Slimming the waistline

gidget1978

gidget1978

Cathlete
I just thought about this and was wondering if anyone had any advice.

My waist isn't big by no means, probably 27.5" or so but I am short waisted and I feel as if my waist should be a little smaller to match my hips. I just find that when I eat to much or if I gain weight, its right in my midsection...why does that happen to women? why can't it be our arms...or even better our ears or toes?:eek: I workout tons, so that's not the problem, and my eating is good.
I do tend to skip ab work sometimes though. I was just wondering if anyone had any "tips" for this area? Just something that someone tried like planks, kickboxing...no sweets at all? Are there any tricks that anyone found worked?
Like this weekend ( I know a lot of women have this problem as well) we went to a wedding and of course after I ate, my stomach blew up, in the meantime I am probably the only person who noticed. Now mind you, a few of my other friends were in the same boat, where as others looked the same. Are they just lucky?
Thanks for your reponses. Just wondering if there is something I could add in to my daily workouts to help this area a little?

Lori:)
 
It's visceral fat, the easiest to put on & the hardest to get rid of. Also the unhealthiest b/c it clings to your internal organs.

"No sweets at all," at least temporarily, will help. For me, visceral fat is all about the diet. No amount of exercise will make it go away, the only way to lose it is by very strict, clean eating.

P.S. the bloat you felt after eating a lot at the wedding is water weight. This happens to me every time I eat more than my body is used to, & I'll typically gain 1-2 lbs. After 24-48 hours it's gone.
 
I find that "stomach twisties" get the job done for me in terms of drawing my waist in. *(also works nicely on the hips)

Cathe does these in some of her kickboxing workouts. Just sit in a horse stance, put your arms in guard (or punch) and twist at the waist.
I do 100 day, and I noticed within 2 weeks that my clothes were looser at the waistband.
 
"No sweets at all," at least temporarily, will help. For me, visceral fat is all about the diet. No amount of exercise will make it go away, the only way to lose it is by very strict, clean eating.

I guess I'm destined to have a muffin top as Sweets are my downfall. I don't think I can go more than 4-5 days with out something sweet.:mad::mad: He he
 
I've noticed that the older I get, the thicker my waist has become:mad: I still work out hard but the key for me is diet. It has to be squeaky clean to see some improvement in the waist and ab area.

JJ
 
I'm still a little confused here. :confused::confused:
I'm 5'2" and weigh 114 pounds. So I'm nowhere near fat. I workout 4 times a week (soetimes more) and eat okay but not the best. But MY BELLY IS FAT!!!:eek::eek::eek:No sense mincing words here. My belly is FAT :eek::eek:
I don't do a lot of abs because everything I've read said you have to lose the fat before you can see the ab muscles. HOW DO I DO THIS???? More cardio, more weight days?
I'm 44, menopausal and had a baby 4 years ago if that helps.
Where do I go from here??
thanks
elliemom :D
 
MommaPew said:
"No sweets at all," at least temporarily, will help. For me, visceral fat is all about the diet. No amount of exercise will make it go away, the only way to lose it is by very strict, clean eating.

I guess I'm destined to have a muffin top as Sweets are my downfall. I don't think I can go more than 4-5 days with out something sweet.:mad::mad: He he
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Sweets are my downfall as well. However, you have great control, I can't go a day without having something sweet - how do you do it?
 
elliemom said:
I'm still a little confused here. :confused::confused:
I'm 5'2" and weigh 114 pounds. So I'm nowhere near fat. I workout 4 times a week (soetimes more) and eat okay but not the best. But MY BELLY IS FAT!!!:eek::eek::eek:No sense mincing words here. My belly is FAT :eek::eek:
I don't do a lot of abs because everything I've read said you have to lose the fat before you can see the ab muscles. HOW DO I DO THIS???? More cardio, more weight days?
I'm 44, menopausal and had a baby 4 years ago if that helps.
Where do I go from here??
thanks
elliemom :D
Click to expand...


The minute I start running I noticed a difference in my waistline and abs. I also do full situps using my 35# kettlebell and kettlebell swings. I eat about 85% very good. The 15% is usually 1 or 2 york peppermint patties a day and 1 cheat meal a week. I'm 47 but I don't have any kids. I'm not sure if it's the running or the kettlebells or both but my abs have never looked better. I don't have a six pack (maybe a pony four pack :)) but it's flat most of the time.
 
Me too, Lorie! We sound like we have similar figures. On a good day I can wear a long top that makes my waist look longer, and a good bra that makes my waist look smaller, but on a bad day my waist can expand to 34" (I swear. I measured!) and then I'm beyond help. :p

I can't tell you how to slim your waistline but I can give you company for your misery. :confused:
 
I hear ya. I wear a size 4. I don't own a scale so I don't know how much I weigh but after my 2 kids my belly is just a smoshie loose monstrosity. I've been working on just getting my fat % down. I switch my workouts a lot just to keep it new. This week is circut training, with interval jogging spurts. I added CLA to my daily supplements and I think it helps.
 
My waist is waaaaaaaaaaaay bigger than yours, but Pilates has made a HUGE difference in just a few very short weeks, down 2 inches in just over 2 weeks. I also have rapidly improving posture and can't believe how much taller I look (and thinner).
 
Hi-

I've noticed that as I've gotten older my abs have gotten thicker and it takes a much cleaner diet than it did before to look defined. If I'm eating a higher protein, good carb only diet they will look way better than when I'm not.

I have noticed though that kickboxing workouts ( particularly KPC's moves) seem to help define my abs quite nicely. I pretty much include 1 kickboxing workout a week as my cardio for this exact reason. Running has helped my abs too, but not when I'm doing too much of it.. when I trained for my 1/2 marathon and oly tri, my abs disappeared and I got mushy. ( That could have been too that I was eating more carbs, and not necessarily the good ones!)

As far as specific ab exercises.. I find ab exercises where it seems like you "lengthen" your body to make the move are more effective... examples of this include planks and stability ball work. I think ( this is just my guess) in moves where you have to almost "stretch your abs out before making the focused move seems to incorporate more of the muscle work in the ab region.

I work my abs 4-6x/week, but usually only 3 or 4 exercises tops and I do different things. One day may be 3 versions of different planks, the next weighted ab work, the next traditional crunches. This seems to work great for me.

Lastly genetics are huge for nice abs.. some people are destined for a 6 pack. (sigh.. wish I was, but unfortunately I'm not!)

Take care, Lynn M.
 
Thanks for taking the time to reply everyone! Its nice to know that I am not alone.:p (nancy:eek: hehe!)
I am thinking part of my problem is that when I had my first child I was only 17 yrs old and have stretch marks to prove it...but with my second I didn't get any new ones. I don't think it takes much for me to get that "pop" on the go b/c of the loose skin. I do know that when I eat fairly clean, everything levels out. Before the wedding this past weekend, I was good all week and according to the scale I even dropped a couple of pounds. But it didn't matter what I did all week b/c in that one meal...I looked like I hadn't done anything all week:mad: LOL
Im going to try ditching the sweets for a while, adding in more ab exercises and even though I am training for a race, prehaps trying to get one good kickboxing workout in a week.

Thanks again ladies! Your the best!!!

Lori:)
 
goldenpath said:
Sweets are my downfall as well. However, you have great control, I can't go a day without having something sweet - how do you do it?
Click to expand...

As I sit here and eat through a small bag of sour ju jubes I guess in 3 words "I DON'T KNOW". I swear i can go for several days w/o candy and then i just binge for a couple days then I'm good for about a week again. My sister can open up a bag of chips or a small bag of candy eat 2 or 3 bites and put it back for the next night. I swear there is something wrong there (okay you got me it's called ENVY)

I've just started my 2nd week of P90X and I'm hoping the increase in muscle I hope to build will help kick start my metabolism as I have that drasted 10# to lose that I just can't shake.
 
I am built like a ruler as well. 28 inch waist with some ab definition so I'm not fat but my hips are on the smaller side as well so my hip/waist ratio is very small. I used to worry about it but I'm done. I'm not fat and if I tried to shrink my waist I'd end up looking emaciated instead! If my 28" waist is going to cause me health problems then so be it. :p
 
I'm so happy to see other women posting about this--because that means I'm not alone!!

I feel as though ever since I turned 30 (I think that's my excuse for everything ;)), my waist has started to slowly expand, even though I've managed to keep my weight +/- 2-3 pounds for the last 3 years. But I look at photos of my 30th birthday and marvel at how I could wear such a form-fitting shirt (I had just lost 30 pounds from WW, so I was wearing a lot of these ;)), and while I didn't have abs of steel by any means, there weren't a ton of visible rolls, either. Now I wear the same shirt (and the other shirts I wore a lot during that time), and I have to be careful at what angle I'll be photographed or be careful not to turn a certain way 'cause then it's roll city LOL.

I feel as though I've actually gotten better/cleaner in my eating since then--when I was doing WW, it was all about points and it didn't really matter to me how many fruits and veggies I was getting, or whether my foods were processed or not. Now I follow those basic guidelines and yet my waist is getting thicker. Boo!!

I could (and do) blame it on hormones, I guess, but I wish I knew what I could do to combat it!
 
I was thinking....I wonder is it one or the other? If you don't have hips then you have to fight that pouch? No...that can't be it! LOL The reason I say this is b/c two of my friends have flat bellys, all the time! No matter what they eat or when and one of them as had 3 kids in the last 6 yrs. The other one is 15 weeks pregnant with her 2nd and STILL not showing! I swear I popped out as soon as I found out with my 2nd. But both of these girls have more hip then me (of course cause Im like a ruler to) and my other friend. I also wanted to add that the only reason I knew my other friend was bloated that night was b/c she brought it up, claiming that she looked like she was pregnant:confused:
So Im going to try a little experiment and get back to you fine ladies! Im going to give myself a month, in a certain calorie range of clean eating, no night time picking and some good 'ole ab work and I will come back to report:)

Lori:)
 
jennifermaria said:
I'm so happy to see other women posting about this--because that means I'm not alone!!

I feel as though ever since I turned 30 (I think that's my excuse for everything ;)
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I hate to say it, but wait until you hit 40. I swear each decade it seems I have had to work harder to get and keep the weight off. Thankfully I have a few years before I hit 50 to see what joys wait for me in that decade! :eek:
 
Another 30-something yr old here

I really don't think turning 30 is an excuse Jennifer b/c I'm on the same boat. I've been working out since HS. I noticed once I turned 30 my body starting reacting differently to what I was eating and my method of exercise. In my 20's (not trying to brag :eek:) I really had great definition and my abs were flat. I actually had a four pack, with the other two slightly showing. Now I have this small lower ab pooch that just doesn't want to tighten up no matter what I do. I workout 6 days a week/60-90 mins and I eat pretty clean with a cheat once a week. It's frustrating :(.

I will say though that what works best for me now is k-boxing and lower ab work. I really hate floorwork abs. I do it twice a week or so but I have neck and shoulder issues so I just really don't enjoy it. After a k-boxing workout I'll do some sets of knee ins on a bench and weighted lower leg lifts. Another great ab exercise is decline sit ups...those are my fav :)

Chastity
 
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