Can't Lose Belly Fat - Advice Needed

JackTC

Ever since January 1st I've been on a strict diet and exercise routine.

In the Morning : Bowl of sugarless Alpen and a Banana

Lunch : Whey protein drink ( Just water with one scoop of powder)

Dinner : Usually beef, chicken or fish with plenty of veg (Spinach,carrots,peas)
Brown rice or brown pasta

I also go to the gym every day for one hour and do,
- Skipping rope & Punch bag
- Weights
- Stomach crunches

I'm skinny everywhere except my belly. I haven't touched a beer or fizzy drink since Christmas. It hasn't gone down even a little bit.

Does anyone have any advice on what to add?

statto25

Are you not absolutely starving? Are you following a diet plan or have you self restricted yourself to that amount of food?

bladespin

What's your daily intake in calories?

What does your training actually consist of? Are you following a plan or just time?

Beware of Alpen!

bucketybuck

Sorry, but the details in the OP don't add up.

What else are you eating?

Penn

Is it your actual stomach measurement that's not going down or your weight?

If you're at the gym, maybe ask them to calculate your bodyfat%. It could be that you are actually losing fat from your stomach, but also building muscle underneath, meaning the results aren't as obvious.

I'd also say a fair chunk of your diet is quite carb-heavy. Alpen, banana, rice/pasta/veg. Try Myfitnesspal for a week or two and make sure to add in everything, including milk with the Alpen, any snacks, milk in tea/coffee etc. Get the quantities of it all as close as you can.

Ultimately, your stomach tends to be the first place people put on fat, and the last place people lose fat from, because the body uses fat to protect organs (then spreads it elsewhere when it has too much fat). So there's no real way to target weightloss for a particular area. All you can do is keep belting on and hope it shifts. I think in a few weeks after trying MFP, if nothing's still changing maybe ask at the gym for them to set you up with a proper programme.

is_that_so

JackTC wrote: »

Ever since January 1st I've been on a strict diet and exercise routine.

In the Morning : Bowl of sugarless Alpen and a Banana

Lunch : Whey protein drink ( Just water with one scoop of powder)

Dinner : Usually beef, chicken or fish with plenty of veg (Spinach,carrots,peas)
Brown rice or brown pasta

I also go to the gym every day for one hour and do,
- Skipping rope & Punch bag
- Weights
- Stomach crunches

I'm skinny everywhere except my belly. I haven't touched a beer or fizzy drink since Christmas. It hasn't gone down even a little bit.

Does anyone have any advice on what to add?

What kind of gym programmes are you following and how intense? You do need to change it up every so often.

D3V!L

You're likely starving yourself and thats the reason you're not loosing weight. A scoup of protein is about 120 calories, thats not a lunch or even a snack.

Kidkinobe

Maybe you just have big tummy bones...

naughtysmurf

bucketybuck wrote: »

Sorry, but the details in the OP don't add up.

What else are you eating?

I'd agree, something doesn't add up, in 2016 I dropped from 86kg to 72/73kg over 9 months & have kept it off with pretty much zero focussed excercise, really wanted to hit 70kg, last few weeks just ditched the 4 digestive biscuits a day I was eating which amounted to over 1900kcal a week & the extra bit easily dropped off

eviltimeban

Your belly might just be bloated. It's all down to what you're eating.

Replace the Alpen with porridge. Measure how much milk you're using. Bananas are fine but they are also quite high in calories.

I'd recommend eating a better lunch - an amount of carbs is ok, so have some brown bread / chicken / or a wrap with lots of crunchy veg to make it satisfying. You could even follow up with a low sugar yoghurt.

Dinner - how much rice, and how much pasta are you having? Sometimes people aren't aware of proper portion control. Look up low carb recipes - I made a pasta-free lasagne recently, using sliced courgette and eggplant instead of lasagne sheets and it was really good, just packed full of veg.

There's not a lot of point doing crunches and thinking you'll lose weight that way - you need to shift the fat first, then you can tone up. Combine weight exercises with some cardio in between - running / rowing / battle ropes / kettle bell swings etc. Also, when you say "weights", what are you doing? Dumbells? Bar bells? How heavy, and how many reps / what exercises?

JackTC

Is it your actual stomach measurement that's not going down or your weight?

My stomach, like I said I'm skinny everywhere else, especially the face. The gut comes from a lot of beer and soft drinks over the years.

Sorry, but the details in the OP don't add up.

What else are you eating?


That's it. I'll have a big dinner. I don't eat lunch as I don't like eating during the day.

bladespin

OP from the sounds of it you're 'skinny' fat, you've basically dropped a lot of weight but don't have any shape, first port is to sort out that awful diet and then look at a proper training plan - shape up while you slim down.

patmahe

I'd suggest doing more cardio in the gym get your heart rate into the fat burning zone and keep it there, you will need to do quite long sessions ~1hr for it to have a decent impact so have a way to entertain yourself (TV or music) or it'll get boring pretty quick.

The unfortunate fact with fat is that the first place it goes on is usually the last place it will burn off. So you will need to burn fat elsewhere until your body decides to start using up the fat reserves around your belly. I did this over 6 months an I was lean everywhere else and toned, then all of a sudden over about 6-8 weeks my belly vanished to the point people said it to me at work etc...

naughtysmurf

The “big dinner” could be the problem

silverharp

While there is no issue going to the gym every day if you have the time, you should not be lifting weights 7 days a week or you will crash with an injury, your body wont recover or you are training so light its more like cardio. Weight training more than 4 times a week is probably too much

I would disagree with the poster above who suggested you should be doing hours of (steady state) cardio . HIIT and resistance training are both great for the exercise element of what you are trying to do.

Your breakfast could probably be improved , Introduce some egg based days, a decent omelette for example.

Out of curiosity what is your waist (as measured by a tape) to height measurement? If you are over 50% there is room for improvement , if you are under it then you should be good.

JackTC

bladespin wrote: »

OP from the sounds of it you're 'skinny' fat, you've basically dropped a lot of weight but don't have any shape, first port is to sort out that awful diet and then look at a proper training plan - shape up while you slim down.

I agree a training plan is needed but would you really call my diet 'Awful' ?

It's a healthy breakfast with wholegrains and fruit
I don't eat lunch simply because I don't like to. I get sleepy
The dinners I eat are pretty standard dinners like curries, bolognese and casseroles.

In terms of liquid I only consume water and low-fat milk

bladespin

JackTC wrote: »

I agree a training plan is needed but would you really call my diet 'Awful' ?

Yes, it doesn't sound like you're tracking properly at all, and looks like you're varying between starvation dieting and binging and overall it reads like you're seriously undereating.

It may or may not be healthy but 'fat burning' and 'healthy' are completely different things, if you're not weighing your Alpen you could be throwing over 500 cals in there first thing in the morning.

naughtysmurf

JackTC wrote: »

I agree a training plan is needed but would you really call my diet 'Awful' ?

It's a healthy breakfast with wholegrains and fruit
I don't eat lunch simply because I don't like to. I get sleepy
The dinners I eat are pretty standard dinners like curries, bolognese and casseroles.

In terms of liquid I only consume water and low-fat milk

How many kcals in the breakfast? I eat 2 shredded wheat 162kcal with a small amount of milk & tea at 7.30, this only has to keep me going until 10.30, a couple of eggs & brown bread as an alternative?

Half a grape fruit & 4 or 5 strawberries or a small banana with 75 grams (42kcals) of protein yougurt, this only has to keep me going until 1pm

Lunch is a pretty small chicken / tuna / turkey salad, takes about 5 minutes to eat, it won't make you sleepy.

Dinner is a breast of chicken / steak / ano + veg again a small enough portion, you could fit it on a side plate.

I'm not an expert at all but that's what worked for me

In the initial 9 months I didn't eat any takeaways, pasta, rice or bread, had potatoes once a week, I definitely think my actual stomach has shrunk because now if I order an Indian on a Friday I can only eat half, other half the following day, used to be well able to polish of the lot in one sitting.

So I eat 4 times a day but small portions, get yourself smaller plates, your dinners sound too large & carb heavy

As I say, not an expert but that's what worked for me

JackTC

naughtysmurf wrote: »

How many kcals in the breakfast? I eat 2 shredded wheat 162kcal with a small amount of milk & tea at 7.30, this only has to keep me going until 10.30, a couple of eggs & brown bread as an alternative?

Half a grape fruit & 4 or 5 strawberries or a small banana with 75 grams (42kcals) of protein yougurt, this only has to keep me going until 1pm

Lunch is a pretty small chicken / tuna / turkey salad, takes about 5 minutes to eat, it won't make you sleepy.

Dinner is a breast of chicken / steak / ano + veg again a small enough portion, you could fit it on a side plate.

I'm not an expert at all but that's what worked for me

In the initial 9 months I didn't eat any takeaways, pasta, rice or bread, had potatoes once a week, I definitely think my actual stomach has shrunk because now if I order an Indian on a Friday I can only eat half, other half the following day, used to be well able to polish of the lot in one sitting.

So I eat 4 times a day but small portions, get yourself smaller plates, your dinners sound too large & carb heavy

As I say, not an expert but that's what worked for me

Right so something like this should hopefully work then,

Breakfast : Small bowl of Museli
11AM: Banana
Lunch: Chicken/Tuna/Turkey Sandwich
Dinner: Meat & Veg (No rice,pasta or potatoes)

Gonad

Check this out


https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/very-low-calorie-diets/

naughtysmurf

JackTC wrote: »

Right so something like this should hopefully work then,

Breakfast : Small bowl of Museli
11AM: Banana
Lunch: Chicken/Tuna/Turkey Sandwich
Dinner: Meat & Veg (No rice,pasta or potatoes)

It worked for me, take into account your size, I’m only 5’8” you may need more, what I did was pretty unscientific & I didn’t weigh anything but I’m not a dietitian so more educated than me may come along & criticize the above & that’s fair enough
Buy good quality meat & veg I also had to stay out of the chipper, Chinese & pizza parlors lol

Atlantic Dawn

How long before you are going to bed do you have your last intake of food of the day?

JackTC

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

How long before you are going to bed do you have your last intake of food of the day?

Have dinner around 6, usually fall asleep 11ish,

py

JackTC wrote: »

Have dinner around 6, usually fall asleep 11ish,

Swap the time of your dinner with the time of your lunch. I did the same and it worked out well for me. Usually have something small (omelette, bread/toast with peanut butter) when I get in from work at around 6pm.

Dial Hard

Atlantic Dawn wrote:

How long before you are going to bed do you have your last intake of food of the day?

It doesn't make any difference. What you eat over a given period is far, far, far more important than when you eat it. You could eat your entire calorie intake for the day in one meal in the evening and it wouldn't make you fat if that was all you ate.

bladespin

JackTC wrote: »

Right so something like this should hopefully work then,

Breakfast : Small bowl of Museli
11AM: Banana
Lunch: Chicken/Tuna/Turkey Sandwich
Dinner: Meat & Veg (No rice,pasta or potatoes)

Stop trying to guess at eating plans (that doesn't look bad food wise though), you need to start logging and tracking, start a food diary, log the food weights and calories for each meal, that will give you a pretty good idea of your intake, then you need to work out your requirements and just eat a bit less, it's that simple really.

Align that to a decent training plan; empahasise weight training* and then some cardio (forget the long drawn out affairs I've seen mentioned - the boredom will kill you before you drop a kg) get more bang for your buck with HIIT or similar high intensity work 10-15mins should be plenty.

*weight training won't make you big it will make your body more efficient and will have a greater effect that steady state cardio.

is_that_so

bladespin wrote: »

Stop trying to guess at eating plans (that doesn't look bad food wise though), you need to start logging and tracking, start a food diary, log the food weights and calories for each meal, that will give you a pretty good idea of your intake, then you need to work out your requirements and just eat a bit less, it's that simple really.

Align that to a decent training plan; emphasise weight training* and then some cardio (forget the long drawn out affairs I've seen mentioned - the boredom will kill you before you drop a kg) get more bang for your buck with HIIT or similar high intensity work 10-15mins should be plenty.

*weight training won't make you big it will make your body more efficient and will have a greater effect that steady state cardio.

Agreed. You can do quite a lot of good stuff in 45m or under. HIIT is great a few times a week but variety is key. I don't see the dinner as being a major issue, but the calorific intake in it is.

Vutaur

Fat on the stomach should be cleaned with massages, wraps and peeling.

D3V!L

Vutaur wrote: »

Fat on the stomach should be cleaned with massages, wraps and peeling.

I seeee :rolleyes:

Can you enlighten us as to how this works ?

bladespin

Vutaur wrote:

Fat on the stomach should be cleaned with massages, wraps and peeling.

Cutting back on the chicken wraps, snacking on peel and vigorously massaging might work....
Though cutting calories and exercising regularly would be much more effective.

Of course there's always the magic beans we don't tell people about

carltonleon

Just seen that you just have stomach crunches down as ab work. While I am 100% aware that you cannot spot lose weight perhaps introduce some oblique work like Russian Twists, Bicycles, toe taps as this will at least help with a tapering look and will possibly have an impact. Of course as the others have said HIIT training will give you the most bang for your buck and you can use some of the ab work as part of that routine. Also perhaps work on your lats as if they are developed than that also gives a tapering effect and has the benefit of making your waist appear smaller. I would suggest Single Arm Cable Pulldowns and Single arm bent over row as good exercises for this.

Tikki Wang Wang

JackTC wrote: »

Ever since January 1st I've been on a strict diet and exercise routine.

In the Morning : Bowl of sugarless Alpen and a Banana

Lunch : Whey protein drink ( Just water with one scoop of powder)

Dinner : Usually beef, chicken or fish with plenty of veg (Spinach,carrots,peas)
Brown rice or brown pasta

I also go to the gym every day for one hour and do,
- Skipping rope & Punch bag
- Weights
- Stomach crunches

I'm skinny everywhere except my belly. I haven't touched a beer or fizzy drink since Christmas. It hasn't gone down even a little bit.

Does anyone have any advice on what to add?

Up your cardio elements and crunches of your workout. Also try the GOMAD diet for a month or two.

is_that_so

Tikki Wang Wang wrote: »

Up your cardio elements and crunches of your workout. Also try the GOMAD diet for a month or two.

Man, that's a lot of milk even for me!:D

I’ve lost 5 stone and have some belly fat on me. It’s in the front and I hate it. I can’t shift what can I do to lose it I walk 10 miles a day to keep my weight down I’m 11 stone but as I said it won’t go