No More Diets

I have lost 10 lbs in the last 3 months. I am now at a healthy weight according to my BMI although I would like to lose 10-15 more. My question is, why when I look in mirror do I feel like I look exactly the same as I did when I was heavier? Especially my stomach feels like it sticks out and is untoned even though I have been doing stomach exercises.

Those BMI weights are just a guide for what makes a healthy weight for an average adult. Most of us look better in our clothes and feel better when we are slightly lighter than BMI (while the more muscular types will look good at a weight higher than the average BMI). It’s a case of finding out the best weight for you - the one that is both healthy and makes you feel good.

A 10lb weight loss spread over your whole body will have a subtle effect on your shape but is rarely enough to make a difference which is very noticeable to others unless you are already very slim.

Re your stomach - at times, your rounded tummy may be due to bloating, water retention or excess carbs. Just look at your tummy after a high carb meal versus a lighter one and see the difference. If you are still carrying excess fat however, it’s one of those facts of female life that it tends to gather in one place (and generally in the place where we don’t want it to gather). If you tend to put weight onto your stomach it will be the first place fat goes and the last place it will leave. This is where the final few pounds of effort will probably make a difference especially if you keep up the toning exercises. Make sure to always do toning exercises properly to really work your muscles deep down (and to avoid straining). Pilates and yoga are great for tummy firming if you would like to have a go at them.

Also don’t expect to get a completely flat stomach. Women’s tummies (especially if you have had kids) are usually a little curved - that’s quite natural - and just as lovely as the washboard flat stomach of a teenager.

Why is it so hard to lose weight in the abdomen?

We all have a tendency to put on fat more readily in particular areas of our body. For many women the stomach is the first place to show weight gain and the last place to shed fat. It’s just the way many of us are made and no matter what we do it will always be that way. This is often emphasized by the natural tendency for women’s stomachs to be slightly rounded anyway - concave was just not the way we are meant to be - unless literally starving.

If you tend to lay down fat on your stomach, you have to tackle your stomach area on two fronts if you want to flatten your stomach.

The first way to tackle a fat stomach is by losing weight. You can do this in any way you like - you’ll find lots of ideas on this site or you can use any method that works for you. But you will need to get down to your ideal weight and not leave an extra 10 or 15lbs hanging around. That’s because those last few pounds will always hang around your stubborn areas and if your stubborn area is your stomach that is where it will remain.

While you are losing weight you also need to tackle the underlying muscles in the stomach. While the fat is there you can’t really see that your muscles are not firm and taut but this becomes very obvious once the fat disappears. As muscles can’t be trained overnight start sooner rather than later with a program of stomach firming exercises.

Unfortunately there is no exercise which will target your stomach and remove the fat - only losing overall weight from your body will do that. And there is no diet which will tighten up flabby stomach muscles. Only exercise will do that.

An additional problem affecting your stomach may be bloating - this is often caused by particular foods - and will disappear once the food is properly digested. For example, if you eat a plateful of pasta your stomach will often look bigger than ever. You may like to take note of the foods which affect you in this way and eat less of those foods especially on those days where you want to look your best.