Tummy/Belly Fat, What’s realistic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you do about lose skin. Thin but loose skin developing. No amount of sit ups or weight bearing exercise is helping.

Stop looking at it. Don't lift it, pull it, tug on it or try to fold it. Focus on anything else in the world. Take up gardening, hiking or bird watching. Find better uses for your mind.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I'm 42 and had a flat belly all my life until my late 30s, when I had a baby. I weigh about the same as I did pre-baby (and am pretty slim generally and always have been) but the combination of slightly looser skin from pregnancy, and the propensity to carry weight in my belly at this age, gives me a little belly. It's really only noticeable in something like a sheath dress or a bikini, or high waisted pants if they really cinch in at the waist.

Oh well. Maybe I could get rid of it or reduce it if I changed my diet. I work out plenty and have a strong core generally, so I don't think more pilates is the key. I think I'd have to eat blander foods and maybe switch to eating smaller meals but eating more frequently. I think a lot of it really is caused by just standard belly bloat from consuming spicy foods, salt, salads and lots of uncooked veggies (which take more work to break down in your digestive system), plus carbonated water. But I like eating that way, and I don't want to eat bland food and flat water and more cooked veggies.

The truth is that when I had a flat tummy in my 20s, I felt worse about my body and myself than I do now. I was painfully insecure and desperately needed external validation. Now I'm older, and a mom, and care a lot less about what others think of me. I'm happily married and feel openly antagonistic of the opinions of young men when it comes to me and my body (seriously, if some 30 yr old guy wanted to judge my looks or my worth as human, that goes straight in the "irrelevant" bin in my mind). Most women I know envy how thin I am and could care less that I have a little belly, and if they do care about the belly, I read that as being about their own insecurities.

Part of the joy of being older and no longer dating is that the only person I really need to please on something like this is myself. And I like Nashville hot chicken and spicy miso and sipping a seltzer all day. Oh well! My kid likes how soft my belly is, like a pillow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I'm 42 and had a flat belly all my life until my late 30s, when I had a baby. I weigh about the same as I did pre-baby (and am pretty slim generally and always have been) but the combination of slightly looser skin from pregnancy, and the propensity to carry weight in my belly at this age, gives me a little belly. It's really only noticeable in something like a sheath dress or a bikini, or high waisted pants if they really cinch in at the waist.

Oh well. Maybe I could get rid of it or reduce it if I changed my diet. I work out plenty and have a strong core generally, so I don't think more pilates is the key. I think I'd have to eat blander foods and maybe switch to eating smaller meals but eating more frequently. I think a lot of it really is caused by just standard belly bloat from consuming spicy foods, salt, salads and lots of uncooked veggies (which take more work to break down in your digestive system), plus carbonated water. But I like eating that way, and I don't want to eat bland food and flat water and more cooked veggies.

The truth is that when I had a flat tummy in my 20s, I felt worse about my body and myself than I do now. I was painfully insecure and desperately needed external validation. Now I'm older, and a mom, and care a lot less about what others think of me. I'm happily married and feel openly antagonistic of the opinions of young men when it comes to me and my body (seriously, if some 30 yr old guy wanted to judge my looks or my worth as human, that goes straight in the "irrelevant" bin in my mind). Most women I know envy how thin I am and could care less that I have a little belly, and if they do care about the belly, I read that as being about their own insecurities.

Part of the joy of being older and no longer dating is that the only person I really need to please on something like this is myself. And I like Nashville hot chicken and spicy miso and sipping a seltzer all day. Oh well! My kid likes how soft my belly is, like a pillow.

Well said.