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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To wonder why a flat tummy is seen as so desirable....?

67 replies

WoodlandHills · 14/08/2012 11:55

When a lot of the time its almost impossible to maintain post-adolescence really. Not to mention after pregnancy, natural weight fluctuations etc. (I am sure there will be loads of lucky women who DO have one naturally come on this thread to deny this!

I am asking this because I myself would LOVE a flat tummy....have been Shredding for a few weeks now and am getting some good results, but still seem to have a bit of a "mum tum" (sorry for cringey phrase) ....and look at women who DO have a flat tummy with great envy, but OTOH would not want to kill myself with diet and exercise to achieve one. But have not owned one since I was about 14 sadly :o

And also (sorry if this is partly a thread about a thread) there was a thread the other day that ran and ran about a lady who was going to bind her belly after her baby was born in an attempt to get it back to "sexy" flatness ASAP.

OP posts:

CrunchyFrog · 14/08/2012 12:50

I still have a tummy when I'm 9 stone (lower limit of healthy BMI for my height.)

Low-carbing seems to be helping. 10.7 at the moment, all of the fat is round my middle. I don't think it's healthy, that's why I want to lose it.

Even when fat is fashionable, it's pear shaped fat women seen as great beauties, not we with the apple/ carrot shape. Fat bellies are either pregnant or unhealthy.

Sadly, the more weight I lose, the crepier the skin gets. I shall soon be able to do tricks.

LackingNameChangeInspiration · 14/08/2012 12:51

(goes up in war times so men choose to impregnante women who look more likely to keep their children alive by being able to feed them, a lot of 3rd world countries value fatness as an attractive trait in a mate for this reason, in the first world it means your offspring will be LESS likely to survive and be sexually sucessful themselves however)

Dahlen · 14/08/2012 12:51

It indicates youth, health and fertility. Plus a massive, massive dose of cultural reinforcement has made it highly desirable.

It's not that unattainable though as it's all due to diet and exercise in balance with each other. One will not work without the other.

Pregnancy needn't be a problem either, it's a case of managing weight gain when pregnant. It's not so much the amount of weight that makes you have flabby skin after pregnancy, it's the speed with which it is gained and then lost that causes the problem.

Some people may always have a covering of wobbly flesh even over rock-hard abs, which is fine because the chances are they are still healthy and fit in this case. But for most people it's actually very poor muscle tone, and it is a factor in why the Brits also suffer a disproportionate degree of bad backs.

Dahlen · 14/08/2012 12:55

You can also shave several inches off a mummy tummy instantly simply by avoiding low-cut trousers and buying them a size bigger. A slightly overweight woman in a well-fitting garment will always look better than slightly overweight woman in a garment that's too tight. Even the naturally slim look awful in clothes that are too small. Trouble is, we've all been brainwashed into feeling good if we buy something that has a smaller size on the label rather than taking into account what it feels and looks like.

Original poster

WoodlandHills · 14/08/2012 13:16

Some people may always have a covering of wobbly flesh even over rock-hard abs, which is fine because the chances are they are still healthy and fit in this case

^^ thats me, my tummy muscles are rock hard but covered with flab that NO amount of exercise seems to get rid of....

OP posts:

Original poster

WoodlandHills · 15/08/2012 10:00

I asked DH about this last night, and he said he prefers women with a bit of a tummy and boobs, has never fancied skinny women, CHEERS DH

OP posts:

MyLittleMiracles · 15/08/2012 11:05

I have always hated my stomach.....it has never been flat enough, yet I look back at my school pics and it was flat!! And everyone I ask (male) whether friends, strangers or someone I just chat to seems to think I am just fine the way I am yet I still want to lose it.

catgirl2012 · 15/08/2012 11:28

New girl at work told me she did sit ups in the hospital bed after giving birth and lost her baby weight in 6 weeks.

She said she "couldn't live with herself" if she had not got rid of her tummy straight away and talked in hushed tones of the "walnut effect" she had been told some women have after hacing children.

All said whilst eyeing my less than flat post-baby tum

I do not think we shall be chums.............

redpanda13 · 15/08/2012 11:53

Pilates made my stomach go flat in a very short time. The instructor is an OAP who has the body of an 18 year old. Very toned stomach and a waist. She is my inspiration. I refuse to become a stout middle aged woman!

YouveCatToBeKittenMe · 15/08/2012 11:59

Jillian Michaels No More Trouble Zones has worked wonders on my tummy. It's much flatter now. So if you don't mind sweating like a pig and almost dying from exhaustion give it a try

Bumblebee333 · 15/08/2012 12:01

I like curves! I don't like that my tummy wobbles. I need a balance.

Original poster

WoodlandHills · 16/08/2012 08:50

catgirl that is nuts

And what on Earth is the "walnut effect" when its at home?

OP posts:

Dahlen · 16/08/2012 11:08

It's all about balance isn't it.

I don't subscribe to the view that any weight is acceptable because beauty is in the eye of the beholder etc. The truth is that the significantly overweight are storing up massive health problems for themselves and should lose weight for those reasons quite irrespective of any aesthetic ones. Although ultimately, 'your body, your choice' and if soemone is aware of the risks they have the right to gamble with their own health as they see fit of course.

However, it is possible to be a couple of stone overweight and still extremely fit and healthy, so it is a mistake to use weight as a direct barometer of health. Particularly since some very slim people can be just as unhealthy as the significantly overweight, it's just not as visible, just as smoking and excess alcohol consumption do significant damage yet aren't very visible.

IME, if you lead a healthy lifestyle and eat a good diet, you will find your body weight will settle at it's ideal for you. For some women that may be a size 6, for others a size 14, but all will look healthy and therefore attractive, regardless of the roundedness of the stomach.

NovackNGood · 16/08/2012 11:09

Because being fat is hideous.

RightsaidFreud · 16/08/2012 11:17

It's not impossible to maintain after teenage years. But it takes hard work and discipline. And learning to say no to that piece of chocolate cake. Which is hard.

Original poster

WoodlandHills · 19/08/2012 09:36

Novack you don't have to be fat to NOT have a flat tummy

I don't have a flat tummy but my BMI is only about 20 and I am a size 8

OP posts:

belgo · 19/08/2012 09:38

I've never had a flat tummy, always rounded, even weighed I weighed 7 stone.

Of course now I would love that rounded tummy. I have a rectangular shaped one now.

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