To ask you to advise me why my stomach is massive

[samjamsam]

I'm really struggling atm. I have a massive stomach - 31-32 inches.

I am a size 10 otherwise due to my massive stomach. I would probably be a size 8 if I didn't have my stomach to fit into clothes. I weigh 7 stones 13 pounds (50.3kg).

I have been to the doctors and had tests for gluten intolerance, cortisol, pregnancy and all came back normal.

My typical diet:
Breakfast: 40g oats, oat milk and 2 strawberries
Lunch: small portion of quinoa or couscous with 1/3 tin chickpeas and 1 banana.
Snack: malt loaf (91 calories) or no snack, very occasionally a treat like popchips
Dinner: e.g. 1 mug of pasta with tomato sauce (olive oil, garlic, 1/2 tin peeled tomatoes) aubergine and ricotta; jacket potato with a tin of beans and cheese

I do a 10-15 min workout in the morning such as a lower body workout, light cardio or abs and do about 8000 steps a day.

Please help!!

Do you have normal elimination habits?

Friend of mine had this and also only went to the bathroom every few days. Nutritionist put her on a different diet and supplements and now her bathroom habits are regular and stomach is flat.

Wind

You can't spot reduce, but you can work on full body exercises.

I'd say your diet is lacking in protein, and far too many carbs. You need to eat some eggs, or some chicken breasts, or tofu, or fish - your daily diet has minimal protein and not enough leafy green vegetables in it. Add some fresh tomatoes, fresh peppers, or [frozen if you like] spinach, broccoli, and the like.

And 10-15 minutes exercise and 8,000 steps isn't actually that much exercise. 10,000 steps per day is seen as the minimum - and that's in the USA where people don't really walk (except in New York). You should be doing nearer to 20,000 steps, and doing full body exercises which will develop muscle.

A lot of full body, compound exercises/movements of necessity engage & develop your core - just some ideas:

• start with body weight squats, then progress to jumping squats
• burpees
• work on press ups - these get all your body strong, especially core
• lunges, and walking lunges

Hi OP. I had this same problem - had scans, tests, cut out everything you can think of. In the end it was diagnosed as just fat! Went to a PT to try and lose the weight (am relatively thin everywhere else) and she said straight away my posture was terrible and that I had basically 'lost' my abs due to not being active enough. This made sense as it started when I got a car! If I stand up properly and engage my core then the fat 'disappears'.
So while you should be tested for as much as you can it might be something else entirely.

If it's fat, you simply need to lose fat. You can't target fat loss and you can't decide how it distributes itself. If you carry some fat, it may just be your natural design to carry most of it on your stomach. For other people it's their thighs or their bum. Some people carry it on their upper back and it looks like a hump until they lose weight.

If it's bloat, I had this for years and the doctors kept telling me to increase fibre. It never worked. So I cut out fibre altogether: No fruit and veg, no grains. It's not sustainable, but it diagnosed the problem, because my belly hugely reduced, and felt more comfortable than I've ever known, within 3 days. I'd recommend trying it to anybody. Humans don't need fibre. It provides 0% of our necessary nutrients. The worst that could happen in a few days is you might get a bit constipated. The best is that you could be more comfortable than you've ever been.

Has the doctor checked your hormone levels. Hormonal imbalances such as PCOS can affect fat distribution.

Definitely get the cancer angle checked out.

But that to one side, that's a massive amount of carbohydrate you're eating! Could you try and cut that down a bit and see if that helps?

Something like:

Breakfast: 40g oats, oat milk and 2 strawberries
Full fat, Greek yoghurt, with strawberries/other berries and a few nuts/seeds

Lunch: small portion of quinoa or couscous with 1/3 tin chickpeas and 1 banana
Green salad with hard boiled eggs, cucumber, tomatoes (for example), dressed with an oily dressing, followed by an apple or a pear or some berries

Snack: malt loaf (91 calories) or no snack, very occasionally a treat like popchips
^Cheese, olives, celery and/or cucumber

Dinner: e.g. 1 mug of pasta with tomato sauce (olive oil, garlic, 1/2 tin peeled tomatoes) aubergine and ricotta; jacket potato with a tin of beans and cheese
Aubergine roasted in olive oil, with feta cheese and a green lentil salad

Body fat of 19% is typically a very lean athletic build so you're either a stick insect on the rest of your body or their scales are giving odd readings. I've had 2 sets of scales vary by 10% on body fat so I'd take that with a pinch of salt.
Your diet is quite carb heavy and low on protein, possibly because you don't eat meat but you need to replace that with alternative sources of protein. There's more science behind it than this but basically your body only needs a certain amount of carbs and any excess gets stored as fat. You can't target fat loss but the type of exercise you do can help. If you're just doing 10-15min in a morning and walking steps then you might not even be getting your heart rate into the fat burning zone.

Ab exercises do not reduce fat. They increase muscle, but if you have fat there all they do is push the fat that sits on top of the ab muscles outwards You cannot spot reduce an area of fat, it's full body fat reduction or nothing. You also eat a lot of bloaty foods, which will also push out the belly fat.

That said it may just be your physiology and where you store fat. (At 5'2" and 7 stone years ago, I had a waist of 31". Looked like a breastless, bumless twig, but my waist never got smaller. It's just my shape.) The whole persent fashion for big butts and tiny tiny waists is unrealistic for most people. Your body is your body, you can make it the best it is, but you can't change your shape.

Before you panic, ask yourself if your expectations are realistic. Is there a reason your focusing on this so much? The fact you are wearing size 10, but want to be 8, means you are neither overweight nor unhealthy. Will being size 8 on the waist really change your life? Would you then be happy with your body, or will you start worrying about another area?

but basically your body only needs a certain amount of carbs and any excess gets stored as fat

The human body doesn't need any carbs at all.

Kwashiorkor - severe protein deficiency - causes bloating.

Maybe it would be wise to ask about getting checked for deficiencies associated with malnutrition.

Is it possible that you're actually behaving in a way in keeping with an ED at all? Lack of nutrition can create a cycle of wanting to diet more, which worsens the symptoms, which makes dieting more likely and so on.

Maybe when you go back to the dr ask for thyroid bloods to be checked. I am skinny but developed a big tummy last year. I was so worried I had ovarian cancer! My GP checked bloods and my thyroid stimulating hormone was 69 (should be under 5) This was my only symptom. I'm on thyroid meds more and over time my stomach issues have resolved.

It really isn't a 'massive' amount of carbs. It is a carbier diet but it's actually a very small amount of food so overall the carbs are not particularly high. I would actually be concerned that you are significantly undereating and potentially at risk of some sort of malnutrition which could also result in some sort of distension

@samjamsam

I'm really struggling atm. I have a massive stomach - 31-32 inches.

I am a size 10 otherwise due to my massive stomach. I would probably be a size 8 if I didn't have my stomach to fit into clothes. I weigh 7 stones 13 pounds (50.3kg).

I have been to the doctors and had tests for gluten intolerance, cortisol, pregnancy and all came back normal.

My typical diet:
Breakfast: 40g oats, oat milk and 2 strawberries
Lunch: small portion of quinoa or couscous with 1/3 tin chickpeas and 1 banana.
Snack: malt loaf (91 calories) or no snack, very occasionally a treat like popchips
Dinner: e.g. 1 mug of pasta with tomato sauce (olive oil, garlic, 1/2 tin peeled tomatoes) aubergine and ricotta; jacket potato with a tin of beans and cheese

I do a 10-15 min workout in the morning such as a lower body workout, light cardio or abs and do about 8000 steps a day.

Please help!!

Big stomachs usually equate to poor core strength and not enough muscle (and often insufficient fluid / fibre intake too). You can combat it by eating more whole food (fruit / veg) and less grain based food but more of it and go to the gym to do strength based exercises.

@emmathedilemma

Body fat of 19% is typically a very lean athletic build so you're either a stick insect on the rest of your body or their scales are giving odd readings. I've had 2 sets of scales vary by 10% on body fat so I'd take that with a pinch of salt. Your diet is quite carb heavy and low on protein, possibly because you don't eat meat but you need to replace that with alternative sources of protein. There's more science behind it than this but basically your body only needs a certain amount of carbs and any excess gets stored as fat. You can't target fat loss but the type of exercise you do can help. If you're just doing 10-15min in a morning and walking steps then you might not even be getting your heart rate into the fat burning zone.

I am a stick insect on the rest of my body.

Obviously get tested at the doctors. But in the mean time, try cutting down on the carbohydrates, maybe up your fat, protein and fruit/veg. You're eating a hell of a lot of carbs. I would be in a world of pain and bloat if I ate that many carbs.

@lemonsandlimes123

It really isn't a 'massive' amount of carbs. It is a carbier diet but it's actually a very small amount of food so overall the carbs are not particularly high. I would actually be concerned that you are significantly undereating and potentially at risk of some sort of malnutrition which could also result in some sort of distension

I thought this. I wonder if I eat more calories I will lose some of my fat stores?

If anyone has some low carb vegetarian ideas I would be very grateful! I don't eat eggs.

@samjamsam

If anyone has some low carb vegetarian ideas I would be very grateful! I don't eat eggs.

Low carb high protein*

If your GP is recommending ab exercises to flatten your stomach, and actually telling you it's caused by fat, you need a new GP. Have you only seen one GP? If so, try another.

Could be leaky gut syndrome. Dairy/ wheat intolerance. Shut inner abs (even if the top layer is strong). Try Pilates and Bio-kult.

Check the BBC Good Food website Samjam - there are some brilliant low carb/ high protein recipes on there

I had the same issue a couple of years back. I’d definitely check out the flora in your gut. It’s much much better now but if I eat cold foods I get bloated 🤷‍♀️ So could have a bite of a cold hard boiled egg and my stomach pops up but if I have cooked eggs and bacon - stays normal

@DrinkFeckArseGirls

I had the same issue a couple of years back. I’d definitely check out the flora in your gut. It’s much much better now but if I eat cold foods I get bloated 🤷‍♀️ So could have a bite of a cold hard boiled egg and my stomach pops up but if I have cooked eggs and bacon - stays normal

How do I get this checked please?

Agree to a triple check for ovarian cysts (and cancer).

My stomach gets bigger when I start working out more (I think it's dehydration and then water retention - all goes to my middle). It settles after a few weeks.

Also: aubergine makes me blow up like a BALLOON - honestly, like Violet Beauregard - I had to give it up, took me ages to work out what it was - never ever happens now I don't eat it. I know you said that's a typical day so you probably aren't munching aubergine every day but it might be something you have more often (DH has a similar reaction to garlic). Tomatoes? It's not just grainy things.