bellyqueen

can some one help me??
i have always had a belly that podges out and i really want to have flat abs can some please tell what to do???????
thanks
belly queen

Eve

lose weight or I should say bodyfat. Nothing magicial about it. I'm a barrel in case anyone thinks that comment blunt.

lizaj

Get thee to a gym.

bellyqueen

the problem is i tried them all.

teela

bellyqueen, some of us have poochy abs/stomachs, some of us are flat. I have a pooch especially since having kids. i've never been able ot get rid of it, even with tons of work. What a person said to me along time ago is that to belly dance you need a belly. As you work on things, you will develop the muscles in your abs so you have more control, etc. Think of working on that, rather than getting rid of the poochy belly

sedoniaraqs

Bellyqueen, our advice isn't going to be meaningful because we don't know whether you are overly fat or whether you have an issue with your body image and beauty aesthetic.

We also don't know if your abdominal muscles are already strong -- if they are, endless ab training is not going to magically produce "flat abs". If your abs are weak, then core training or pilates may improve your posture and make your abdomen look more trim.

That being said, many if not most healthy female bodies over the age of 20 will not have a flat lower abdomen. The small roll fat on the lower belly is part of our female secondary sexual characteristics, just like the fat in our breasts and the fat in our buns.

Yes, you can have too much fat, but unless you get down to a dangerously low body fat you are probably not going to have ripped abs.

You would be better off evaluating whether your overall percent body fat and body mass index are in the healthy range for your height and build.

Also, posture has a huge affect on how you look. If you carry yourself with power, and have an lightly engaged core and hold a neutral pelvis, you will look thinner and more shapely.

You can't sculpt and shape your body. The only things you can control are losing/gaining fat and losing/gaining muscle. You can't control where fat loss or gain occurs. (If only it were so, I'd move some of mine around onto my ass).

Sedonia

belly_dancer

& I'd move some of it OFF my ass!!!!
HOWEVER... if i spent as much time on my ass (or maybe off my ass)
as I did on my torso (I teach about 8-12 hours per week= belly dance, & am "known" for my "belly" work)... maybe my ass would be in better shape!!!!
so belly dance more...
also.. the posture sedonia talks about is important... if you are continuously dancing in correct posture... your belly muscles WILL firm up.... but as we cannot see you, do not know if you just carry excess fat on TOP of your belly muscles... but even if you do.... correct posture & dance WILL pull it in/up a bit!
but, like anything else, you DO have to put in the work/time!!
good luck!

Shanazel

Oh, honey, the YEARS I spent worrying about the shape of my tummy! The costumes I made so carefully to disguise it, the tears I shed, the terrible things I said to myself about it, the exercises I did, the diets I went on... don't do it to yourself, Bellyqueen.

I can totally relate to being unhappy with my shape, but 45 years of effort to change it were worth less than five minutes of learning to focus on something else. What do you like about you? Pretty hands? Nice butt? Good shoulders? Great boobs? Shapely legs? Enviable hair? Beautiful eyes? Peaches and cream or cafe au lait skin? Cute little birthmark on your left shoulder? Dimples? Celebrate your assets. Look at some of the gorgeous dancers on this forum that have a bit- or more- above their hipband. Does it affect their dancing? Nope. Does it affect their beauty? Nope. Does it make them inferior in any way? Nope.

If you have indeed tried it all, then you are in the good company of ladies with tummies. Stand tall and spend your time learning to dance well instead of trying to change the body shape conferred upon you by nature. The world notices grace, style and joy of life faster and recalls them longer than it does body shape.

Aisha Azar

Dear Shanazel,


Shanazel wrote-I can totally relate to being unhappy with my shape, but 45 years of effort to change it were worth less than five minutes of learning to focus on something else. What do you like about you?

Pretty hands?
No

Nice butt?
Um...no

Good shoulders?
Nope


Great boobs?
If by "great" you mean pendulous

Shapely legs?
er,... no

Enviable hair?
Not so much

Beautiful eyes?
erm, no

Peaches and cream or cafe au lait skin?
nyet

Cute little birthmark on your left shoulder?
I think thats a deep rut from the bra strap that holds the pendulous left breast

Dimples?
Well, yeah, if you are talking about the cellulite on my thighs

Celebrate your assets.

Um, some people think I have sweet spirit....

Regards,
A'isha

belly_dancer

VERY well said!!!!
reminds me of one of my best friends... who has spent years dancing next to me in our troupe.... she (of the most perfect double D's) would say to me (maybe a C AFTER stuffing!!!!).... " I HATE dancing next to you, your waist is sooooo small (not really.... plus tons of stretch marks after 3 10 lb kids)... I am always telling her... NObody is looking at your WAIST!!!!.... yes let us revel in our assets... & the rest, well.... if we have done our best.... who cares!!!!!