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Medical Forum / General / General / August 2005HELP PLEASE: Constant Boated Stomach
Hi all, I'm a 29 yr male in the U.S. My height is 5'11". My weight as of today (28-August-2005) is 155 lbs. My stomach measures 34" all around. I have been exercising really very very hard since the last 4 months to get rid off my stomach flab because my stomach look *very* bloated. And, I am at my wit's end now because no matter what I do and how severely I exercise and eat very less, my stomach stays bloated without even the slightest improvement at all. I wake up at 05:15AM each morning and drive off to the gym. I exercise everyday in the morning from 05:30AM to 07:15AM. I do 20 minutes treadmill, 20 minutes elliptical, 90 times abdominals, 90 times lower back, 90 times torso-rotational, 90 times leg-press, 120 side-crunches on my Left Hip, 120 side-crunches crunches on my right-hip. Also, I try to do between 50-100 straight stomach crunches ON AN INCLINE. I am still very bad at stomach crunches on an incline, and struggle to do it, but somehow I keep kicking myself to manage at least 50. Then I come back home, have a quick breakfast (see breakfast details below) and drive off to the office at 08:00AM. I DO NOT munch anything or have an extra "side" snacks during the day. I've been strictly following this schedule. And except for office, even on weekends I exercise at the same times. My diet is as follows: BREAKFAST (AT 07:30 AM) ------------------------- 1/2 cup LOW-FAT SOY MILK 1 bowl of low-carb low-fat wheat cereal in FAT-FREE milk LUNCH (AT 12:00 NOON) ---------------------- 2 LOW-CARB LOW-FAT Wheat Tortillas with lentils cooked in LOW-FAT/FAT-FREE OLIVE OIL. 1 Apple or 1 slice of Canteloupe/Watermelon (just to keep my body cool) DINNER (AT 07:30 PM) -------------------- 4 slices of LOW-FAT (only 10 fat calories) WHEAT BREAD with LETTUCE, TOMATOES, CUCUMBERS and FAT-FREE HEINZ KETCHUP SLEEP: (AT 10:30PM) -------------------- Throughout the day I drink plenty of water. I have been very strictly maintaining this diet. But no matter what I do my stomach still keeps hanging. I really can not cut down my food intake any more. I feel hungry many times during the day. But, I am very very scared to eat any more than what I have described above, because I also have a very bad tendency to rapidly put on weight even with minimum additional food-intake. Somebody, please help and tell me how I can get my stomach to a 30" size (from my current 34"). And how can I FLATTEN my stomach. I really wanna look good overall throughout my body. Please help. I'm really at my wit's end. Thanks in advance. Regards, Jags. Stop working your abs so hard. Your ab muscles are probably making your belly larger. Do other cardio in its place, or work other muscles. 50-100 inclined crunches isn't "very bad." Don't worry that your abs will be too weak if you cut down on the crunches or even stop them. You don't need to loose more weight either. Maybe your pants changed the shape of your torso because they're too tight, making it look like your belly is hanging, or maybe you just have bad genetics. There's also liposuction. Hi Barry, Thanks for the reply. I do appreciate your time and advice. I do agree with you completely that for my age/height/body-frame I should not be losing any more weight than what I already have. Your observation about the pants is very interesting. Probably tight belts & pants have shaped my stomach in such a way that it appears to be hanging. I'm really looking into that matter very seriously now. Probably I will get myself a complete new set of "comfortable-fitting" pants. Actually until the age of 23-24 I used to have a perfectly shaped, very fit excellent athletic body that a lot of people used to envy. I used to play every outdoor game possible and had tremendous stamina. So, that would probably rule out the genetics part. The changes in my body have been drastic in the last 4 years or so. Due to tremendous work pressure and time constraints I haven't been maintaining my body that well probably. Unfortunately I won't be able to afford the cost involved in getting a liposuction done. If there's a complete diet change that you or anyone would recommend I am really willing to try it sincerely (I'm a vegetarian but not vegan). I'll try anything to shape up my stomach. Also, someone else also pointed out that doing excessive crunches itself may prove harmful and spoil the shape of my abdomen. Currently my stomach is the only part that's giving my body a badly shaped look. If there's any way I can get my stomach from 34" to 30" that would really give my body a perfectly shaped look. If there's any exercise routine that you would recommend please do let me know. Probably, there's something I am completely missing out from my routine that I should be doing, but am unaware of. Thanks again! Regards, Jags. > Hi Barry, > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > let me know. Probably, there's something I am completely missing out > from my routine that I should be doing, but am unaware of. Your problem is excess subcutaneous fat and probably some excess skin. Your only solution to the fat, if you don't want to lose any more weight, is liposuction. All the muscle toning and abdominal crunches in the world won't make your gut go away - you'll just have a bunch of fat and skin over a very well-toned abdominal wall. And, no...your clothing has not "shaped your stomach" in any way. You just packed away more fat around the abdomen (common in men) as you gained weight. Your only options for getting rid of abdominal subcutaneous fat are weight-loss or liposuction. HMc Hi Howard, Thanks for the valuable insights that you have provided. You mention that "Your only options for getting rid of abdominal subcutaneous fat are weight-loss or liposuction". So, if I understand you correctly, by "weight loss" you mean even though I am 155lb I should probably lose more weight to such a point that my stomach looks flat (even though that would mean I would be under-weight). And then probably once my stomach is flat & trim, then from that point onwards I can work on *increasing* my weight back to 155-160lbs. Did I interpret your suggestion correctly? Please confirm. Thanks for your time and advise. Regards, Jags. > Hi Howard, > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > can work on *increasing* my weight back to 155-160lbs. Did I interpret > your suggestion correctly? Please confirm. There is no way to target one particular area of your body for loss of subcutaneous fat, no matter what diets or excercise toys you see on late infomercials. Your particular distribution of body fat is as genetically determined as your hair color. Without liposuction, you can get rid of the subcutaneous fat (not any loose skin) by losing weight until it's gone, but if you gain weight back, you will reaccumulate body fat and it will go preferentially to the same abdominal area because those fat cells are still there. The only way you will permanently get rid of your "gut" is to get rid of the actual fat cells -> liposuction. HMc > > Hi Howard, > > [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > HMc COMMENT: Pretty much true. And that last stubborn area tends to be in the belly in males, and thighs and hips in women. It's genetically and hormonally controlled. You can do all the sit-ups in the world, and all they do is give you a natural girdle of muscle. But the fat is still there undernieth, same as if you were using a nylon girdle. One of my mentors, Dr. Walford, came out of Biosphere II after two years on a < 1500 kcal diet. He was pretty emaciated, but still had a small pot belly. That wasn't the fluid-filled belly of the malnurished--- his protein status was good and he wasn't actually malnurished, just undernurished. But to lose that last bit of fat (and it WAS fat) he *would* have had to go into frank malnutrition. Male cats, incidentally, have the same sort of thing-- a little ruff that hangs down at the back of the belly. The curse of testosterone. SBH >> Hi Howard, >> [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] >will permanently get rid of your "gut" is to get rid of the actual fat >cells -> liposuction. Before going in for liposuction, do note that the recovery time for lipo in, say, the abdomen is measured in many weeks, and it hurts. A lot. -- David Wright :: alphabeta at prodigy.net These are my opinions only, but they're almost always correct. "If you can't say something nice, then sit next to me." -- Alice Roosevelt Longworth "David Wright" <wright@l1000.prodigy.net> wrote in message news:eLRQe.1702> > Before going in for liposuction, do note that the recovery time for > lipo in, say, the abdomen is measured in many weeks, and it hurts. > A lot. Sure. I'm not a fan of liposuction. It is painful, has many potential complications and there are too many doctors doing it badly. OTOH, in the hands of a competent surgeon with experience at it, the results can be impressive and it is probably the only way to address the issue raised by the OP. HMc >"David Wright" <wright@l1000.prodigy.net> wrote in message news:eLRQe.1702> >> Before going in for liposuction, do note that the recovery time for [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >impressive and it is probably the only way to address the issue raised by >the OP. Oh, I wasn't saying "don't do it," I was saying "be aware of what you're getting into." A friend of mine had lipo on his abdomen in early June. He had a good surgeon at a first-rate hospital, no complications. I personally didn't think he needed the lipo in the first place, but so much of it is in the eye of the beholder. Anyway, here it is the end of August, and he's feeling a lot better and is able to work out, but he's still not back to 100%; some things he can't yet do because it hurts. -- David Wright :: alphabeta at prodigy.net These are my opinions only, but they're almost always correct. "If you can't say something nice, then sit next to me." -- Alice Roosevelt Longworth Per Jags: > The changes in my body have been drastic in the last 4 years or so. >Due to tremendous work pressure and time constraints I haven't been >maintaining my body that well probably. Unfortunately I won't be able >to afford the cost involved in getting a liposuction done. I think I'm among the relatively few that's had the privilege of working for over 24 years with basically the same 300 people. Computing environment - i.e. minimal physical exertion on the job. Two observations: - Sometime around age 30-35 two groups branch off. One group has some notion that they have to do *something* to stave off the damage from inactivity. They're not all athletes by any means, but they have the consciousness and do something. The other group has no clue. - By the time people in the two groups reach age 40-45, you can segregate the groups by sight with a high degree of reliability. i.e. put 100 people in a room and just about anybody could segregate them into the two groups with 98% accuracy.  SignaturePeteCresswell > Hi Barry, > [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > Regards, > Jags. Jags, If there is a Health Fitness Center in your town, I advise you to become a member of it. Ask one of the staff members which equipment would help the most in getting rid of the fat that you mentions. If you don't wish to join a HFC, try performing about 50 to 100 set ups or standing up and bending to touch your toes. Those two exercises should exercise your stomach area. You should keep in mind that it took many years to develop the fat and it will take at least a year to get rid of it. You should also have a low fat diet such as the Mediterranean diet while you are losing the excess weight. Jason SignatureNEWSGROUP SUBSCRIBERS MOTTO We respect those subscribers that ask for advice or provide advice. We do NOT respect the subscribers that enjoy criticizing people. Hi Jason, I am member of a local fitness center where I do the workout that I mentioned in my original post. But they just give general advise and I've been doing pretty much what they recommended. Beyond this they themselves are clueless as to how I should trim/flatten my stomach!!! But as I mentioned I am really committed to flattening my stomach and get back into perfect athletic shape. I'll take your advice and incorporate both 50-100 situps & bending exercises into the current workout routine that I mentioned in my original post. Regards, Jags. Howard McCollister wrote: > And, no...your clothing has not "shaped your stomach" in any way. > I'll take your advice and > incorporate both 50-100 situps & bending exercises into the current > workout routine that I mentioned in my original post. The following is about corsets, but pants with a tight waist can probably have a similar effect. ------------------- http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/gwr5/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=54595 Smallest Waist On A Living Person Cathie Jung's waist is about the same size as a regular jar of mayonnaise. She's been wearing a corset every day for the past 12 years, and she now wears one 24 hours a day. "I probably have around 100 of them," says the corset queen. WANT TO KNOW MORE? Corsets were hugely popular in Victorian times (during the 1800s), when they were often strengthened with pieces of whalebone. Corsets pinch the waist, and if worn for a long time they can permanently alter the shape of the waistline. ------------------- > Howard McCollister wrote: >> And, no...your clothing has not "shaped your stomach" in any way. [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > shape of the waistline. > ------------------- Hmmm.....OK, I'll grant you that the body can indeed be deformed in a variety of extreme ways if the user is crazy or obsessive enough. However, to conclude from the corset example that tight pants will in some way contribute to the classic beer belly...well...that would indicate you haven't spent enough time in southern bars. I think your first example, genetically mediated distribution of body fat, fulfills the tenets of Occam's Razor a lot more succinctly. HMc I'll take your advice and > incorporate both 50-100 situps & bending exercises into the current > workout routine that I mentioned in my original post. Pick a search engine and search for "spot reduction." You can not do it by exercising the part of the body that you want to reduce. Resistance training will only make the part of the body you're exercising larger. You can increase muscle size through resistance training and decrease muscle size by decreasing use of that muscle, but if you want to reduce fat in a particular part of your body, you should do whatever burns the most fat in general. You can't target belly fat. When I mentioned bad genetics, I was referring to the fact that you might have a natural predisposition to accumulate fat in your belly area. If anything changed at a certain age, that could be due to genetics too. But I bet your pants are too tight also. http://www.musclechat.co.uk/about3088.html (by razg) "Also, spot reduction is a complete myth - doing crunches or sit-ups will NOT make your stomach smaller (it could even get bigger)." http://navisite.collegeclub.com/messageboards/board.jsp?communityid=77288 (by tommyrich) "Hey tactician just like the other on the message board have said the only way to really flatten those abs is cardio. Doing crunches will only make your stomach look bigger because of the muscle that is under the fat would push it out." Jags, I think your stomach is trying to tell you it wants to be left alone. What is good for your stomach and what benefits your ego are two unrelated issues. David H ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` Hi everybody, I really appreciate all the time that you guys have put in to answer my questions. All the suggestions & tips that you have given me are certainly valuable. I certainly have learnt a lot in these last 3 days. It's good to know that medical science definitely provides the option of liposuction, which also seems to have its own consequences (discomfort etc.). So, I guess it's a matter of how desperate am I to get it done immediately! Barry gave pointers to articles in which they mention "only way to really flatten those abs is cardio. Doing crunches will only make your stomach look bigger because of the muscle...". Now that is something that I was probably over-doing in my regular workout routine, namely, less cardio-vascular & excessive abs. That's one thing I will definitely change in my workouts. It was also interesting to note the very fine line between "being malnutritioned" and "being undernourished". I'll have to rule out liposuction completely for 2 reasons: (1) I can't afford the cost, and (2) The procedure & consequences involved in liposuction somehow scare me a lot. As of today when I measured my weight I'm down to 154lb (ht. 5'11"; age 29 yrs). The statement by "David H" in which he mentions "What is good for your stomach and what benefits your ego are two unrelated issues" seems to be a very deep & powerful statement indeed. I actually read it many times and understood that I am trying to force something like trying to flatten my stomach in very less time just so that I can look "better". I do agree that what matters the most would be how I carry myself among people rather than trying to lose the 4" (from 34" to 30") and trying to look "extra-good". From the fact that somebody pointed out the case of Dr. Walford who still had a slight pot belly in spite of keeping himself for two years on a < 1500 kcal diet makes me understand that maybe some people's body reacts immediately, and in case of some other people (like me) the body is slow & lazy to react to diet & workout. One of the lessons I have learnt in these 3 days is probably that need to give my stomach much more time, and to follow David's suggestion leave my stomach alone for the moment. As for my workout, I have decided to enhance my cardio-vascular significantly and cut down a lot on weights/abs/crunches. Also, I will monitor my waistline once in 2 weeks probably, rather than every 3-4 days as I was doing until today. The progress will be slow but it should be steady. For the moment I'll just let my body shape up at the rate it wants to. This thread has been really very interesting and the tips that you all have given me are certainly valuable. I want to keep this thread alive for some more time at least. Over the next few weeks, if I find some interesting exercise techniques that help me significantly I will certainly post them here. Thanks a lot folks! Appreciate it! Cheers! Ciao, Jags. > Hi everybody, > [quoted text clipped - 56 lines] > Ciao, > Jags. Hello, I was also surprised at some of the posts. I noticed that some people told you that you can't lose the fat by exercise and diet. I guess that means that people--at least in some cases--should stop exercising and eating low fat foods to lose fat. That does NOT make sense to me but I guess it makes sense to at least some people in this newsgroup. I know that genes do play a major role in the amount of fat that we have. I think that you have made a good decision. Jason SignatureNEWSGROUP SUBSCRIBERS MOTTO We respect those subscribers that ask for advice or provide advice. We do NOT respect the subscribers that enjoy criticizing people. > Hello, > I was also surprised at some of the posts. I noticed that some people told [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > a good decision. > Jason It's about the *distribution* of the fat, Jason. Some people accumulate fat around the abdomen, some in the hips/butt, and some people have an inordinate amount of fat between the ears. Diet and excercise will cause loss of overall fat, but there's no way to *target* any one particular area of the body for fat loss by either diet or certain types of excercise. HMc Hi, To add on to what Howard said, from my own body appearance the only part on which you will find fat (if at all) is on my stomach/hips. That was my biggest reason for disappointment, because my face, cheeks, hands, legs, wrist, neck, shoulders, bottom, thighs, calf, chest, etc. every other place is shaped perfectly. As the saying goes, the most prominent & noticeable characters in a place are the ones that stand out and can be classified as "odd-man-out". Well... applying that logic to me... if you look at me, then invariably in one glance the very first part you will notice is unmistakeably my stomach area, because it's such an utterly thoroughly misfit portion of my body and is a direct give-away on my clothes too. To hide this, I consciously hold my stomach tight while walking/sitting or when I am within a group so that my stomach doesn't protrude. Spot reduction is not possible. So, all my exercise is affecting all my other body parts severely. To give an example, my marriage & engagement rings used to fit my fingers very tight. But, now they sit so loose on my fingers that if I hold my fingers down I'm scared that they might just drop down!!! That's the best example I can give you as to how much fat I have lost on every other part of my body except for my stubborn stomach (Sigh!). We can't win them all, can we? :-((((( Regards, Jagan.
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