Losing fat at your waist - Weight Loss Q+A

Shape, July, 2002 by Suzanne Schlosberg

When I lose weight, it comes off at my hips. How can I lose fat around my waist, where I need to? ... and more of your questions answered here.

Q: I store my excess fat on my back and waist. When I lose weight, it comes off around my hips. What can I do to lose the rolls of fat on my waist and back? I exercise for 30 minutes five times a week, including sit-ups, and watch my calories, but I splurqe a bit on weekends.

A: Where your body tends to store or lose fat is dictated by genetics, says Dale Huff, R.D., a St. Louis nutritionist and a spokesman for the American Council on Exercise. However, by improving your diet and your exercise program, you can lose more overall body fat. It only appears that the fat may at first come off around your hips; it actually comes off all over your body, proportionally. Your waist and back eventually will slim down too; you just have more fat there, so a small loss is less noticeable.

Abandon your strategy of cutting calories during the week and easing up on weekends. "That's a dieter's mentality: restricting now so you can splurge later," Huff says. "The problem is that on the weekends you're probably eating enough to negate all the effort you put in during the week." Learn to eat in moderation every day so you don't feel deprived.

Keep a food diary for a week and have a registered dietitian analyze your eating habits. "People are often surprised to learn that they're eating 5,000 calories a day on weekends," Huff says. "Once they see the numbers on paper, they realize those 'free' days aren't really free."

On the exercise front, gradually work up to 30-40 minutes of cardio tour to six days a week. In addition, do a total-body strength-training routine twice a week. "You can't spot reduce, so doing a lot of crunches won't help slim your waist," Huff says. Lift heavy-enough weights that your muscles fatigue within eight to 12 repetitions. Otherwise, you won't develop enough muscle to boost your metabolism.

Q: I may be obsessed with exercise. I do cardio for at least an hour every day and lift weights every other day. I know I'm overdoing it, but I worry that if I take one day off, I'll gain weight. I'm always hungry as it is. Should I cut one of my workouts to 30 minutes?

A: "I highly recommend that you take one day completely off," says Portland, Ore., nutritionist Ruth Carey, R.D. "The body needs a day of rest. When you over-train and undereat, you tend to lose muscle and keep fat." If you ease up on your workouts and eat more, you actually may lose weight. "This sounds foreign to people," Carey says. "But the fact that you're hungry indicates that you're not getting enough fuel. Your body is probably holding onto fat by lowering your metabolic rate, You're getting the opposite effect of what you're aiming for."

In addition to resting one day, Carey recommends alternating 60-minute cardio workouts with 30- to 40-minute sessions and varying intensity. If you push hard every day, you're likely to burn out, and you won't improve your fitness.

If you find it difficult at first to take a day off completely, go for a short, gentle walk instead. "Get some fresh air," she says. "Be active, but don't make it a workout." Carey also suggests consulting with a registered dietitian, who can map out your calorie needs. You probably need to eat significantly more calories than you think. "Learn to trust your body," Carey says. "Your body is telling you when it needs to rest and when it needs to eat more."

Q: I'm 5-foot-3 and 125 pounds. I lost 20 pounds in the last 10 months just by combining cardio exercise with strength training. I want to lose another 10 pounds in the next two months, but no matter what I do -- even skipping meals and working out harder -- the weight won't come off. What's wrong?

A: "You've done a great job achieving slow, gradual weight loss, but at this point your expectations may be too high," says Atlanta nutritionist Kathleen Zelman, M.P.H., R.D., a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. If you've been losing an average of 1/2 pound a week for 10 months, you can't expect to lose more than a pound a week for the next two months. In fact, you may already be at a comfortable weight for your body type and your body may fight your efforts to lose more.

Don't forget that you've built muscle through strength training. Since muscle is heavier than fat, the scale may be deceiving. Instead of assuming you need to lose more weight, have your body fat tested by a certified trainer or registered dietitian. If the results indicate you still have excess fat, take a look at your eating habits. See if you can cut a few hundred calories a day by limiting empty-calorie foods. However, do not skip meals, a strategy that can backfire by making you ravenously hungry and more likely to overeat. Also, if you skip meals, you won't have enough energy for your workouts. "Don't cut back at the expense of fueling your body," Zelman, says. "You could undermine your very successful weight-loss program."