| * * * * * Dear Dr. Dixon,
Hi, I stumbled across your website and hope
you can help me with a minor problem.
I'm male, 27yo., 6ft1 and weigh 75kgs. About two years ago I was about 100kg, so
I've lost a lot of weight (and increased my muscle mass)!
Problem is, as I was overweight for a long period, my skin elasticity
around the waste has not returned. I do sit-ups regularly, but because of the lack
of elasticity, I cannot get that "washboard stomach" happening.
Do you have any suggestions (if they're good, I might even buy your book!)
Thanks heaps.
D
Dear Dr.Dixon,
I'm thin, I weigh 112 lbs, and I'm turning 18 in a month. I'm toned
everywhere except for my stomach. It's so annoying, cause when I sit down it pops
out. I eat alot of pasta, and I'm not sure if that's what it is.
I've tried exercising and situps but I don't see results. Is it something
I'm eating? I'm dying to get a flat toned stomach, please help me.
S |
|
* * * * *
Dear D and S,
YOUR BARREL
Let's talk about your abdomen and those muscles. Think of your trunk as a
barrel with flexible, muscular, staves and hoops. From top to bottom through
the middle of this barrel is a stack of blocks, vertebrae, separated by rubber donuts
called discs. The whole construct is flexible. It bends forward, backward,
side to side, twist and shout (oops, sorry). This same apparatus becomes rigid and
very strong when all the stave and hoop muscles contract. Then it can help lift, carry,
and put down small or large objects.
If the muscles all around the barrel are in prime condition, hard work may be
safely performed. If the front muscles, abdominal, are hanging out, stretched
and weak, much of the strain of work is put upon the back muscles and the
stacked bones and discs. Overloads can produce strained and sprained muscles on the
back side of the barrel in your lower spine area or may even invite slipped, ruptured, or
herniated discs.
Suppose those barrel muscles have had to carry another 50 or 60 pounds in
a sack on the front of the barrel. The sack (of skin) can get stretched out
quite a bit. If the extra fat is lost quickly over several months, it may take a
year for the elastic skin to return to sleek, long after you have refashioned the muscles.
It will take longer if the skin is older.
Women have more subcutaneous padding, secondary to their hormones. A
small pad of fat just below the umbilicus is the last fat to go away. Sadly,
she must get to 16-18% body fat for this to happen. At 14-15% body fat,
ovarian dysfunction may occur, menses cease and bone loss commence. This is a narrow
margin and a high price to pay for a flat tummy, in my opinion.
In conclusion, when a person like you has worked so hard to lose fat and
gain muscle there remain differences between individuals. Be proud of what
you have done, stay lean, and keep a healthy amount of physical activity in
your life. Keep the front, back and sides of that barrel strong and flexible.
Be patient with your body and yourself. (See the answers to question #20.)
So, as far as we know, pasta does not make your tummy
protrude. If you were a guy and drank a lot of beer I would say yes. That does
seem to have
predilection to settle in the abdominal fat actually inside the belly and not
on the front wall.
George L. Dixon, Jr., M.D. |
