Anonymous wrote:It's the weight. You get a flat stomach when you are very slim. There is nothing else to it.

This is OP and I’m not sure about that. I was a vegan athlete in high school and at my thinnest was 115 at 5’3 - I did not have a flat stomach. I have never had a flat stomach, although my mother always did (even when overweight) until well after menopause.

I think I will have to cut out some food groups.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s all body fat percentage.

Genetics only impacts where your abdominal muscles are and their shape. So some people (for women) may drop below 18% body fat and not see them. You may have to go lower on body fat and work them out more to actually see them.

Your size of 2 or 4 or whatever has nothing to do with body fat percentages.

There are plenty of women who are not a size 2 or even 4 with visible abs/toned stomach.

Having a flat stomach is not that hard - 20% body fat should do it. Visible abs is way harder. Like 1 in 25,000 people have visible abs (man ore woman) by most estimates.

And what percentage of grown women (with kids) have 20% body fat or less? It must be pretty high for you to declare it’s “not that hard”…

To have a flat stomach is not that hard compared to having visible abs.

It becomes exponentially harder to go from 20% body fat to 19% to 18% at each interval.

When a female drops below 20% or a male below 15% it is a near full time job and counting every single calorie and training time.

Very, very few people have the discipline and drive to do it.

Tummy tuck after kids.

I have to avoid carbs to keep a flat stomach.

Anonymous wrote:It’s all body fat percentage.

Genetics only impacts where your abdominal muscles are and their shape. So some people (for women) may drop below 18% body fat and not see them. You may have to go lower on body fat and work them out more to actually see them.

Your size of 2 or 4 or whatever has nothing to do with body fat percentages.

There are plenty of women who are not a size 2 or even 4 with visible abs/toned stomach.

Having a flat stomach is not that hard - 20% body fat should do it. Visible abs is way harder. Like 1 in 25,000 people have visible abs (man ore woman) by most estimates.

And what percentage of grown women (with kids) have 20% body fat or less? It must be pretty high for you to declare it’s “not that hard”…

When I was 45, I started doing an aerobics exercise course. Plus 10 lb weights after. I did it every day and my stomach was flat and I looked great. It was Richard Simmons sweating to the oldies. He knew how to utilize the exercises. My diet stayed the same.

You won’t lose a belly with cardio. To the contrary, you’ll consume more carbs for energy to workout.

Belly loss is all about cutting carbs, weight training, and eating more protein for muscle building

Anonymous wrote:It's the weight. You get a flat stomach when you are very slim. There is nothing else to it.

Not true. Even when I was slim, I had a belly.

It’s all carbs and insulin resistance actually and you can have a belly at 105 lbs

Anonymous wrote:It’s genetic/body type specific. I carry weight in my hips/thighs/breasts, which means I can be “heavy” by DCUM standards and still have a flat stomach.

Swimsuit models are probably close to 25% - 30% body fat.
Typically they have flat stomachs, but not abs showing orange anything. They have the genetics to carry their fat in their breasts primarily - not common and why they model swimsuits.

You may have been a size 0 and athletic - but if you were some elite sprinter in the Olympics and did not have a 6 or 8 pack visible it would be a first in the last 20 years.

Just google female sprinters and see how jacked they are, abs and all. Probably around 10% body fat for women sprinting. Males are like 5% for competition.

Most humans (especially men) accumulate their fat stores in their abdomen- hence why for most of us it is the last place to lose it.

It’s all body fat percentage.

Genetics only impacts where your abdominal muscles are and their shape. So some people (for women) may drop below 18% body fat and not see them. You may have to go lower on body fat and work them out more to actually see them.

Your size of 2 or 4 or whatever has nothing to do with body fat percentages.

There are plenty of women who are not a size 2 or even 4 with visible abs/toned stomach.

Having a flat stomach is not that hard - 20% body fat should do it. Visible abs is way harder. Like 1 in 25,000 people have visible abs (man ore woman) by most estimates.

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Anonymous wrote:I think flat stomachs are genetically inherited, honestly, OP. I've never had a flat stomach, and I've always been slender. I can see 4 separate ab muscles - the top ones. Then right below there's pudge Once in my late 20s, out of curiosity, I slimmed way down, exercised like crazy, and nope, still couldn't see the two bottom abs. But since I have a slim figure generally, I wear high-waisted clothes and no one is the wiser.

I've been told that there might be a link with auto-immune issues, and I do indeed have two auto-immune diseases.

The best you can do is eat clean, exercise and reach your target weight. After that, if you still have a belly, well, you'll have to learn to live with it.

How slim are you? And how tall?
I am 5'4" and always had a flat stomach until recently.
Up to 115 lbs I have a flat stomach. Now that I am above 128, I do not. But, it will look flat(er) when I drop to 120, and then flat at 115.

o

5’4” and 110lbs. In my 20s I went down to 100lbs, with all kinds of core exercises, cardio, weightlifting, etc. Still had a round lower belly! My mother has been skeletally thin all her life and has the same thing. Most of my female relatives are underweight or in the lower range of normal, and have the same thing.

Please believe me when I say that some bellies are genetic. Plus there’s the autoimmune angle, as I said previously.

Thanks for replying. You should be having a flat tummy, do you build muscle easy or it is hard for you? What is your muscle tone like? That could affect it, I guess.

Good guess, PP, I have mild hypotonia and cannot build muscle easily. When I was lifting serious weights, I still had itty bitty chicken arms
I've made my peace with having pudge on my belly. With my figure, I can wear whatever I like except mid-rise pants and skirts. Low rise works with long flowy tops, high rise flatter my tiny waist. I wear mini skirts, bikinis, etc. Anything that doesn't hit across my pudge. So I can't complain.

Thanks for replying, again. It does seem true that we do know our bodies best. I build muscle with little effort.

It’s genetic/body type specific. I carry weight in my hips/thighs/breasts, which means I can be “heavy” by DCUM standards and still have a flat stomach.

Anonymous wrote:It's the weight. You get a flat stomach when you are very slim. There is nothing else to it.

Disagree. Throughout my 20s I was a size 00/0 and athletic and still didn’t have a flat stomach.

You need to be under 20% body fat. Closer to 15% for a toned stomach/newb abs showing level.
Males need to be under 10%.

It is. It for the faint of heart and only serious discipline and probably more than just OT for a 40 year old to get there.

Totally genetic. Weight goes to my arms and thighs. Even when I don't have visible ab muscles, the layer(s) of fat on top are flat.