How can I lose my fat tummy but stay the same everywhere else?

[CrikeyOHare]

(Is this in the right section? Sorry if it's not).

I have always been slim & small, but recently have found myself putting on a bit of weight, probably due to the fact that I'm not getting any younger.

It's not a huge amount - but I feel more rounded & womanly if that makes sense (my boobs look way better!), so I quite like it.

BUT - my belly is horrible. I look about 5 months pregnant :( (I'm not, btw, unless it's an immaculate conception ).

So, I want to lose the fat gut, but keep the rounder boobs, thighs and face. How can I do this?

Thanks :)

Yeah it has - loads of people at work have commented on my 'weight loss'. I feel a lot more toned in the ab area and I find that I hold my abs in naturally whenever I walk up stairs or walk along briskly. My clothes fit much more comfortably. I never weigh myself so no idea if I've lost weight as such. I still have some fat on my gut but I can't be bothered to make the sacrifices I would need to to have a totally flat, toned stomach. I have a 32H bust so I naturally carry weight along the front of my body - i don't think I'm ever going to have abs to rival Jessica Ennis! I must work out my waist to hip ratio though....

Can someone let me know how you work out this hip to waist ratio business please?

Yes - I second Keep - I wanna know that too :)

My waist is 30.5" & my hips are 33.5" - so how do I work out the ratio?

I would do waist number divided by hip number x 100

e.g. 30.5 divided by 33.5 x 100 = 91%

Happy to be corrected by wiser MNers

So - what does 91% mean, Lotta? Is that good, bad, normal?

Sorry. Really thick about these things :(

Ah - just found a calculator online. It means my BMI is 0.91, low risk apparently.

BUT - and this is confusing. The fat I'm talking about is below my waist and above my hips .

I'm not one of those annoying people who thinks they've got podge and there's nothing there - honest! Can definitely pinch several inches.

BMI is something different Crikey. I think your waist is supposed to be about 70% of what your hips measurement is. Weight below waist is probably not as harmful as weight higher up on your abdomen. I'm hitting the limit of my useful knowledge in this area though so hopefully other MNers will be along very soon

Crap - yes. This is really worrying.

My waist is actually 29 and my hips 33.5 - both pretty small really. But, in terms of risk, the ratio is 0.86 which is high risk .

I'm astonished, because everyone would say I was pretty slim - I weight 8st 5!

Scared now :(

Don't be scared Crikey. You're already thinking about reducing weight in your ab area so that's a great start. I know the BMI judges people way too harshly and puts people in the 'obese' category who should only be 'overweight' so maybe it's the same with WTH ratio?

Anyone help us out with more decent info?

Panic over!

Was measuring my hips in the wrong place - they're 35 not 33.5, so I'm within "average" range.

Phewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

yay!

Just to add a little footnote - I think we should all be a bit careful of the hip/waist ratio thing.

By any standards, my waist is a respectable 29 - problem is, I'm also very slim hipped, so I get a reading that's alarmingly high. Some very slim "rectangular" shaped women have hips/waists that are of similar widths, so would get high readings!

Think I'm just typing this to make myself feel better :)

I wish I was slimmer hipped . I find it so difficult to buy jeans and trousers. Most of them gape at the waist.

Bun Mine hang at the hips and make me look like I have no arse but only just do up over my fat gut tummy :(

Stuff it. My granny was a right porker and lived to 95 .

Reported

I love the way you don't mention how much your treatment would cost makeup

There's no miraculous way to lose ft nowhere but your waist, but there are a few things that can help:

1. Exercises that involve twisting/stretching from the waist e.g. wave machine at gym, some types of cross trainers, yoga/ballet/callanetics type stretches. Also just things like making sure you get up regularly when you are seated (at work, in front of tv etc), have a little walk and stretch for a few minutes.
2. Reduce stress- higher cortisone levels make you hold weight round your middle, so reducing stress really works on how your fat is distributed.Simple things like more and better sleep, avoid stress triggers, eat right, cut back on caffeine, make exercise a bit gentler rather than adrenaline junkie hard core.
3. Find and avoid your IBS trigger foods- it will reduce bloating, help you sleep better and reduce stress.
4. Epsom salts baths- I think this works because the magnesium absorption helps me sleep a lot better (longer and deeper) tbh, definitely cuts bloating. Some essential oils added to the salts that relax you definitely help with this too.

If I manage to get all the ducks above lined up in a row, it makes maybe 1.5" to 2" difference to my waist without my weight (or bust/hip measurements) changing, but life can easily get in the way of that.

PitPatKitKat I agree 100%. I did yoga to help me reduce stress. It will help you lose the belly fat. But I also did the fat freezing (Corium on harley st)which got rid of what I couldn't. It's not a weight loss solution but made me feel a little more confident about myself.