Hi Mia,

I’m having exactly the same issue. My 18’s look ridiculous, the bum hangs as do the legs and the waist is loose but the 16’s though I can do them up, they are slightly tight! It’s frustrating!
I’ve been in this dilemma for 4 weeks! I’d say Christmas/ new year hasn’t helped the cause so I’ve decided to do 4:3 to see if I can get past this hurdle.

Good luck with it!

yes the old stubborn tummy—StuN mentioned plank–well I have been planking for 3 weeks and am starting to see results–lots of info of how to do it on google. For a start I could only manage 5 seconds but now up to 20 seconds. There is one really good site that shows what muscles are engaged (great for bat wings too) Very along the lines of a pilates move. Oh and I am 63 and very unfit–so if it works for me….

You can try to do some cardio exercises at home. Cycling, swimming and running is a good exercise. I used to run in the morning with my DH because I want to be fit, healthy and to lose some fat. I lose about 2 lbs. in just 2 weeks and I love the result.

There are new developments.

1) Fat cells don’t last forever, more like 10 years. If you keep the pressure on for more than ten years to avoid making new fat cells there is hope the old ones will go away over 10 years! You don’t need a diet are one exercise, you need a way of life.

2) Cool-Sculpting may actually work and may cause some noticeable amount of fat “cells” to die and be absorbed into the body. Several options here:
– Pay huge amounts to a clinic that does it and maybe it will help spot reduce if you avoid making new fat cells.
– It seems like lots of people are strapping ice packs on their belly for 30 minutes a day and after a few months noticing less fat. Again avoid creating new fat! (You can search this on youtube and yes it is probably worse than it sounds.)
– Take ice cold showers even in the frigid winters. No reports if that actually works but I think that is what bitbooty does.

In short it is likely possible to lose the fat but it won’t happen overnight and it will take more than exercise, it is a life style and you make have to stick to it for life. Fasting, exercise, eating mostly whole foods and avoiding processed foods will all help. Maybe freezing your fat will work, maybe it won’t but I’m sure it won’t be fun to try. Even if freezing the fat works, you still have to keep from making new fat cells.

For the record – I have lost over 80% of my belly fat. That was mostly from cutting refined sugar out of my diet and fasting. That last 20% isn’t going away very fast and it is like made up of a lot of mostly empty fat cells that haven’t gone away yet. I’m not desperate enough to try to freeze my fat cells either and haven’t seriously considered doing it yet.

Exercise won’t do as much as losing the pounds. The more weight you lose, the less belly fat you will have. However, some belly fat is caused by changing hormones [estrogen/testosterone balance] as we age and nothing will change that, not even Bessie’s ‘corset diet’ which sounds like a slim-flam to me.
Exercise is good to maintain/build muscle mass, so do as much as you can. But eat fewer calories, too.

fastest way to burn fat is to wake up, drink a black coffee fasted, tighten a plastic bag around your waist, put some clothes on and run you a** off

I have the opposite problem. Belly fat is always the first to go for me. I find it very easy to get a slim waist, but I have lipodema, meaning my body stores fat predominently on my hips, thighs and calves. And once the fat is there, it is very very reluctant to go away again.

I have always been on the lookout for that special solution, be it excercise or diet, that helps, but the truth of the matter is: every body has a certain way of distributing fat. My mom has exactly the same body layout I have. We could always trade clothes (she is a bit shorter, so her trousers were sometimes a bit short for me, but apart from that: perfect fit). Going against that would be like struggling against the forces of nature themselves. Maybe your belly is the same. Don’t give up, but also don’t be too hard on yourself.

I agree that core exercise is a good choice. Build muscle where you want to lose fat and strengthen that area.

Crunches do not help in losing belly fat, their purpose is to tone abdominal muscles. It is impossible to target weight loss in a certain area of the body as has already been commented on earlier in this thread.
The only way to lose body fat is to eat less calories than the body requires.

Giving people false hope by posting myths is inappropriate.