huge belly - slim everywhere else

[therightcandidate]

I have been to my GP a number of times because despite going to the gym 3 times a week for 2 years (with a PT so being really worked on) a decent diet and walking with the dog/ other sports I have a huge belly. Its massive and totally out of balance with the rest of my body size and shape. I have a toned/slim arms and legs, small chest and small back.

Its always been that way (not as large, but out of context to the rest of my body) but since I went peri and on HRT its gone bonkers. If i stand sideways on to a mirror and visually draw a line from my hips to my ribs and mentally discard my tum i would be a size 14 - to accommodate the belly I wear a size 24. I dont drink, I dont smoke and we have no added salt into our diet. I get a solid 8 hours a night and just came off a 6 mo run of IF on a long rotation of 8:16/ one on one off/whole day - as it thought the gut rest would help. No change.

GP just reiterates a healthy lifestyle and diet and the standard rack of blood tests they did showed nothing untoward (except the peri)

I am NOT ASKING FOR MEDICAL ADVICE - just if anyone has experienced the same and if you found a solution?

My goodness, are you me? I am similar right down to the PT three times a week. It is so disproportionate to the rest of me. I always has a pot belly but after the birth of my third child, it just grew and grew. It is huge but mainly up high. It sticks out more than my boobs so clothes buying is difficult. Everything looks awful on me. GP has done usual blood tests and thyroid tests and nothing there. I’m not on HRT but would be approaching peri (46). No suggestions- just solidarity.

Different scenario, but I found low-carbing helped me shift that stubborn half a stone or so and seemed to do wonders for the old mum tum.

@LargeSquareRock - I am totally with you. Mine is high also! but I am paranoid that it is starting to slide 😬

I've not had a successful pregnancy beyond early timescales - so its not a 'mum tum' as such. Its firm, solid and if i was going to liken it to something - it like a lady version of a huge beer belly (though I don't drink!)

I have a big belly too. I have diastasis recti thanks to my lovely babies. But I also had a lot of bloating and swelling higher up when I had undiagnosed coeliac disease. Not saying you have it necessarily but could it be due to what you're eating? Even healthy food is not good if you have some sort of intolerance.

Look up cortisol and stomach fat

i know you said no medical advice, but have you had an abdo scan to rule out cervical/ovarian issues? There was a poster on here years ago who had the exact same issue and it wasn’t good news. Better to get properly checked by gynae rather than just blood tests.

pcos?

A friend had this. She had a fibroid the size of a water melon removed !

Dd has this, someone found that she’s hyper mobile and the pot belly is a result of her spine curving too much - could it be this?

I also have an unpleasant body shape. Even as a child I had a big tummy with stick arms and legs. There’s nothing that can be done, it’s just bad luck that your body stores fat disproportionately on the stomach. You have to get super thin for the tummy to go away.

This is exactly me too! Exactly the same, size 14 body everywhere except giant pot belly which is size 20+. Mine also appeared with perimenopause, and I have no children so it's entirely peri-triggered. I'm six months into HRT and all of my other menopausal symptoms are eased except this giant belly. Nothing I do shifts it, I've tried different diet combinations, different exercises. Mine is so big it's starting to overhang which is uncomfortable, and I'm so embarrassed by it I'm actually saving up to hopefully get surgery to cut it off. That might sound drastic but I cannot see how else to get rid of it if exercise has reduced my body all over except this one place. So, no helpful advice except that you're not alone in the pot belly struggle.

My stomach has also always been a bit protruding, and since cancer treatment it's much worse - especially as I've had a mastectomy. My GP suggested a low carb diet and it has made a difference. People have commented that I have lost weight, and I feel more comfortable and can get size 14 trousers (non elasticated) on again. I find it sooo hard to stick to though. I love carbs!

I have this too unfortunately - in my case it’s largely uterine fibroids and also, I suspect, diastatis recti. I’m otherwise slim and petite but look about 5 months pregnant and every so often get congratulated on it by some well-meaning person!

Same here, contrary to my username I have normal sized boobs, slim arms and legs, probably a size 12-14 all over apart from the size 18 belly. I have ordered maternity clothes in the past to fit over my large tum😂 I am 54

Have you tried an intolerance test? My husband is very slim (cycles 100+km per week, weights work outs etc) but had a big belly, very bloated looking but had it so long he assumed it was his natural shape. He had quite bad tummy problems to (flip flopping between constipation and diahorrea). He ending up paying£100 for a food intolerance test. Best thing he’s done. We’ve had to make a few big changes to our diet but it’s been well worth it. He’s lost 4 inches on his waist by cutting out the food that set him off. He’s also lost a fair bit of weight that he was holding round his tummy (wasn’t all bloat it turns out! This is all in about 8 months.good luck !

I am the same. I do have various digestive issues which don't help but the belly has been large since childhood. As a small child I couldn't tolerate anything tight around the waist and as a teenager I could never find trousers to fit as I was a size 6-8, weighing just 6 stone until I had my children mid twenties. Even at that weight my belly stuck out like I was permanently pregnant. Now in my 60s I have decided there is nothing I can do about it other than adjust my wardrobe accordingly so I have given up jeans or tailored clothing to live in jeggings and shapeless dresses.