Losing the belly/leftover pregnancy weight

[malibu]

Hi! I normally hang around on ML and TIP, but hope to post more here, as I am about two months in to my weight loss plan.

I joined the Y in April and have been working out six days a week for an hour minimum. I do cardio (bike, walk/run, rowing, elliptical), strength training, and yoga. I am tracking every bit of food I eat on MyFitnessPal and eating a well balanced diet. I dropped two pants sizes. However, I cannot seem to make any progress on the belly fat, and it's driving me crazy. I also haven't lost a pound in over a month. I know the scale number shouldn't be my main focus and the fact my clothes are looser is great, but I am starting to get discouraged with the fact the number on the scale isn't moving. I don't drink soda, drink lots of water, and I feel like I am kicking my own butt, so what gives? Any tips/ideas? I would normally assume it was muscle gain, but I thought I'd be making way more progress with the weight by now in addition to toning/strength.

ETA: and I do 3-4 days of ab work, so I know it's not a lack of that.

[agrippa]

Are you eating enough? Sometimes plateaus are caused by not getting enough calories and the body storing what it gets instead of using it.

Also, perhaps it isn't all belly fat? I know that I definitwly have some loose skin there now. Also, perhaps it is the last place that you lose weight. Everyone has those spots. For me, it's my butt and thights.. For my friends, it's their boobs (I lose weight there by just thinking about exercise).

[mollyjean]

I feel your pain I lost all of my pregnancy weight PLUS twenty pounds and I STILL have gross belly issues 2+ years later. I have no idea what to do, but it's just loose skin that won't tighten up :-(

As far as the weight loss plateau, perhaps try calorie cycling? I haven't personally had experience but I know some of my friends do this to "shake up" their routine a bit. They've had success with it.

[malibu]

I am eating enough. I know when I successfully lost weight before I ate about the same as I am now, maybe it's yet another thing that changed after pregnancy.

I don't know what calorie cycling is, I'll have to Google it.

It's just so frustrating, it's the one place I am desperate to lose weight, and it's not happening, no matter how hard I am trying. I do think I might start watching my sugar intake. I looked around last night on the internet about it, and eating a lot of sugar can be another culprit. I eat healthy things, but looking back at my MFP diaries, it would appear I am eating a lot of hidden sugars, I am usually way over my daily allowance for it. Kind of shocked at how much yogurt has in it!

[golden]

Is it truly belly fat or just loose skin? If it's loose skin, you're SOL unless you want to get a tummy tuck. The only fix for that is surgery, unfortunately. I'm 5'8, 123 lbs and in the best shape of my life, but I still have the wrinkly skin on my belly when I bend over or whatever. It's gross, but that's what gaining and losing 40 lbs twice in under two years will do to you I have just embraced the retro one piece trend and try not to stress about it.

[malibu]

I think it's a little of both. Definitely fat there, but loose skin too. At least I can feel ab muscles under there again, been a few years since there was anything there

[gumi]

are you nursing? if so, that will make you hold onto some fat for milk production.

But are you 2 months post-partum, or just 2 months into a new diet?

I found the saying "9 months on, 9 months off" to be very true. I was *thisclose* to giving away all my pre-pregnancy clothing because it got to a point where I figured things were not going to go back to normal. I am so glad I didnt because our bodies do go back - just very very slowly.

Belly fat is also linked to stress, so make sure you are sleeping and relaxing enough.

[Deleted]

If there's really belly fat there, studies have shown that interval training is the most effective at burning that off. You said you're at the gym 6 days a week for an hour, so use your cardio time to do HIIT: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training

[victoria21]

A year ago I had lost all the pregnancy weight and was ready to finally loose the last ten vanity pounds I have been carrying around since high school. It didn't happen fast, probably a pound or two a month, but here's what worked for me.

Low-carb most days. I didn't count carbs, just stayed away from grains, legumes and added sugar. Increased my fat intake.

I stopped eating after dinner. It took about a month and then it became habit to not want food at night.

I didn't mean to do calorie cycling, but looking back, that it what I did. Some days I would go higher carb and higher calorie if that is what I felt like my body need. Like I would eat an extra meal and snack or two . Other days, if I just wasn't hungry, I wouldn't eat just because. Sometimes I skipped breakfast or dinner.

I just started working out about 6 weeks ago, and the results have been faster and more noticeable.