belly fat!

[onetrumpeter]

oh, man, I hate to look at my profile! I seriously look like I could be 5 mos pregnant with my big belly flab! Sometimes it looks worse than others but last night I convinced myself that yes, I "need to lose weight." We're trying to do more of a traditional foods diet - pastured meats (when we can afford), raw milk, cultured vegs, etc. I've heard, and I reason, that this sort of eating should make for the most ideal weight "loss" as I just want a balanced, sustainable way of eating.

But what's UP with the belly fat?! Seriously. It's driving me crazy. I've read that it could be related to insulin or something? I asked our fam doc at my last checkup, but he didn't really suggest much. I just keep hearing how the location of the fat is a big deal, and mine is crazy in my abdomen. Fat and flabby belly... oy!

So, what's the deal w/ belly fat?! I'm not dying to cut calories much; I'm already eating very little processed food (almost none), and using good fats, proteins, maybe I need to cut out grains... ugh. Sorry for rambling, I've had this on my mind and just noticed this forum subsection.

[Violet2]

Belly fat is interesting and something I've been reading about for a while.

Here's a link that talks about some of the nutritional science on getting rid of belly fat but the reason I link it, is that there's a video at the bottom with Dr. Oz explaining, quite clearly imo, about what belly fat is and how bad it is.

The information on green tea and belly fat is really interesting. I read the study that came out last year on how green tea gets rid of belly fat and started drinking it myself to see what would happen. I did notice that my belly got flatter with it but I was unable to keep it up as it's a lot of green tea drinking.

HTH

V

[Penelope]

I found that when I finally got serious about lowering my cholesterol, primarily by cutting out cholesterol-laden foods, my belly totally changed. I've always been average-sized but with a kind of thick midsection, and when I stopped eating red meat, cheese, butter, milkfat (I only drink skim) and eggs, my hip-to-waist ratio radically changed. It was astonishing. I was totally carrying fat there. And my cholesterol has really gone down without medication.

I also run several times a week, but not huge distances or at great speed.

Dunno if that's typically, but I was really pleasantly surprised.

[RosemaryS-F]

Well, you may also have a diastasis (muscle separation) in your abdomen from pregnancy. There is a bunch of transverse ab work and breathing/posture techniques for helping it. The book Lose Your Mummy Tummy helped me while I was doing the exercises (which are boring). But basically, if you have a diastasis, exercises like sit-ups and pilates will only hurt it. So check for one by laying down and putting your fingers about 2 finger-widths above your belly button, and raising your shoulder blades above the floor. If you can fit anything into a ridge that forms between your abs, you've got one.

[Violet2]

That is a very good point Rosemary. I forgot about that!


V