Has anyone ever properly got rid of tummy fat in their 40s? Please share tips!

[JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff]

I am not overweight by most people's standards- my BMI is around 23 atm, I eat "clean" and don't drink much, and go to gym around 3-4 times a week plus yoga most days at home. I lift weights and do core work and whilst not an athlete, I am fairly strong, with defined upper body, good posture and muscly legs.

But I have a bit of a wobbly tummy! It's not dreadful but visible when I am naked.

It's like this one bit of me didn't get the memo. Is anyone else like this? I have been wondering about introducing period fasts..... any tips from anyone??

I had 2 c-sections.... And the guy (annoyingly) is right. It is about food, and more specifically calory deficit if you want to shift fat.
You may be eating healthily, and exercising - but if there is no deficit in input, your body is not going to go into tummy fat supplies for energy.
It is that simple.

I tried losing post baby tummy weight for several years by gentle means - healthy food and a few days/week exercise. And, while i toned in general, weight shift wasn't what I wanted.

Then - aided by food poisoning (lol) - I haven't eaten for a while. And that kick started a different weight loss that I then built upon.

Now - I do have a flat tummy - (ok - a little skin just next to the actual incision, but that can only be fixed surgically)

I also do reformer Plates and that adds great definition to muscles all over.

Mindy Peltz has the answers. Her book fast like a girl is amazing, check out her YouTube and she's done a couple of Feel Better Live More podcasts.

I'm slim and eat healthily/don't drink and altho my tummy is flat, nothing gets rid of a roll of fat under my bra

Mine is far from perfect but what made the biggest difference is doing a HIIT bootcamp. Things like hanging on a bar and lifting my knees up, Spider-Man mountain climbers, kettle bell swings etc. I had been to the gym for years with minimal results in terms of definition, but the bootcamp really works.

I listened to 'Delay, don't deny' by Gin Stephens on audible. I started fasting that same day. (I listen to loads of fasting podcasts, Gin's is a particular favourite) it has simplified my life immeasurably and I LOVE how it makes me feel.
I don't think about breakfast, I occasionally have lunch, if I suits me and to mix things up a bit. I tend to do anything between 16/8 and 22/2 everyday. (This is so easy now. I remember thinking i would never be able to do it) My longest fast has been a 48 hour fast but i do these very rarely and tends to be if I have some healing to do (eg from a very minor surgery with some stitches)
I have lost about 3 stone but fit much smaller clothes than when I was this weight when I was younger due to the dramatic body recomposition changes that fasting brings. Give it a try. I'd never be without it now.

Following. 54. Can't have HRT due to previous breast cancer. Don't know my BMI nor do I weigh myself but I walk 40 miles a week and lift weights 3 days a week. Try and do some HIIT twice a week. I eat two meals a day and one snack. Probably drink too much wine and I'm partial to a Curly Wurly. Somebody took a photo of me today sitting down. You can see my legs and butt are strong and toned, same with shoulders but THE SPARE TYRE. I'm around a size 12 on the bum and 14 up top (large boobs) but my waist is bloody dreadful. I feel like a brick. I absolutely do not want to spend my life obsessing with food, I already obsess with steps. Urgh it's shite.

I do hear you in some respects but you are not accounting for hormones (which are hell for a woman) and having children. Very few women snap back from a pregnancy with no scars and a flat tummy. I agree that calorie deficit is vital but I don't agree that you must forgo every pleasure in life. I've had cancer, I'm fucked if I'm going to not have some enjoyment. Women's and men's bodies are very different. You really can't make a comparison aside from the very basics of calories in vs calories out.

I mean, I have the answer but you already know.

I am 49, 5 foot, now have got mainly rid of the c section apron. 2 sections and have always had DD boobs and big bum.

I don’t eat much. I now don’t eat any UPFs and have one meal a day (made from scratch) and fruit in the day to snack on.

using an Apple Watch I do at least 400 calories, 30-45s exercise a day. Walking, weights, yoga, skipping, rebounder, rowing.

but I do drink like a fish at the weekends, don’t eat sweet stuff tho as don’t have a sweet tooth.

Honestly I think it's just genetic. Even when I was super fit, my BMI was 19 and I had rock hard stomach muscles I still had a wobbly belly over the top! So after that I decided it was never going to shift unless I got liposuction.

My BMI is about 21 now and I still have the belly but I dress to flatter my figure and have got over this need for a washboard stomach. The rest of me is lean and toned and nobody sees my stomach anyway. On some people (especially women, although my brother is a real gym guy but has my build - tall, skinny and toned limbs and a wobbly belly!) it's just not achievable without surgery or serious starvation.

The best thing I did was HIIT (running for me) but I still didn’t get rid of my tummy completely. (I also ate extremely clean and lifted weights, but you already do those things).

Aw I feel a bit bad for @5thCommandment now! Nice of you to share, but I already do all of what you say and have for years.

Typical day would be - gym at 6 for 1.5h with weights, planks, mountain climbers; breakfast of veggie omelette or spicy chickpea dish and coffee, no sugar; lunch of roasted mixed veggies with fruit and nuts; supper around 5-6pm with kimchi, oily fish, and some toasted seeds. 30 mins yoga after kids in bed.

No snacks unless maybe raw nuts; never have sugar in hot drinks; never have any fizzy drinks or juice; drink but rarely, like once a month.

The only sweet thing I have had this month is a slice of homemade cake at my child's birthday.

I think I may need to do fasting but I work long hours and feel like I will wilt without fuel!

@shonapop I might try that. My life is pretty intense, though, like long commute in the dark followed by back to back presentations and mtgs, then putting 3 kids to bed... I am afraid I'll just not be able to hack it if I'm not eating!

Maybe I should give it a go though...
#wimp

How do you fast every day? Is it 800 cals?

I think a bit of belly fat is actually part of a woman's natural physique. Men have flat stomachs because they don't have all the gubbins inside them that women have.mAlso women have 30% more body fat than men. So trying to get that washboard stomach that men can easily get is impossible.
blame gay fashion designers who design women's clothes for their Ideal shape, which is infact another man.

I think it’s quite normal to have a little rounded bit & as pp said I would likely have a bmi of 18 & still have it but look out of proportion. I also have no desire to restrict my eating severely for the rest of my life.

Yeah, I was quite badly overweight early 40s. No exercise, bad diet (load of pasta, wine, not enough protein), sedentary job.

I basically became an athlete. Did the hard gym classes (spin, boxing, HIIT). Often two back-to-back. Started running, all off-road and hilly. Got a mountain bike and then a road bike. Started doing duathlons (I’m a shit swimmer) and time trials. Did CrossFit for 3 years until I fucked my shoulder doing ridiculous kipping pull-ups. Fixed my diet (less highly processed carbs, loads of whole foods, pulses etc basically).

it worked for me but I’m sure there are easier ways!

My tummy is totally out of proportion to everything else. It makes dressing hard!

How much can actually be removed by liposuction???

Men and women aren't the same re exercise/weightloss, how fat is stored.

I would skip two meals, all the excerise except walking and yoga. See where that gets you. Eat European fruit in the day, water coffee tea then one meal. Give it two weeks, see what happens.

Get extra sleep instead of gym at 6am for an hour and half ?!?

I find cutting out most carbs (bread, potatoes, flour etc) helps my stomach to be a lot flatter, but I'm also happy to have a slightly rounded tummy tbh. 🙂

Oh yeah the one meal is obviously no UPF - so Homemade meats and vegetables,

One meal?!

I'd definitely rather have a bit of a rounded tummy than starve myself! But each to their own of course.

This is something I can do! 😁