Possible to lose belly fat without losing weight??

[original]

I'm 25 years old, 5'7 and I weigh about 130. I know I'm really skinny for my age but the thing is that my stomach is kinda big. My arms, legs and and everything else is very thin. I haven't exercise before but now it's starting to bother me and I wanna get rid of it asap. I never had a big apatite at all but I guess it was all the junk food and laziness that affected me.


Starting last month, I decided to work on getting rid of the belly fat. I cut out all junk food, fast food, soda and about 70% of rice off of my diet (I'm Asian so that really can't be ignored), I also try to drink up to 7 water bottles a day.

For exercise, I don't go to the gym cause I can't afford it right now but I have a treadmill and a bunch of dumbbell sets at home (15lbs and 20lbs). I know you can't spot reduce which is why I stayed away from crunches and stuff like that, I can barely do them anyway.
So I started to do HIIT Cardio after reading so many great things about it. I do them 3 sessions a week/up to 25 minutes, with each week increasing the intensity or decreasing the recovery periods, sometimes I would switch around the interval speeds. I feel pretty dead after each session.
On the days I don't do HIIT, I try to lift dumbells until I can't lift them anymore. I don't do any workouts below my stomach though. So far it's been a month and my stomach is still the same BUT I noticed that I lost weight. I went from 130 to about 124 which is terrible. Now I'm wondering if this weight lost is because of HIIT or because of the change in my diet. Some people recommend that I should not go on a diet but just keep doing cardio.

So my goal is just to lose the big belly. It would be great if I could get some feedback and any adivce on my situation. Like any type of exercises I should or shouldn't be doing, stuff like that. Thanks.

 

[Nomenclature]

Excessive caffeine intake, dehydration, a lack of dietary fiber, and certain deficiencies or diseases can cause you to have a bloated gut, even if you're skinny.

If at all possible, you should talk to a nutritionist or a physician about assessing your diet.

 

[KaraBulut]

At 130 lbs, even at 5'7", it's a bit of a stretch to believe you would be fat. It's very hard to visualize the problem that you're trying to describe.

Can you post a picture of your torso?

 

[original]

Alright I added some pictures below, warning, it's not pretty lol... They were taken this morning before I ate anything, usually it would expand a little more throughout the day.

The last picture is me holding in my gut, just to see how it would look like.

 

[shyguywpg]

i have the same problem.....some days are better than others. I have joined a gym however and when I dont eat so much breads and have too much coffee...my gut doesnt get as bloated. Otherwise, i hold it in often.

The gym has certainly decreased my overal waist size, but the stomach...well that is taking time.

Its gotta be the diet....perhaps cutting out all sugars would work?

 

[KaraBulut]

The pictures helped, thank you.

Just out of curiosity, when you took the pictures, had you shifted your weight to one leg? Your upper torso looks a little shifted to the left side.

The problem is not that you are fat. The problem- it appears- is that you have a mild chest anatomical narrowness and what appears to be a mild diastasis recti.

A diastasis recti is a separation between the two vertical abdominal muscles on either side of the belly button. It is not uncommon. However, with guys who have narrow chests, the muscles appear to bulge outward beyond the line where the sternum (breastbone) is located. What you're actually seeing is your internal organs shifting forward because of the weakness in your abdominal muscles. I'm guessing that if you lie flat on your back, your abdomen flattens out but if you roll to your side or stand up, it appears that you have this bulge?

This is not something that you can resolve with diet- quite the contrary. What you need to do is work out some of your weak areas to help add tone to the chest and abdominal muscles to compensate.

It is possible to retrain the abdominal muscles to maintain tone in the lower portion of the abdomen so that the abdominal contents don't appear to bulge out. It will also help if you build up your pectoral and back muscles so that your chest appears to be wider.

 

[original]

Thanks for the reponses!

Just out of curiosity, when you took the pictures, had you shifted your weight to one leg? Your upper torso looks a little shifted to the left side.

No, I used the self timer so I had to put the camera next to a book, which is why it was tilted a bit.

A diastasis recti is a separation between the two vertical abdominal muscles on either side of the belly button. It is not uncommon. However, with guys who have narrow chests, the muscles appear to bulge outward beyond the line where the sternum (breastbone) is located. What you're actually seeing is your internal organs shifting forward because of the weakness in your abdominal muscles.

hmm that's not what I would've liked to hear lol. I googled diastasis recti and it seems to be a issue surrounding pregnant woman, or men over 50. My dad actually has a big stomach and thin frame too, could it be genetics or something? He insists that it's from eating and sitting around too much when he was younger, same with me but it does look like I have this diastasis recti.

I'm guessing that if you lie flat on your back, your abdomen flattens out but if you roll to your side or stand up, it appears that you have this bulge?

Yes. I was actually thinking about that a few nights ago while I was trying to sleep. My stomach is very flat when I lie down on my back.

This is not something that you can resolve with diet- quite the contrary. What you need to do is work out some of your weak areas to help add tone to the chest and abdominal muscles to compensate.

It is possible to retrain the abdominal muscles to maintain tone in the lower portion of the abdomen so that the abdominal contents don't appear to bulge out. It will also help if you build up your pectoral and back muscles so that your chest appears to be wider.

I'm not good with workout terms at all or pretend to know what to do but I'm guessing lots of weight lifting? I also have one of these:
http://www.asseenontvguys.com/iron-gym-pull-up-bar.aspx
do you think using it will help? Also one more thing, should I drop or keep the HIIT cardio going? I don't wanna waste my time with it if it's not gonna help at all. I think I'm just gonna start holding in my gut awhile.
Thanks!

 

[KaraBulut]

You can get an opinion from someone who can actually do a physical exam- there's not really a way to diagnose this over the internet.

Diastasis does occur in pregnancy as a combination of hormonal changes and the weight/increased mass of the baby in the abdominal cavity.

But it is also something that is a normal variant- some people have a natural gap between the rectus muscles. Most of the time they never know that they have this unless they develop a herniation in the area. The only reason that it seems to be apparent in your case is because you have a smaller frame and a narrower chest diameter.

Cardio is never a waste of time. You can work with a trainer or a physical therapist to strengthen your lower abdominals. People with rectus have a tendency to use their back muscles and upper abdominals. The exercises for diastasis work on retracting the area around the belly button and toning the muscles in the lower half of the abdomen.

And while this seems like it would be bad news, you started this believing you were fat and you needed to diet. You don't. You need to eat a healthy diet, build your muscle strength and continue the cardio that you have started. The only thing that is different is that you need to work on one area of weakness.