To feel ashamed, embarrassed and not know how to fix this?

[Avatarthewayofwater]

I've taken the image from Google as I'm far to embarrassed to take a picture of myself.

Any weight I gain goes on my stomach and due to emotional binge eating I find myself here.

I did have ultrasound scans to check nothing underlying was going on, but no its visceral fat and only I can get rid if it.

The problem is I've changed my diet completely and calorie counting and eating healthy along with exercise. Yet nothing has changed stomach wise.

I'm so self conscious and I can't wear normal clothes because I constantly look pregnant.

Even at the gym I hide in a big hoodie so no one can see.

It's making me depressed and I don't know how to get rid of the stomach fat.

Has anyone else been like this and managed? I had a c section years ago and have an underactive thyroid if that makes any difference.

Please be kind...

In my experience, part of the issue is sometimes under eating rather than over eating. Lot of people I know with thyroid issues are often under eating and calorie counting. Try adding more warm, hearty filling meals like bone broth, soups, bean casseroles etc as your body may be short of minerals and salts. Also add healthy fats like nuts (if not allergic), olive oil, fish, avocado..
Also eat the salad as a starter, followed by a cooked meal. The glucose goddess on Instagram gives good tips for Insulin resistance.
Also add meditation to your routine if ur stressed.

Good luck and honesty no shame in embracing your body.. maybe focus on making it stronger rather than focusing on being thinner.

Great work doing the Spin class.
Hope you get a better night's sleep tonight.

Dr Sean O’Mara is the leading Dr in reducing visceral fat. Search for him in you tube

Cut out sugar and flour. Those, even small amounts, can cause putting on weight around the middle.

Good luck op

I understand. I'm 27, size S on top and small legs and bum but for a couple of years I've had a weird belly. I look pregnant all the time despite being a healthy weight. I also cope with bad IBS type symptoms. It does get you down. I look chubby in any clothes that are tight and sometimes I look like an egg on legs!

Everywhere else is normal but my belly looks massive. It's so embarrassing.

So in 3 weeks I have lost half a kg. Not sure if that's good or bad?

@Avatarthewayofwater it depends. For example, right now I am on a cut on 1400 calories and aiming to lose half a pound a week. Im doing it very slowly. Recently, I've hit a plateau, so now I've had to dial in the nutrition by tracking my food. It's surprising how much we eat without realising. From next week I'm also upping my cardio to more HIIT based. This has always worked well for me alongside heavy weight lifting. You are going in the right direction however.

I would perhsps suggest looking at your diet again and calculating how much exercise you are doing. If you find no change after another couple of weeks, I would get your thyroid checked again. It can be such a road block for weight loss.

Not bad at all look on the bright side it's better than a game. Weigh out that amount in butter. Then you can see the fat you have lost.

How often do you weigh yourself?

Whenever my PT weighs me. Which I think we be at every 4th session.

I am definitely gaining muscle though my legs are looking more defined and workouts are slowly getting a little easier.

You can't 'build' stomach muscles and exercise that tightens the core will not make your belly protrude more! Maybe if you do core exercises your middle feels sore so you tend to relax it more afterwards?
I really think you need a PT. If you lose fat it WILL go from your belly eventually but in the meantime you're wasting time and money walking at the gym when you could spend half the time doing weights and resistance and actually see benefits.
find a PT who specialises in core restoration. Mine is amazing and knows so much about post partum bodies.

Sorry I didn't see how long the thread was and it's moved on!
well done on your progress :)

You can't 'build' stomach muscles and exercise that tightens the core will not make your belly protrude more! Maybe if you do core exercises your middle feels sore so you tend to relax it more afterwards?

Yes, abs are made in the kitchen as they say, people who have very little body fat have visible abs even if they arent actually doing any ab exercises. You can definitely make them more defined but visible abs are a result of low body fat in that area. Ab exercises wont do jack if the area has fat over it (not being insulting, but its true). I will say that running sculpted my abs far more than weight training ever did and I think its due to the fat loss

Your weight will fluctuate daily so if you want a truer measure of scale movement you need to weigh every day. Last week my weight on Sunday was five pounds higher than my weight on Wednesday! Do you have scales at home?

Pilates to build your core muscles and to learn how to stand and move while protecting your back. Then take up weights! Will get much more impact than walking on a treadmill. You could be doing all that walking without engaging your stomach muscles properly.
Your abdomen had many layers of muscles all going in different directions. Pilates gets all this in shape. A proper 121 teacher not a gym class.

@BeverlyBrook is there a youtube or similar guide to Pilates to strengthen core muscles that you could suggest ?
I'm not really up for 121 ,though I appreciate that must be better .

I am having a bad week. Hormonal and depression has made an appearance.

So I have been eating comfort food.

Still been at the gym every 2 to 3 days but not enough to undo the damage 😔😔

Look for abdominal separation.
Then do the exercise that come with that
And do pilates alongside those exercises

It will do miracles I promise

This isn't a food matter. Or a diet matter. Only those things will help you tame the beast :)

I wasn't going to reply again, but feel invested in this thread.

@Avatarthewayofwater I can't remember if you said you had gone to the doctor about your stomach, but perhaps it's worth going again to check if your stomach muscles have separated. Next, I would get them to do a full blood panel and check your thyroid. If you're all good, then I think you need to accept that a C-section can really change the look of your stomach. I went through one myself at 26, and cried for days because my stomach looked so awful afterwards. I looked at tummy tucks and all sorts. But I'm glad to say I have a better body now at 38 than I did at 26, so please don't lose hope!

I would perhaps focus on feeling good for now, rather than the aesthetics side of things. Try not to dwell on comfort eating. Just think about getting back on track and dust yourself down. We all have bad weeks. You are still going to the gym, so that's amazing. You want to go to feel good and fuel your body to feel good too. I think that would really help with the emotional side of eating. Lifting weights actually balances your hormones, so there are a lot of benefits there.

If you feel the need to eat some comfort food (I crave chocolate around that time of the month) I would maybe look at tracking your macros, so you can allow for this. This also allows you to learn a lot more about nutrition and makes sure you are getting enough protein into your diet on a daily basis. Look at gaugegirltraining on YouTube. She's fantastic and really breaks down a lot of things for you. I have learnt a great deal from you during my own fitness journey.

Keep going...you've got this!

i have recently shed over a stone, 90 off the belly by doing the Glucose Revolution way of eating v v easy im 60 past the menopause and on HRT which also helped i think

I thought I'd check in with an update.
Still going to the gym, PT and classes and eating healthy.

Unfortunately I am not losing any weight at all.

My legs, arms, bum etc feel a lot tighter and toner and I can feel my stomach muscles, but the fat on my stomach isn't shifting not even slightly.

Annoyingly the muscles being strengthened on my stomach are instead pushing the fat outwards more so I'm now struggling to wear my normal trousers as it feels so uncomfortable.

I looked into tummy tucks when feeling very depressed and it's made me feel even worse now. There is no chance at all I'd ever be able to afford that.

I'll still keep going as I have been doing but I'm worried I'll lose weight everywhere but my stomach making me look even more abnormal.

Have you checked out if you have diastasis recti which is when your abs separate? Certain stomach exercises can make it worse not better so that may be worth keeping in mind

Sorry not RTFT so just saw someone else had asked the same

I’ve posted here before about Diastasis recti. I had a severe one and was told by a women’s physio who specialised in this that I was fine. I was not fine. I needed 4 layers of stitches to fix my muscle separation.
If you’re a size 10/12 everywhere else then the only reason you’d have a pregnant looking stomach is that your stomach muscles are separated. Many normal exercises make this separation worse and your stomach push out more.

I would strongly suggest having a consultation about a tummy tuck for your own peace of mind. This will give you a definite answer to whether this is actually the problem, in which case no amount of diet and exercise will fix this. If this is the problem many hospitals offer interest free loans, or get a bank loan and spread it over several years. You’re having PT sessions so I’m going to assume you have a decent job. Honestly for your own mental well-being and physical health get assessed and go from there. I can’t even begin to tell you how much it has changed my life.