Has anyone else noticed that they are not losing inches in their waist?

I measure myself every few weeks, and I am shrinking everywhere: bust, hips, upper arms, thighs, calves. Everywhere but my waist! My hips are down to 38.5 - 39 inches, but my waist is still 32 inches!!!! Gotta laugh -- I am starting to really look OK everywhere except for that pot belly. Looks like it will be the last thing to go.

What about everyone else? I suspect that I am not the only one with a waistline from he**.

Everyone loses weight differently. I seem to remember something about how fat circulated and you never actuly lost from your hips, it moved to your abdomen then you lost it from there. That could be one of those diet myths though.

There is a great thread on here somewhere about how we lose inches. It also goes into how water fills the fat cells for a while once the fat is lost. I can't remember where it is though, so hopefully someone will point it out to you.

I have lost quite a bit from my waist. Alot of it though was I started Atkins when my second child was about 3 months old. I still had the pregnancy -second c-section pooch. I still have that unfortunetly, but it's gotten smaller.

I do notice alot of difference in my rear. Again that could be because of the "maternal nutrient storages" from being pregnant. (I saw that phrase on a chart breaking down pregnancy weight gain. The arrow was pointing right at the woman's rear )

I have seen that thread about how we lose inches, but I sure can't find it now.

I had wondered if maybe my waistline is doomed because of my C-sections, but probably not. It will shrink some eventually. It has to!

I have heard different things from c-section mom's. The ones who say they were able to get down to a perfectly flat somach, had a flat tummy before kids. A large part of the problem isn't fat there, as much as excess skin that has been stretched.

Unfortunetly I think the only way I may be able to get rid of my pouch is a tummy tuck. I am going to give it time an ddo as many exercises as I can first though. I've noticed using Pilates that I have really strengthened those muscles that get damaged during c-section. This means not only a little smaller tummy, but better posture which makes you seem slimmer, and also better suppport for your lower back.

Pilates -- I had never thought of that. My gym doesn't have a Pilates class, so I just ordered a tape. I bet Pilates would be more effective than just doing crunches at the gym. I'm so glad you mentioned that!

I am glad I am not the only one losing weight everywhere (arms, thighs, hips, chest) but not in the waist/tummy area.

I have fibromylgia and somebody before mentioned to me about pilates but I wasn't sure what they actually were or if they would help.

Does anyone have a tape recommendation that I can buy and give it a try at home?

Thanks,
Kathy

That's my shape. Staight up and down. Never did have a small waist even when I was thinner (28 inches when I was married and I weighed 128), but now I seem stuck at 32 inches. Have been here for the last 15 pounds. People have told me my pants are baggy but I can't go down a size because the waist is too uncomfortable in size 10. I did find a pair of jeans in 10 that don't really have a waist. They fit just below the waist line. Should have bought two pair!

Anyway, I've started a Denise Austin toning tape. My neck is killing me fron the stomach crunches. Guess I have no working stomach muscles so I'm falling back on the neck muscles to pull up. I have noticed my belly getting smaller but my waist isn't budging.

I seem to have misplaced my butt this fall which makes the pants seem even baggier than just the decrease in hips and stomach would. I think it's hanging out with my boobs somewhere. If you see them, please send the butt home. You can keep the boobs.

Barb

I like the Giam begining mat workout and there is another called the Method. Both are for beginers and focus on form and breathing while teaching you the moves. The Giam one features two people working, one doing a modified version to help start getting ab muscles in shape.

I really loved the Giam Pilates for Weight Loss. It featured 3 different workout levels. Unfortunetly due to encoding problems the DVD won't play all the way through on some machines. If you are looking for VHS though, that won't be a concern and I heavily recomend looking into it.

another reason c-section history won't get rid of the lower body fat quickly is that it has to concentrate on repairing damaged muscle tissue there. It will also fill those areas with water to contiue the repair. Then we are talking about muscle that are not functioning at its prev. state. The repair and build up takes time to go back to its pre c-section stage and then be able to strengthen it as any other muscle, which when strengthened will take up less space.

I think I found that thread. It's called How Fat Moves About, and it's in the Best Of forum.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=23367

I think the 10/12/01 post on fat migration is very helpful. That post says, in part:

You can never tell immediately after stopping a diet ( though we on Atkins plan on never stopping) what the final form of your body will be, because this migration of fat takes about six weeks longer. You can't see the migration and redistribution while you are still losing steadily, because layer after layer of fat is being eliminated too quickly for the process to be discernible. You will notice it only after you have slowed down or stopped losing altogether.

So there is hope. And besides, I am still a work in progress (as are most of us here!). I still have 18 pounds to go.

I was reflecting on this very problem this a.m. The pants that fit me around the waist are baggy elsewhere. I remember my mother having this problem when she got older and I think of it as a feature of late middle age/old age. I was thinking this might be the one thing that finally motivates me to exercise.

Quote: (I am so happy Colleen, you found that thread)

"You can never tell immediately after stopping a diet (though we on Atkins plan on never stopping) what the final form of your body will be, because this migration of fat takes about six weeks longer. You can't see the migration and redistribution while you are still losing steadily, because layer after layer of fat is being eliminated too quickly for the process to be discernible. You will notice it only after you have slowed down or stopped losing altogether. "

I am a living testimony of this. I lost 35 lb-s without loosing any inch from my waistline. (I must admit that is the reason I did not post before / after pics, though I was very proud of the accomplishment. )

I reached my goal weight at the end of August, but started to see waistline decrease only two weeks ago. Maybe for Christmas I will have my dream body:-)

And yes, I think age has something to do with this. My daughter lost 20 lbs in three months (the infamous "freshmen 20", she gained years ago), and without any delay she saw the result: shrinking from size 12 to size 4.

Ladies, do not give up, there is hope:-)))

Galadriell, wow. Thanks for sharing your story! Isn't that amazing, how our bodies work? So your waistline didn't start shrinking until you had been at your goal weight for over two months! Wow.

Sounds like the key is to be patient.

I noticed that too! I have lost 12 lbs, and only after about a week or two after losing the last two, I have finally lost 1 inch from my waist, but lost everywhere else and I am an hour glass shape. Really strange, I am glad its not just me! Glad to hear that it does come off!

Mitz

160/148/125

I find it very hard to lose weight from my waist! I inherited an apple shape from my mother and type 2 diabetes from my father; the insulin resistance of type 2 diabetes promotes storage of abdominal fat. In the past 5 years, I've lost almost 40 pounds. I've lost 6 inches from my bust, 6 inches from my hips, and 1 inch from my waist. My waist/hip ratio has actually gotten worse as I've lost weight. It's gotten to the point that my arms and legs are quite thin and all of my remaining excess fat is on my torso--especially my abdomen. So, I figure that I've got to eventually start losing inches from waist. I have no where left to lose from!