvigorate your body, because going low carb for too long can make you feel like you just got hit by a wrecking ball

 

 

My suggestions to people are to avoid too many juice drinks/sodas......thats where most people's love handles come from anyways Drink plenty of water, I also recommend green tea, just without the sugar, it does have a nice effect on your metabolism and given time, it WILL have a noticeable effect on your body

 

Other then that, just take in a lot of complex carbs, long/slow burning carbohydrates which keep you fuller longer, concentrate on lots of greens/vegetables and make sure you are getting enough lean protein, usually .8 grams per pound of bodyweight, unless you really workout a lot, in which case I recommend 1.2 grams per pound of bodyweight.

 

Consistency is important, but like I said, give yourself one day a week to go all out, eat pizza, fried chicken, ice cream whatever.....life is no fun if you can't enjoy food, that day will seem like a reward to yourself for all your hard work and motivation for working out early on in the week Most diets fail because people completely deny themselves everything, and quite simply, that is just not realistic

[markraine]

As far as your legs Beth, most of it is really genetics Most long distance runners have long, REAL SKINNY legs.....not me, I was one of the top steeplechase runners in my division my freshman year in college but I had calves like a football linebacker. Although most of the other runners had the more traditional form, I observed that people with similar body frame as myself had the same build and most of them happened to be....as I am.....of Eastern European/Slavic decent....I think I was more born to be a bodybuilder or powerlifter, but I got into running and I love it. I just tend to look really out of place, a marathon runner with huge shoulders, really muscular legs and big forearms, but I pull it off, so I guess its okay

 

 

One thing is, what is your bodyfat% ??? We all keep fat in different places, mine stays right on my stomach and is the last bit of fat to go, I could be completely thin, but getting rid of that last bit of fat on my stomach was a pain and something I am going through yet again Some women have a tendency to keep fat on their thighs and even their lower legs longer than anywhere else, so that could be a part of it. Once again its all genetics, but your legs really shouldn't get too bulky, as a woman you needn't be too worried about putting on a lot of bulky muscle Unless of course you've been ordering from BALCO Industries, just like Barry Bonds =P Running is great, I love hill running, best workout in the shortest amount of time. Hills help tone your legs and pretty much your whole

body, plus if you can jog and eventually sprint up and down them, they will burn fat like nothing else. I love/HATE hills, they hurt, but they get the job done

[smile95]

Thanks that was very helpful! I notice now that I get full very quickly whenI do eat carbs. I do allow myself to have 1-2 cheats days. When I run, my calves get very toned and my hips go down. I have never had a stomach issue. I get kinda ripped if I stick to the running!

 

I like the results so far with low carb. Nothing drastic, but when I went from eating sugar and bread all the time to eating low carb, I could tell a HUGE difference. I would eat skittles and candy and pretzels and just junk all day. Now I eat eggs and chicken and cottage cheese and my energy level is great. One thing I noticed is if i do not do crunches and just do free weights(when my abs are being used), my abs come out more?

oh my body fat used to be around 12-14, but that was yrs ago. Have to get that done again. I do not trust those scales. What is avg?

 

It is 96 degrees today, so I had to run inside.

thanks for the tips!!!!!

[markraine]

Women have a higher average than men, I believe for women the average is 18-20%.......so if you're at 14, you're in very good shape, definitely

 

 

 

 

Hehe.....96..........I wish it was so here I'm in Arizona, its like 110 when I go out running. I used to run in Iraq when I had time, and at times it was like 124 degrees.........which proves you can get used to anything, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, most likely not very healthy at all.....=P

 

Yep, avoiding all the snacks/sodas.......helps your weight stay down, the longer-burning carbs keep you filling full for a long time, but not overloaded like cookies/soda/candy bars will do

 

I love sweet stuff personally, poppyseed cake, Polish pastries, croissants, stuff like that So for me its a major struggle, but I'd rather live healthy than feel overweight, sluggish. When I'm in good shape, I am more energetic, I wake up earlier, feel better in the mornings, my eyes are brighter, my skin tone is better, all around great stuff

 

Just in case you haven't, I'd recommend trying flaxseed oil. Awesome stuff, good for hair, skin, nails, joints, weight-loss and just general well-being, EFA's are being more known, but they still are not in the mainstream quite yet, however they are definitely critical to good health, especially for women, I've heard great success stories of people using EFA's, attaining a much higher level of health, personally they work well for me, but insist on a quality EFA supplement. Barleans Flaxseed Oil is awesome, in capsule form, or in liquid form, but if you buy liquid, make sure it has been refrigerated and that is has been cold-pressed as well

[markraine]

As for your abs, most exercises people grow up on and do a lot, are relatively worthless. I love stomach crunches, but I do them REAL SLOW, putting a lot of pressure on my abs........weighted exercises work well because they will increase your ab size, which seemingly gives you more definition due to the size increase

 

Hanging leg raises are my favorite ab workout, and I believe one of the most effective, I love any exercise that uses your own body weight as resistance, I love doing pull-ups, pushups, dips and leg raises. The military doesn't do them simply because of tradition but because they are among the most effective exercises you can do for shape, strength, tone and cardio-fitness all in one.

[smile95]

wow I suppose then that 96 degrees would be chilly to you!

 

I do not survuve well in the heat. I appreciate all of your advice. I found a lot to be helpful. I am going to look into that flaxseed oil. I have heard a lot of good things about it. One last question. My sister and I seem to have the same problem of not being able to get the thigh area to become leaner? I know that it is geenetics, but even when I am at my lowest weight, I still am not happy with that area? Will squats just make them look bigger? Will running help? Promise....last question!

[markraine]

Well there is no thing as I'm sure you know as "spot fat loss." Its why I always laugh when I see people doing situps and telling me that they are trying to lose their belly. It will work in burning calories but not reducing just spot in one fat. If someone is pretty skinny already and have that ONE LAST spot that they really want to reduce.......and I think we all do..............I would recommend, just as a SHORT-TERM solution, to really really go low on the carbs, like under 20 carbs a day for 3 days.....and NO longer. Along with this, cardio workouts of 15-30 minutes 2x a day for those 3 days. You'll feel pretty weak, but this nukes excess fat like nothing else, do not do it for longer than 3 days, and make sure you are replacing those carbs with protein and eating enough, as well as staying well hydrated.

This will reduce overall body fat which will make the thighs show up better. If all you do is train the thighs and you think they look kind of flabby, it will only make them looker flabbier because the muscle will get bigger, but little if any of the fat covering the thighs will be gone, its like the people with pot bellies who do lots of abs workout and get even more discouraged because they build up their stomach muscle but due to the fat covering the abs, they only end up looking like their belly got bigger