Help! Fat tummy

Shalla

Don't know if anyone can help, but I'm supposedly a healthy weight except I have a big tummy that I'm having a really hard time shifting. Is there a way to lose weight just around the tummy?

Faith

Moved to main forum.

mack1

You will need to give more details.
What is your current diet like? give us a typical day.
What exercise are you doing currently?

Shalla

Ok, breakfast 2 slices wholegrain toast, butter and jam, or with banana slices. Or I pick something up at the station like a flapjack or v. occasionally a muffin (bad, bad). Coffee. I used to have a serious muffin and latte habit in the morning, and have lost a stone since giving that up.

Lunch - coffee and a ciggie

Afternoon - tea and biscuits, or an apple

Dinner - Meat or fish, potatoes, rice or pasta, lots of veg. Or if I'm tired something like spag bol or shepherd's pie ready meal. Sometimes just a sandwich or beans on toast.

I don't eat much chocolate or sweets, or takeaways, but I do like crisps - maybe six packs a week.

EileenG

Your diet is rubbish. Sorry, but it is. If you want to lose your tummy, you'll have to make big changes.

Start by eating a proper breakfast. Either porridge or eggs. Personally, I think a good omlette makes a great start to the day, you'll feel full for ages. Get rig of anything that comes in a box, or contains sugar or white flour.

Lunch: you've got to be joking. Eat a proper lunch. Buy a bag of washed salad and eat it with some tinned tuna, salmon or sardines.

Dinner: meat, fish, chicken and veg are all good. Rice and pasta are not. A boiled potato is fine, but not a plateful of them, and not chips. Sandwiches and beans on toast should be for emergencies only. Next time Tesco has BBQ steak on sale, buy enough to put some in the freezer. It's so thin you can cook it directly from frozen in the same time it takes to fry a rasher of bacon. Same with chicken breast, slice it before you freeze, and you can cook from frozen.

bladybladyblah

tummy fat....I feel your pain!!

I used to be really skinny but college has screwed me up!

I try to do sit ups but that generally only lasts about a week. It does work but I think you have to be really motivated.

Personally I think eating late at night is a killer. Try not to have dinner after 7.

Chocolate is evil!!!!!!!!

EileenG

Sit-ups won't fix your tummy. They can strengthen your tummy muscles, but you'll still have a layer of fat hiding your six pack. Diet, weights and cardio is the way to go.

Shalla

What's cardio?

Thanks for your reply Eileen G. I spend 4 hours a day commuting, which does take its toll on my diet, I suppose. A cooked breakfast is out of the question as I just wouldn't have time in the morning. I have breakfast when I get into work. I could swap the toast for muesli - though I thought wholegrain was good for you? Can't stand margarine or other icky spreads, but I try to use a minimum of butter. Dinner has to be after 7, as that's when I get home.

Lunch, hmmm. I'm never really hungry, and I like to go for a walk as I don't get any other chance to exercise during the week, but maybe tuna salad wouldn't be too much and I could pass on the 4pm biccies.

I don't eat platefuls of potatoes!:eek: Just one, small one. And not chips, except maybe once at the weekend as the children are allowed them as a treat on Friday or Saturday.

I'm interested in more exercise suggestions, as I don't think I even consume whatever amount of calories I should be. Cant do situps because of spinal fusion, but everything else is ok. Preferably something interesting because I do get so bored with it. Took a two-hour walk on Sunday, which I really enjoyed - would that be any use for a big tum?

ETA Good tips on slicing meat before freezing, thanks. I'll definitely do that. How do you separate it before frying - under a tap or something? I have been using the microwave to defrost, say a chicken breast or piece of salmon, but I don't think it does much for the texture of the food.

cozmik

Any alcohol in your diet?

Shalla

No alcohol - between the long commute and the demands of two toddlers, two teenage step children and a full time job, I wouldn't be able to function if I added alcohol to the mix.

smiles302

I'd try swapping the tea and coffee for water, if you need a hot drink, boil the water, half tap water half boiled water usually good lol

ApeXaviour

How on earth will swapping tea/coffee for water help with her belly?

Ditch the junk. Crisps and biscuits. Read and follow what EileenG said, she knows her stuff.

EileenG

Shalla wrote: »

What's cardio?

Thanks for your reply Eileen G. I spend 4 hours a day commuting, which does take its toll on my diet, I suppose. A cooked breakfast is out of the question as I just wouldn't have time in the morning. I have breakfast when I get into work. I could swap the toast for muesli - though I thought wholegrain was good for you? Can't stand margarine or other icky spreads, but I try to use a minimum of butter. Dinner has to be after 7, as that's when I get home.

Lunch, hmmm. I'm never really hungry, and I like to go for a walk as I don't get any other chance to exercise during the week, but maybe tuna salad wouldn't be too much and I could pass on the 4pm biccies.

I don't eat platefuls of potatoes!:eek: Just one, small one. And not chips, except maybe once at the weekend as the children are allowed them as a treat on Friday or Saturday.

I'm interested in more exercise suggestions, as I don't think I even consume whatever amount of calories I should be. Cant do situps because of spinal fusion, but everything else is ok. Preferably something interesting because I do get so bored with it. Took a two-hour walk on Sunday, which I really enjoyed - would that be any use for a big tum?

ETA Good tips on slicing meat before freezing, thanks. I'll definitely do that. How do you separate it before frying - under a tap or something? I have been using the microwave to defrost, say a chicken breast or piece of salmon, but I don't think it does much for the texture of the food.

Cardio is any exercise that makes you sweat and pant for a reasonable period of time. Fast walking, jogging, cycling, rowing, dancing, sparring, skipping, even sex will do if you do it consistantly. You need to raise your heart rate enough to make it work hard, and you will burn calories.

Long walks are great. Cardio that you actually do is of far more benefit than some thing intense that you try to avoid.

Get up ten minutes earlier, you'll have time for breakfast. Honestly, you can scramble two eggs in the same time it takes to make a slice of toast, and quicker than you can make coffee. If you really can't do that, boil some eggs the night before and carry them with you.

Yes, wholegrain is good for you, but very few people actually eat wholegrain. Porridge oats are about the only ones that most people ever eat, Cherrios are not wholegrain! Most brown bread is only marginally better than white.

A quick home workout is something like bodyweight squats, press-ups (do box press-ups if you can't do full ones), step ups, good mornings, lunges, chair dips. Use a couple of milk containers as weights for shoulder press, bicep curls and side raises. Do three sets of ten reps for a couple of weeks, then think about adding extra weight to the ones you are finding easy.

Try stomach vacuums. This is where you sit or stand tall, and suck in your tummy as hard as you possibly can. Try to stick your belly button to your spine. You'll only be able to take shallow breaths. Hold for 20 seconds, and work up from there.

cozmik

Thought this might be of interest

Study Shows Whole-Grain Diet Good for the Waistline

By Jennifer Warner
WebMD Health News

...

In the study, Heather I. Katcher of Pennsylvania State University and colleagues divided 50 obese adults with metabolic syndrome into two groups. Metabolic syndrome is a collection of risk factors that increase risk for heart disease and diabetes.

Both groups were instructed to cut calories for 12 weeks. But one group was told to eat only whole-grain products while the other group was asked not to eat any whole-grain foods.

By the end of the study, both groups had lost weight, an average of 8 pounds among the whole-grain group and 11 pounds in the refined-grain group.

Both groups experienced a decrease in body fat, but the whole-grain group lost significantly more body fat from the abdominal region than the refined-grain group

Looking for food that is a good source of whole grain? Here are some examples of whole grains:

Whole wheat
Whole oats/oatmeal
Whole-grain corn
Popcorn
Brown rice
Whole rye
Whole-grain barley
Wild rice
Buckwheat
Triticale
Bulgur (cracked wheat)
Millet
Quinoa
Sorghum

Foods labeled with the words "multi-grain," "stone-ground," "100% wheat," "cracked wheat," "seven-grain," or "bran" are usually not whole-grain products.

Color is not an indication of a whole grain. Bread can be brown because of molasses or other added ingredients. Read the ingredient list to see if it is a whole grain.

When trying to select foods with whole grains, choose foods that name one of the following whole-grain ingredients first on the label's ingredient list:

Brown rice
Bulgur
Oatmeal
Whole-grain corn
Whole oats
Whole rye
Whole wheat
Wild rice

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20080225/whole-grains-fight-belly-fat

Transform

ApeXaviour wrote: »

How on earth will swapping tea/coffee for water help with her belly?

Ditch the junk. Crisps and biscuits. Read and follow what EileenG said, she knows her stuff.

It helps as it cut out fluids that act as stimulants which will increase insulin levels which in turn leads to more fat storage particularly in stomach region