belly fat

[Chamsia]

I am not overweight, and appear thin except for my huge belly (think 2nd trimester.)  It's just my body shape.  Long before my 2 pregnancies people would ask if I was expecting.  Naturally the pregnancies didn't help.

I get lots of excercise walking and all.  Can't afford a gym.

Can anyone recommend a home exercise regimen specifically for reducing my pot belly?  I don't trust google--so many scams.

Many thanks!

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

I really like The Firm.  They have some tapes that are just for your stomach area.

[Juvysen]

Consider reading the book "lose your mummy tummy" and also check out the stuff on diastasis recti from alignedandwell.com.  Basically, if your abs don't come back together properly post pregnancy (which most people's don't) it makes your belly stick out and seems like you have more belly fat than you do.  Not to say that there's not fat, too (I don't know, it's your body), but often this can help to pull everything in a bit and you lose inches despite not necessarily losing fat. 

[syoung]

I'll tell you what helped me, though I don't know if it will work for you since our situations are different.

After losing about 30 pounds, I was left looking ok (maybe even thin) but still had a big belly.

What helped me was eating properly - look up clean eating.  And also exercising.

My personal preference for exercise was doing videos at home, so I've been doing Yoga Meltdown and Ripped in 30 from Jillian Michaels.

Did this 3 times a week.

Worked for me.

I still have a bit of a belly, but look 3 months pregnant instead of 6 :-)

[BeFitMom]

To flatten your abdomen, you need to first build strength in your deepest abdominal muscle, your Transverse Abdominis, or TvA. This is our body's internal "girdle" and when contracted, compresses the abdomen. Then after you've established an adequate foundation of strength, you need to do exercises that train the muscle to function as a stabilizer. This will give you the ability to perform abdominal exercises while maintaining a flat abdominal profile.

In fitness, what you practice is what you get. When the TvA is weak, then the abdominal wall will bulge outward during exertion, which is exactly what your don't want!

Most women with overly round, protruding abdomens also have a sway back, i.e., a tipped pelvis and too much curve in the lower back. If this is the case with you, then most of your abdominal exercise choices should include lower spine flexion, rather than upper spine flexion (exercises that lift the upper body off the floor). This will help bring your pelvis closer to a neutral position.

BeFit-Mom
 

[Joey'smom]

There are many reasons why you could still have a protuding belly, many of them already mentioned by the previous responders.  If in fact you think your muscles are there underneath, then it has to do with what you are eating.  Belly fat can be affected by both the strength and tightness of all the abdominal muscles and your diet.  So you need to work on both.  The cleaner you eat, the less your body will want to continue storing fat.  And the more you exercise those muscles, the tighter they will get.  Now while you can't really spot reduce with exercise, there are certain types of workouts that burn off a specific type of fat that is really only found in your stomach.  HIIT workouts (or High Intensity Interval Training workouts) will in fact help you to burn off belly fat.  There are plenty of these that you can find on the internet.  Let me know if you want any help locating them.

[Revend Brosen]

We can lose belly fat easily with doing exercise. Running is best exercise to burn belly fat.Diet also plays an important role in fat burning but exercise has much importance so i do running daily for burning my belly fat.

boot camp bondi

Edited by Revend Brosen - 10/6/12 at 12:29am

[Juvysen]

Actually, depends on the running afaik.  Distance running has a tendency to increase cortisol levels and make you hang on to more belly fat than you might otherwise...

[thatgirliknew]

I just came in to post something similar, so what I hear you guys saying is that you can in fact get rid of the fat, but does it get rid of the loose skin? I dunno how to explain it, but if you lose a lot of weight PP you know theres usually the fat and loose skin?

[Juvysen]

I thought this was an interesting article re: loose skin: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-get-rid-of-excess-skin-after-major-weight-loss/#axzz2BkBCufQN

[BeFitMom]

Every woman's belly skin is a bit looser after pregnancy. Loss of collagen due to the extreme stretching of the skin during pregnancy is real. While diet and exercise can improve appearance, creams, vitamins, special foods, etc. will not return skin to it's pre-pregnancy elasticity. Retin-A products and some laser therapies can induce skin to build more collagen, resulting some improvement.

As in all things, if it sounds to good to be true, than it isn't.

BeFit-Mom

[ziesha001]

you should start with yoga.
 

[pek64]

Cut back on dairy to get rid of belly fat, I've heard.

[RoadBuddy]

I have a similar body type. Are you short? I'm 5'4 and short torso (flip side: long legs!), and I find that any amount of bloat shows up way more than it should. Eat less salt, drink as much water as you can, and focus on fiber. Basically, salt causes your body to retain water, as does dehydration, so low salt and lots of water to flush out the bloat. Then the fiber to keep things moving, which can also show up. 

Once you can see what's bloat and water and what's fat, you can do diet and exercise to reduce the fat. I personally have had luck with watching carbs - not strict low carb, but choosing fruits, veggies, and meats over things like rice, bread, and pasta where possible. Then running and walking. I've heard that yoga and things that help with core strength and posture will help, but I haven't gotten there yet.

[geemom]

plank a lot!

[Jackeke]

This is almost certainly a body fat issue. Its common belief that a certain exercise can target fat loss-but you cant target fat loss like you can muscle strengthening. If you have any fat on your stomach then youll need to lower your overall bodyfat either through clean eating, exercise or both, as you can't lose fat from just one area. Only when your body fat is low enough is any ab work going to really shine through :) 

[Jaxy]

y'all gave me the boost i needed to start eating much cleaner, thx!

[element2012]

My understanding is it's more about what you eat than how you're exercising.   Cut out grains and add in high intensity interval training (like sprints) and the belly will change fast...

[Jaxy]

Good idea, didn't think of sprints, dah! thx :)

[janina47]

Youtube videos have helped me a lot, as has a Wii Fit. I find that walking and early morning runs are great, too. For belly fat, go with an abs-focused workout. There are plenty of videos/articles online you can check out by just google'ing them