Thread: Losing weight and getting bigger belly

Why, why, why! I've lost 30 lbs since the first the of the year after going off the meds that made me gain almost 50 lbs to begin with. My arms are smaller, my butt is smaller, my hips are smaller, my legs are smaller, my boobs are smaller, my neck is smaller. My belly is the same and only looks that much bigger.

My hips and butt didn't need to be any smaller. My belly needs to be smaller.

Very depressing.

I feel ya. I have this same problem when I lose weight. I haven't completely solved it, but I have a couple of theories about the 'why' part.

Theory 1 -- your body is going to hold onto weight at your center of gravity the longest.

Theory 2 -- Fat that's trapped in the omentum in the belly is of a different nature than the subcutaneous fat elsewhere in the body. I know that women are 'protected' against this omentum fat by our hormones until we near/pass menopause, presumably so that our fat doesn't crowd an expanding uterus. So clearly it is in some way 'different' if it responds to hormones differently than subcutaneous fat?

This is very much just a theory based on my own experiences -- I think that after 40 my omentum became the place old carbs go to die. i can lose weight overall, but unless I severely increase my lean protein intake and reduce my carbs, my belly doesn't respond. When I reduce my simple carbs -- and by that I mean sweets, beer/alcohol, bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, dairy -- my belly responds almost instantly.

Firstly, you need to congratulate yourself for the weight you have lost so far :) I have found the same. Since having my duaghter a few years ago my waistline has never been the same and its really difficult to lose. I have found that cardio- like running on a treadmill has really started to help.
Another issue to consider is diabetes. I had gestational diabetes so I know I carry the gene and am at risk for developing it later in life or if I dont control my weight. One of the characteristics of this proneness is a higher waist to hip ratio.
Im sure you will get there and that you look gorgeous! Your persistance will pay off :)

This is perplexing. After having my two daughters, my ribcage, tummy, and hip measurements are bigger despite the fact that I weigh less now than I did before getting pregnant. I know I don't have the same muscle mass that I had back then, but it's still frustrating.

Over 40 extra weight shifts on many women from the lower body to the belly due to fluctuating estrogen levels, pears become apples.

Make sure you don´t have PCOS!

Typical symptoms include that "beer belly",hair getting thinner and acne/oily skin)
My doc said that women typically blame age and ignore it.

Thanks for ideas, everyone. Yes, I think it is hormonal to a large extent. My body shape is and always has been a T or inverted triangle--broad shoulders, broad back and ribcage, narrow pelvis, long, slender legs. As I got older it became a T with an apple stuck in the middle. All women in my family are apples or T's.

Yes, PCOS. I had a hysterectomy 20 years ago because of PCOS and endometriosis. Took HRT for about 15 years and quit about 5 years ago.

My entire family, save myself and one sister, are diabetics. My dad died from diabetes-related renal failure. My granddad was diabetic. I have four diabetic siblings. As my doctor pointed out, I am genetically hardwired for it and that my exercise level and diet have fought it off. Been taking Metformin for about a year now to give me a little extra edge in the battle.

Omentum--isn't that a wonderful word? An organ we never think about. And Lauren, I think you are right. Of course with no ovaries or uterus, my omentum has plenty of real estate to fill.

Yes, ditch the simple carbs. Its a constant battle. When I am good about it, the belly shrinks. Renewing the fight!

Metformin, BTW, is used to treat PCOS in addition to diabetes and pre-diabetes. Interesting. . .

I had something similiar happen to me all my life. Just a bigger belly than the rest of me. After a very rough summer with other health issues, I found out that I have Celiac's disease, a genetic wheat intolerance. Once I got away from all things gluten, my belly has finally gotten smaller.

Originally Posted by clueless23de

I had something similiar happen to me all my life. Just a bigger belly than the rest of me. After a very rough summer with other health issues, I found out that I have Celiac's disease, a genetic wheat intolerance. Once I got away from all things gluten, my belly has finally gotten smaller.

Wow. I've wondered about celiac. What kind of symptoms did you have? Do you feel better overall? Can you eat quinoa?

I was diagnosed with IBS this past Spring by my GP. Unfortunately, the magic pill that I was given to lessen the symptoms gave me horrible dry mouth. I was drinking TONS of water for the dry mouth and ended up feeling worse because I had a water belly. I also wanted to fix my problem and not the symptoms, but there is nothing you can really do to treat IBS. (TMI alert: I had both problems with not being able to "go" and then "going" too much.)

This summer I just got worse. Sick to my stomach alot, lots of other things. Also, I kept gaining weight over the past couple of years and have struggled with depression ALOT. Partly because no matter what I ate or how little I ate I kept gaining. Somedays my stomach felt very full without really eating anything.

So after sponsoring my mentor in a dance workshop this year and watching her eat whole meals plus dessert while I was sick to my stomach and bloated after (literally) a couple of bites, she noticed something was wrong.
She encouraged me to see a Natural Medicine MD.

I saw an herbologist who gave me a chinese concotion of herbs and told me to eat whatever I wanted. She said that after the 2 week course I would feel better and it would be clearer to me if I had any food allergies. I was the most miserable I have ever been. My stomach looked like I was 6 months preggers.

One day I was doing research on weight loss diets (cause I was soo sick of the belly). I came across a wheat free diet that had fine print that said, "not suitable for those with Celiac's disease." Huh? What's that?

So I did some research and it blew me away! That was me. That very day I stopped ALL gluten foods. 2 days later my stomach was mostly flat!! My hubby was shocked.

I also discovered that if you do have Celiac's and it goes untreated (the ONLY "cure" is to stop eating gluten), other diseases can arise such as Addison's disease and Grave's disease. My mother was just diagnosed with Grave's at the beginning of the year and my grandmother's brother suffered from Addison's.

I have felt like a completely new person after taking gluten out of my diet. The depression and sad feelings are gone, my energy is back, and I actually fit into my clothes again. I can pick any item randomly out of my closet and it fits!

On the downside, my grocery bill has doubled because gluten free items such as pasta and bread are crazy expensive. And yes, I do eat quinoa without any problems.

I saw my Dr recently and she said that if not eating gluten has fixed all most of my problems then it is most likely that I do have Celiac's and testing would be pointless.

BTW:
Now I can eat BIG meals and not have a big tummy and I don't feel overly full.
I can even have GF desserts with no problems AND I have lost weight!
Since the end of August, I have lost 8 pounds and counting. It is a very slow weight loss but it will probably NOT come back either.

FYI: I have been a vegetarian all my adult life and have a love for fruits, veggies, and grains. I considered myself to have a very healthy diet and still do but I really do not "watch my weight". I eat what I want, when I want and still have lost weight.

Wow! I have actually wondered about celiac. Might be worth trying to be gluten free for a couple of weeks as an experiment AND to help with the elimination of simple sugars. See what happens. Can't hurt as long as I am getting B vitamins from somewhere else.

Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by clueless23de

I had something similiar happen to me all my life. Just a bigger belly than the rest of me. After a very rough summer with other health issues, I found out that I have Celiac's disease, a genetic wheat intolerance. Once I got away from all things gluten, my belly has finally gotten smaller.

applies to any allergy/intolerance- for me it was soy & eggs- so honestly, an elimination diet might be a good thing to try. it's a pain when you're doing it, but WOW! what a difference! allergic reactions (as explained to me) can happen either in the blood (this is where the anaphalactic reactions & hives come in) or in the gut- essentially stripping the intestine wall. I was SO frustrated after asking for YEARS if my problems could be allergy related & the doctors not even considering it, to have a naturopathic doctor take one look at the blood work other doctors had *already looked at for other purposes* and say "golly, you have allergies." As in, this blood work was ordered & looked at by the GP doctors, but since they were looking for thyroid problems (despite almost 10 years of being tested for thyroid problems with no results) they didn't see the allergy indicators. grrrr. but I'm not bloated anymore and not nearly as anemic or fatigued, & I really like my nice holistic medical clinic where people actually listen.

ummm- sorry for the unintentional rant...

Lara- totally agree with you. I's so glad you got yourself straightened out. I have less and less confidence in our traditional healthcare system.

Souzan- keep us updated!

I already know I have many allergies and I see an allergist a couple of times a year. Recently developed a shellfish allergy (confirmed by skin test) and I carry an epi-pen with me at all times just in case of accidental exposure. I think I'll try gluten free for a couple of weeks and see what happens.

Thanks.

I've been losing weight, not a lot, and losing inches on my arms, butt, etc.

Here's the thing. Since I started dancing, I have muscles in my middle that I really didn't have before. From talking to folks, it does seem common.

I did have a small spare tire when I started, but now it's bigger. Although disgusted to a certain extent, I am glad to trade whatever measurements for those muscles.

Going gluten-free for two weeks to see what happens. Quinoa pasta, brown rice, sweet potatoes. If it helps then I'll start experimenting with making gluten-free bread.

Hang in there Souzan:)and keep us updated!

I went by the natural foods co-op today and bought some gluten free ingredients. We already had stuff like quinoa pasta (which I have been using for a while), rice noodles and whole-grain cornmeal. So I picked up some buckwheat, rice flour, and nut flour. These are high in protein so I figure I can make some healthy quickbreads to have for breakfast instead of cereal. If nothing else it will be fun to try something different.

Originally Posted by Souzan

Wow! I have actually wondered about celiac. Might be worth trying to be gluten free for a couple of weeks as an experiment AND to help with the elimination of simple sugars. See what happens. Can't hurt as long as I am getting B vitamins from somewhere else.

Thanks for sharing.

Hi Souzan!

Since you mentioned you had PCOS and a family history of diabetes, go to your doctor to make sure the access weight in your tummy isn't health-related due to any condition.

How did you lose weight? Did you lose weight simply by going off the meds or through diet and exercise as well?

I had gained weight over the years and though I had remained considerably small in dress size with the weight gain, my stomach had gotten big. I also found out that I have an intolerance to gluten and once I went on a strict gluten-free diet and amped up the exercise, I lost weight and my tummy has gone done significantly.

Learning to bake with your own with gluten-free flour blends can be a major pain in the *ss! The best, normal tasting, easy-to-use, gluten-free flour blends I have come across are the Pamela's brand. Pamela's makes various "all-purpose," gluten-free flour blends that taste delicious and are very easy to cook and bake with. I use the pancake and waffle mix. It's wonderful and it makes the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had. ,r:;

Foods made with Pamela's don't taste gluten-free. I love the quinoa/corn pasta. It's sooo good! I've found that rice pasta doesn't cook too well and doesn't taste all that great, with the exception of Asian rice noodles.

Once you do a strict gluten-free diet, you will find that the weight will start falling off. You may also want to consider getting a colon cleanse.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

When I reduce my simple carbs -- and by that I mean sweets, beer/alcohol, bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, dairy -- my belly responds almost instantly.

Those are the things I was going to suggest

Originally Posted by SamarDahab

Those are the things I was going to suggest

If she sticks to the gluten-free diet, she will lose weight by default. Cutting out gluten eliminates beer, breads, battered and fried foods, pizza, pastas, cakes, cookies, pies, pastries...all the stuff that's good but full of bad carbs.

When you have to cut out gluten, you can't eat anything but fruits, veggies, and meats (hopefully she'll only eat lean meats); and depending on her family budget, gluten-free products are just too expensive to eat every day at every meal.

The Morning Show on CBS has a segment this morning about Celiac and cooking gluten-free.

Okay, overall health. Because of family history, I have been careful bout blood sugar. Don't have sugar in the house (I use splenda) and do not cook with salt. Cook with olive oil, whole grains, lean meats. Because despite exercise and diet my blood sugar hovered just below type II diabetes level, my doctor put me on metformin. Blood sugar went down and I lost about 5 lbs but it wasn't until I went off Paxil for good in January that the weight started coming off. That encouraged me to revamp my diet because before that I was feeling hopeless as if it didn't matter what I did.

I have a weakness for ice cream, cookies, pies, cake.

I am monitored through a diabetes prevention program my HMO sponsors. Also see an allergist for asthma and food allergies.

Rather than meals I graze. If I don't eat every 2-3 hours I get sick to my stomach and lightheaded. When that happens all I want is something sweet.

My body shape is a T/apple combo. Tallish, broad shoulders, large frame upper body, small frame lower body (i.e. big wrists, teeny tiny ankles). Big boobs. I am strong, love to lift weights, put on muscle very easily especially in the upper body. Jim Boz and I have a lot in common. My first husband was a competitive swimmer in college and always admired my lats. Fat storage goes to my belly and back.

Starting 4th day gluten-free. My stomch is a bit smaller this morning. I am going to do this for 2 weeks and see how it goes.

Thanks for all the support, ladies. I'll keep you posted.