All of my weight goes to my stomach.

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Reply 20

TheHansa

Hormones seem to determine how fat is distributed so exercise more and eat less and it'll go.

Reply 21

Harrifer

Original post by LavenderBlueSky88

I'm sorry I am such a failure at internet use.

That's all we ever wanted to hear. :biggrin:

Reply 22

aivi

Original post by mindlessparade

I'm female, 18, and I've read that with a lot of females, weight tends to gather around the thighs/hips/bum due to hormones, but most of my weight tends to be on my stomach. I'm so self-conscious of it, and I'm not sure which exercises would be best to reduce it.

Obviously cardio would reduce fat levels, but I wondered if there were any other types of exercise that would benefit me. I suffer a lot of anxiety so my digestion is awful and results in me being bloated; cutting dairy and some gluten products has only helped a little (I use lactose/gluten free products).

Any dietary recommendations would be helpful too!

This is the main issue. The so-called stress hormone cortisol is affected by stress, lack of sleep, diet etc. and chronically elevated cortisol levels are associated with higher body fat (gain), especially around the mid section (mainly visceral fat, the type that's around the internal organs and is more dangerous in higher quantities).
Cutting dairy and gluten are a step in the right direction, but you could do more. Gluten isn't the only ingredient (lectins, phytic acid) in grains that is problematic, so cutting out any grain-like foods like whole grains (even quinoa, rice etc.), breads, pasta etc. would be ideal. Beans and legumes can cause similar digestive problems (and not just farting), and thus they should be limited as well.
I'd say your best bet at better health (and smaller tummy) is cleaning up your diet:
1) get rid of or at least minimise processed foods
2) cut out dairy, grains, beans and legumes
3) eat lots of vegetables, meat, good fats, starch, and fruit and nuts in moderation
4) try to keep some kind of food diary. No need for calorie counting, but rather note down what you ate and if you had problems digesting it etc. This is also a good highlighter, when you eat junk food or something bad, and you notice the negative reactions your body might have, that you usually would have just passed over. You start seeing connections between the specific things you put in your mouth and the feedback your body gives you.
5) Try this out for at least 30 days. You might notice some changes in only few days, but in other ways it might take awhile for your body to change. Don't give up before the end of the month. When the month is over, you'll know for better or worse whether this kind of diet works for you.

Going back to the cortisol; are you generally just suffering alot of stress from school, relationships or do you have some kind of diagnosed anxiety disorder? I can't really give much advice on that other than to try to work on it, make sure you get adequate sleep, get some exercise in etc.

I think your problem can be solved by diet, but it's never bad to add some exercise on top. Avoid endurance activities like long distance running, cycling etc. Instead try to do short intense workouts. Mix some (short) interval running/rowing/cycling with short circuits and weight training. Don't overdo it. Overtraining can lead to even higher cortisol levels, which is exactly what you want to avoid.
The stickies in the fitness-section should have more than enough information, but do feel free to quote me to ask me anything about diet or exercise :smile:

Sorry for the long post, but hope it helps!

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 23

No Future

Original post by mindlessparade

Stress and anxiety can definitely cause bloating. Your stomach may not even be as fat as you think, but a lot could simply be due to bloating.

Stress is also associated with more fat storage around the stomach. (Cortisol)

I have found yoga really helps bloating and stress, as well as being really relaxing.

Reply 24

whatisthis47

Original post by LavenderBlueSky88

Hey what is HIIT - can someone explain it to me? I've seen it said in a few threads here but no idea what it is!

High Interval Intensity Training

The idea is in the name - you workout in intervals at a high intensity. If, for example, your workout was 20 minutes then you might workout for 30 seconds and rest 3x that amount of time, so rest for 1min 30secs. Thus, you work:rest ratio would be 1:3. You don't have to rest for 3x the amount of time you work but that is the general time suggested for beginners. It's not like regular workouts where you work for the entire time because the idea is that you go all out in the short interval and catch your breath during the rest time so you can go all out again.
This is a very brief description. See here, here, here and here for more info :smile:

The last link is a program to help you condition your body so you can run for longer periods of time...at least that's what I use it for. Some rely on it lose weight and others, to help incorporate exercise into their lives.

I did HIIT via sprinting/jogging yesterday and my work:rest ratio was 1:2 where I would work (sprint) for 45 seconds and walk for 1min 30secs. I did this for 20min.

Reply 25

littleone271

Some women do naturally store weight on their stomachs moreso than the rest of their body though. I don't think it's necessarily linked to diet. Are the women in your family of a similar shape to you?

Reply 26

GoodbyeTuesday

My mum suffers from the same problem, but she lost 10 kilos recently by:

- Going to gym and doing cardio at least three times a week for an hour
- eating 5 smaller proportioned meals instead of 3 large ones - easy way to do it is buy small plates and bowls
- weirdest of all but I swear it works!! stop eating anything after 6pm. (I know it works cause she had to cook dinner for the whole family before 6pm and we have all lost weight from it)

Reply 27

kka25

Original post by Vixen47

High Interval Intensity Training

The idea is in the name - you workout in intervals at a high intensity. If, for example, your workout was 20 minutes then you might workout for 30 seconds and rest 3x that amount of time, so rest for 1min 30secs. Thus, you work:rest ratio would be 1:3. You don't have to rest for 3x the amount of time you work but that is the general time suggested for beginners. It's not like regular workouts where you work for the entire time because the idea is that you go all out in the short interval and catch your breath during the rest time so you can go all out again.

I did HIIT via sprinting/jogging yesterday and my work:rest ratio was 1:2 where I would work (sprint) for 45 seconds and walk for 1min 30secs. I did this for 20min.

1min and 30 secs!? :eek:

I ran for 20mins and I need more rest time than that :redface:

But I might give it a try, and I think I will work out more sweat than before :eek:

*And at the moment, my shirt is already full of sweat with my current work routine :ninja:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 28

cowsforsale

Count your macro nutrients (or at least be aware of them). Your daily calorie intake means jack **** if it's all coming from carbohydrates (in terms of body composition).

Resistance training. Hiit for losing weight is over rated..

Read the stickies!

Reply 29

kka25

Original post by cowsforsale

Count your macro nutrients (or at least be aware of them). Your daily calorie intake means jack **** if it's all coming from carbohydrates (in terms of body composition).

I'm trying to do that actually =/

Reply 30

whatisthis47

Original post by kka25

1min and 30 secs!? :eek:

I ran for 20mins and I need more rest time than that :redface:

But I might give it a try, and I think I will work out more sweat than before :eek:

*And at the moment, my shirt is already full of sweat with my current work routine :ninja:

Lol! How long are your running and resting times?

Reply 31

jacky1124cc

you better have a regular exercise everyday ,swimming, sit-up is easy way to reduce ur weight ~

Reply 32

kka25

Original post by Vixen47

Lol! How long are your running and resting times?

I do 2 reps of run; one for 20minutes and after that another 40minutes. The former would be around 10minutes-ish. I don't have any resting time for the later because after the 40 min run I just walk afterwards - perhaps that's my resting time then =p

Owh, at the moment, I'm wearing a 4kg wrist weights whilst I'm running. My God those things are :eek:

to run with. But I'm trying to increase resistance, thus the addition of the weights.

(edited 12 years ago)

T5 works.

Original post by GoodbyeTuesday

- weirdest of all but I swear it works!! stop eating anything after 6pm. (I know it works cause she had to cook dinner for the whole family before 6pm and we have all lost weight from it)