Why won't the body spot-reduce?

[Deja Q]

I've lost 8 pounds since I started the exercise/eating pattern change last month.

My face is a bit thinner.

My pants seem a wee bit looser.

But this bowling ball of a gut is still bouncing back and forth freely, waving to me in a mock tone that says "Hello!! You're going to be a size 30 waist but I'll still be here for the rest of your life, moooooohahahahahaha!"! x(

Bloody 'ell, I'm a size 34 as it is. My waist is just fine. I just don't get it. I put the gut on last, so why isn't it going away first? :cry:

</whinging rant>

[brainshrub]

1. Repeat after me:

"I will learn to love sit-ups."

[ChoralScholar]

2. The same reason you can't drain only the front half of a waterbed

when you diet, you are lowering your body's OVERALL fat content. You will probably see the fat peel off pretty equally. Because of this, your highest concentration of fat will be the hardest to see improvement in.
The only thing you can do is tone a particular set of muscles. So if your gut is caused by a combination of fat and flimsy abdominal muscles, sit-ups might help.

PS. I feel for you, I look like I'm about to have a set of twins.

[ForrestGump]

3. What's even more unfair is that, if you work those muscles just so

they'll bulk up and even the slightest layer of fat on top will give a false impression that there's no solidity there. Abdominals seem a classic for this, at least in my experience, though -- to me -- the point is to have the strength, etc, rather than to merely look 'cut'...

[VelmaD]

4. I feel your pain

I've lost 125 pounds in the last couple of years and I'm still working off my abs. Sometimes I don't think I'm ever gonna have a flat tummy. *pout*

[Radical Activist]

5. How much?

125 pounds is a lot. Amazing.

[VelmaD]

6. yup

125 pounds. I went from 275 (at least 275 - I was dieting for 6 weeks before I got brave enough to step on a scale) and now I'm down to 150. GO ME! :-) Size 24 down to a size 8.

[Radical Activist]

9. Impressive

That's a little less than I weigh and I've always been pretty thin.

So um...I checked out your website...interesting. Sorry, but I've never worn a kilt. :D

[theivoryqueen]

11. wwwwow!

125! Way to go! Very great.

[Deja Q]

12. Congrats!

Losing weight isn't easy and that's quite an accomplishment, even if the abs are still a bit out there. (Sit-ups or a competent equivalent seems the only solution, in order to re-tighten the muscles... )

I know I was whining before, but I know that with time and consistent effort I'll get back to a reasonable shape.

[phaseolus]

7. It'll go away

....like choral scholar said.

And BTW I'd KILL to be able to fit into a 34" waist, which is my goal. I'm doing cardio & strength training, and although I've only lost 4 pounds (down to 268 now -- I'm 6'4") my clothes do fit better, my legs and arms look great, I look noticeably smaller every week, I feel so much better, and most importantly I don't look like Karl Rove anymore!

but ... yeah, there's still that gut. Gettin' smaller though.

[Deja Q]

13. Congrats!

I think it's the diet alteration that helped me most. It's inconceivable that losing 8 pounds in 4 weeks could be done on mere exercise alone. (I'm way out of shape and, on average, get 20 minutes, four times per week.) It was every day for the first 2 weeks, but after my hefty trek on July 4 I had rested for 1 week, then got back on.

Going from no breakfast, big lunch, huge dinner, big snack at bedtime to a better reasonable breakfast, lunch, and dinner of varying amounts combined with nibbling on lean meats or high fiber foods (tuna, water chestnuts) to keep the body's metabolism going all the time seems to make the difference. I haven't noticed a drop in muscle ability so I haven't lost 8 pounds of muscle...

You're right, it will go away. It is a matter of time and persistence and building muscle as well.

My diet is also 30 fat, 40 protein, 30 carb. That's an estimate, it varies per day. I do look for low-carb products as I concentrate the carbs ingestion for breakfast after exercising and some at lunch. (and I've cut 99% simple carbs and sugars out. Totally. Complex carbs only to ensure I don't dip in blood sugar level and fall unconscious!)

Wheat germ is my friend too! Hodgson Mills untoast wheat germ seems to be the lowest in fat, highest in fiber, reasonable in price, no sugars, and great on fat free/sugar free pudding. :-)

[SmileyBoy]

8. Wish I was a 34"...

I'm currently a 36".

[Deja Q]

14. I used to be a size 30...

I had started at 208 pounds (apple shape). My doc also says 190 pounds should be my norm. Then in 1999 I started a food diet alteration. I went down to 168 pounds... stayed there for 18 months and then my weight crept back up... and up... and up... I stabilized at size 34, but became pear shape...

[Th1onein]

10. Weightlifting won't help, don't listen to that.........

Abdominal exercises won't either. A couple of years ago, when I started weight training, I read everything I could get my hands on about getting rid of a "pot" belly. I began to suspect that you have to work a certain group of muscles, in order to begin the process of losing the fat in the abdominal area, and I was right. As much as I hated to admit it, getting on that treadmill, and no amount of ab exercises, worked. It is the ONLY thing that works for the abs, unless you want to lose TOO MUCH weight.

[amazona]

15. not knowing your age

I will just point out that after a certain age you can't lose your gut before your face gets too thin and people start asking if you are ill. You have to choose, will it be liposuction or Botox? Mother Nature intended for people over 40 to be old and out of the way so we require a bit of surgical intervention.