ok, my stomach is huge (if i let it hang).. but it's not really fat. help?

[threnody]

ok, for as long as i can remember, i always need to consciously "hold in" my stomach. it's basically second-nature whenever im standing, but i don't really do it when im sitting at a desk, or something.

if i "let go" of my stomach, suddenly this huge pot belly just sort of hangs out. its crazy, it looks like my stomach is enormous. it also actually hurts if i let it hang out like that while standing or walking around.

now, i have some belly fat but it's not THAT much - when im "holding in" my stomach, if i actually flex my abs, you can see some ab definition at the top. i'm actively trying to shed more bodyfat off, though it's quite hard, even with good nutrition and tons of lifting as i always do.

but i dont understand why my belly itself is so big. i mean, do guys even with washboard abs have to "hold in" their stomachs all of the time also? id love to not ever have to do this, but i dont know what the hell is wrong or how to do it. its also annoying because when i train in the ring, im always subconsciously holding in the stomach but it gets harder when im jumping around a lot after getting more tired - but if i "let go" of my stomach, it really hurts from hanging.

so how can i literally decrease the size of this pot belly so that i never need to "suck it in"? like i said, the real issue really isnt how thick the layer of fat over my belly is - its like the belly itself.

[Rudy Richter]

Is it possible that your abs are very weak and you have poor posture? Try to stand straight and see if the belly still sticks out.

[dannygrainger]

try wearing one of those fabric belts...it could be that u eat an awful lot and your actual stomach is actually bloated...if you can see ab definition you might have about 13% fat...start doing fat burning cardio...whilst wearing the belt...and dooing ab exercises...and yeh see about your posture

[NeoOsiris]

don't drink beer simple as that.

[Wolfcastle]

Weak abs and eating too much, as mentioned.

You may think you don't eat that much, but it may be a case of you eat too much in one sitting (your stomach is used to being stretched and is way above normal size as a result) or you may eat too much of the wrong foods (not necessarily the wrong ones, but too many, too soon of foods that take longer to digest than others. A basic example would be the difference in digestion times between say a salad and steak/potatoes).

Further to that, some people eat only once a day, but they will really make a huge meal of it, eat lots of food that will take ages for them to digest so they don't get hungry again for a while. You can see how ones stomach could get swollen as a result of this behaviour.

To fix it, consider more ab work, more meals involving fruits/veges, fewer meals requiring heavy digestion and generally smaller more frequent serves.

[Timbaland]

Can you give us some insight to your diet? Another thing thats possible that wasn't already mentioned is you have fat not just under the skin but surrounding your internal organs. I read up on some articles on this before. They said that its more dangerous to a person when they have a belly but its hard (meaning they have this fat around their organs) as opposed to people having a belly but its flabby. I'll try and find where I read up on this.

Do you eat a lot of fast food or junk food? I would expect that these types of food along with fried food would cause this.

[TDonovan]

There are a couple different types of guts. If you can feel the flab on the outside normally, or when you flex your gut, you're probably okay. However, the fat that is stored surrounding your intestines and "deeper" into your gut is more harmful. That's where you get people who have a solid feeling stomach but it pokes out. This is the traditional beer gut, and not regular flab. I don't remember the explaination on why it's worse, but it is. That kinda sounds more like what you have...

Just keep doing cardio, cut down on crappy foods, and do some situps and ab work. DIET is key, and so is doing challenging, fat burning, workouts.

As for holding in your stomach, if you think it's appropriate at the time, do it. I know that when I'm running or doing something intense my abs (even the cool muscles/tendon/whatever on the rib cage) are defined fairly well. But when I walk around with a shirt off I will keep the muscles somewhat flexed for purely asthetic purposes (when there are females around).

[MaxPow]

There's two types of fat, visceral and subcutaneous. You have a lot of visceral fat, which is fat around your internal organs. That could be your problem. Or you could have large internal organs to begin with, in that case there is no solution to your problem. Or, if you believe what some other people say, it might be kilos and kilos of impacted fecal matter lining your intentines.

[Revok]

You could try doing stomach vacuums - these are what bodybuilders do to get their waists narrow.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ms-fit5.htm

[tical13]

your fat..