The lower belly flubby pooch, how do I make it a little smaller?

Question

I'm not insanly picky about having a little excess, but I've always had a trouble area- "the flubber pooch" as I like to call it, the lower abdomen, bellow the belly button area that's hard to tone. I'm in good shape and toned up in most other areas, I do pilates/yoga regularly. Just wondering if anyone has any magical moves or suggestions though that specifically target this area.

Answer 1

I have to admit that "flubber pooch" made me laugh. Thanks.

There is no site specific way of losing fat... the old myth about working your abs to burn belly fat isn't true. To get rid of love handles, you need to lose overall fat. That happens with exercise and watching your diet. More on that below.

The most effective way to lose fat is aerobic exercise in the "moderate" fat-burning range, ideally first thing in the morning before you eat. When you wake your body is ready to burn fat and your levels of growth hormone are highest at that time. Later in the day it can take up to 30 minutes just to put your body into a fat-burning mode.

Another overlooked way to burn fat is by lifting weights. Skeletal muscle has very high caloric needs... almost twice that of adipose (fat) tissue. Put on a little muscle and you will burn calories all day even at rest. Be aware that skeletal muscle weighs more, so with this approach you may see your weight increasing while your body fat is melting away. Not realizing this often stresses folks who think they should be losing weight as a measure of fitness. Forget the scale, look in the mirror and you will be happy.

For diet, keep a diary for a couple of weeks counting calories, grams of protein, and grams of fat intake. It is easy with online sources of nutritional information (type the name of the food and calories into the Google search engine) and packaging labels. That will let you quickly figure out where the fat is coming from in your diet.

Fat gives you 9 calories per gram. So take the number of grams of fat, multiply by 9, then calculate what percentage the fat calories are of your total daily calories. Restricting the calories from fat to about 20% of your total intake is ideal for a maintenance diet... that isn't overly restrictive. Of note, you need some fat in your diet. For instance, the body uses fat to produce hormones. Once you have a picture of how to modify your diet, you can drop the diary and just go back to it occasionally if you are wanting to tweek things further.

There is a subset of questions that goes further and asks about "How to get a six-pack?" The answer is the same. Six-packs are 20% abdominal exercise and 80% diet. There is one caveat... abdominal muscles will form in the position that you exercise them, so be certain to pull them tightly toward your spine while doing crunches, etc. Also, during most lifting, the "core is active" which means that you should be stabilizing with contracted abs then too. Fail to do this and the abs will form, but bulging outward and the result is not attractive.

If you are trying to build muscle as a way to lose fat, then you may need to increase total calories and specifically your protein intake. I target about 0.8 g of protein per pound of body weight each day when actively building. That is far more protein than most people need in their diets.


Aloha

Answer 2

My ideas? Try to do 200 minutes of cardio a week. Remember fat does not turn into muscle, so you need to lose your fat while putting on muscle. Work hard, but don't over 60 minutes at a time. Do planks and other abs exercises on alternate days.

On training days, do 5-10 minutes of cardio to warm up, then do your weight training. Do 30 to 60 minutes more of cardio, then go home.

The best time to eat is just after your workout within an hour when your metabolism is raging. For your muscles, incorporate some isolated soy protein or whey protein. Whey is more potent but the soy tastes better!

Don't look at your scale as the be all and end all, but get a measuring tape to check your progress, and that will show more tangible results.

Read magazines like Shape, Womens Fitness, Fitness, etc to get tips and to stay motivated.

Good luck and stick at it. This plan has lost me 20 lbs in 12 weeks so far, just go for it!

Answer 3

I know EXACTLY how you feel, I kept saying, I want to be obviously pregnant, not "are you gaining weight?" looking! I'm 6 months pregnant with my first, and it just became noticeable in the last 3-4 weeks! I only weigh 121 too, so I thought I would show earlier since I was skinny before. But yeah, like the others said, there are lots of different factors that affect "showablity" lol, and it's never the same for anyone. Hopefully in the next 2-3 weeks you'll get your bulge! It seems to happen overnight for me, because it's so gradual. One day nada, the next morning you got the bulge! And you're like, oh when did this happen? Lol, good luck!

Answer 4

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Normally, I would not answer a question like this as my expertise is generally in medication but I had severe sciatica while I was pregnant with my 3rd child (after having had twins) and I had sciatica so bad that I was finding it difficult to walk. I tried massage therapy and physical therapy and could not take medication
I went to the chiropractor and the pain was instantly relieved. My hips and lower back were out of alignment because I had carried twins the year before. On occasion a Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) can also work but they usually only work on one joint at a time - the chiropractor will do your whole back which works faster. Anyone who does not believe in chiropractors will tell you they are quacks - don't listen.
I don't necessarily believe that chiropractors can cure things like diabetes but they can definitely relieve some types of back pain especially if a pinched nerve is involved which is usually the cause of sciatica.

Answer 5

Exercise (See below)! Eat right! Take your vitamins!

1.Standing Stabilizer: This forces your core muscles to keep your body balanced as your centre of gravity shifts.

A.Stand with your feet parallel,hip-width apart.Place hands on hips.Inhale as you raise right knee in front;stop at hip level.Pull belly button in an hold.Use a wall or chair for stability if necessary.

B.Holding abdomen tight,extend leg to straight and make a quarter-circle with toe to bring leg out to side.Lower;repeat 10 times.Switch legs.Do two to three sets.

2.Foot Push: Since legs and hips are heavier and harder to lift than your upper body,this move is more challenging than a crunch.

Lie on back,hands at sides,holding legs in the air straight out from hips.

Exhale and contract abdomen by pulling belly button toward spine while pushing feet to the ceiling.Hips will tilt forward slightly and legs will lift up a few inches.Hold;then inhale as you lower and repeat 15 times.Do one to two more sets of 15.

3.Reverse Rotation: A variation on the elbow-to-knee crunch,this move works the obliques(the muscles that cover your ribs and sides) and back muscles.

Lie on stomach with elbows out to the sides and chin resting on both hands.

Keeping abdomen tight,exhale as you raise chest a few inches off the floor and rotate chest to the right;hold.Rotate back to centre and then to the left;hold.Inhale as you lower;repeat 10 times on each side.Then do one to two more sets of 10.

Answer 6

i am also in the same situation as you are a lot! the abs are hard to target but what i found out thru trial and error while working out was that the best results that i got on my lower abs came from reverse crunches. i lay down on a mat, grab onto the mat with my hands, and start doing the reverse crunches in reps of 25/set and 10-15 sets. then you could also try to put your arms up in the air and when you do your reverse cunches, touch your legs with your arms-that makes you burn all over! i did that for 15 sets of 25 reps also. also, try eating healthy, low fat foods and drink lots and lots of water.

Answer 7

Choose a whole-wheat wrap as opposed to two slices of wheat loaves of bread.

Answer 8

Create crazy along with cheese to help greens

Answer 9

Stroll everyday 35 moments each day

Answer 10

200 crunches a day

first twenty five regular
second 25 with one leg in the air
thrid 25 with the other leg in the air
fourth 25 with both legs in the air
fifth 25 with both legs bent and leaned to your right side so that your torso is slightly twisted
sixth 25 with both legs bent and leaned to your left side so that your torso is once again slightly tiwsted
seventh 25 with your legs flat on the ground
eighth 25 with your legs once again in standard situp position [knees bent and feet flat on the floor]

it will take about a week to see results, but if done every day you will look great in no time.