belly fat reliant on diet?

Is it true that no matter how much you exercise, you can't lose the belly w/o cutting back on starches? I have read that belly fat really comes down to diet, and I'm starting to believe it. I have a reasonable diet (1200-1500 cal per day, lots of veggies) and I work out about 90 minutes 5 x per week (about half cardio, half lifting), and my whole body is getting leaner and stronger, but my belly doesn't seem to change. Do I need to not eat rice or corn after lunch or something? Could the one night a week I drink with my friends be sabotaging me? (I work that into my calories of course.)

What think ye?

>>no matter how much you exercise, you can't lose the belly w/o cutting back on starches<<

I think that is not true. Your body doesn't decide to store extra calories on different parts of your body depending on what food they came from.

As far as why you have a belly that doesn't seem to change... I can't tell without knowing your stats.

I eat some of everything and have noticed a difference on every part of my body.

I am 24 years old, 5ft5 and 142 lbs after losing 13 lbs over the last 1.5 years.

I eat some of everything too, besides meat (I get plenty of protien still),and excercise a lot, as I said. But the belly remains.

no, it just depends on your body type

Ok so what do I do?

I thought that too.. But as it turns out with me, I lose weight the same way I gain but backwards... what I mean is.. I IMMEDETIALLY see gain in my face, then my tummy and thighs, and so on.. I lose it the other way... Thighs, then tummy then face... Keep doing what you are doing.  You are obviously on the right track.

Original Post by raynsong:

Ok so what do I do?

Keep on counting calories and working out. If you still have a belly when you reach your goal weight, you just need to learn to love yourself the way you are :)

ETA: By the way, your calories look very low for someone who is exercising for 90 minutes 5 times/week, which means that you are probably burning muscle in addition to fat. If you increase them a bit, so that you only have a 500-700 calorie daily deficit, you may find that your body composition improves.

actually.... raynsong is right. the adipocytes in the abdominal area are different to other adipocytes throughout the body. excess of calories in refined starches in particular, results in these cells enlarging here first. i can certainly attest to that personally. cells in the visceral region (ie; the abdomin) are metabolically active. they are influenced greatly by spikes in insulin, which is caused by carbohydrate intake. these cells can release fatty acids into the blood more easily.

this is why the focus for CVD is on abdominal fat and reducing the fat.

anyway abdo fat is generally the first to go during seriously decreased cals (note how you have a flat tum if you havent been eating due to illness etc) and it is the first to return in the case of excess!!

i have a cal deficit of 400-800 each day, and one day a week i go a little over on calories, so i know i'm not in starvation mode or anything goofy like that.

I'm not saying you would be in "starvation mode," just that you may not be getting optimal nutrition for a good lean body composition.

How are you calculating your daily burn? A typical moderately active, 5'5" 142 lb 24 year old woman would average a 2167 calorie daily burn. Eating 1500 calories/day (about a 700 calorie deficit) should be perfect, while 1200 (a 1000 calorie deficit) is too low for someone like you who is already a healthy weight.

Since the human body can only convert a given amount of fat to energy per day, a too high deficit will cause the body to break down muscle tissue for energy instead, leaving you with a higher body fat percentage overall.

If what fidgit says about abdominal fat being especially sensitive to insulin spikes is true, you will definitely want to try a low GI diet. You don't necessarily have to cut out starches, just be conscious of which starches you are consuming and what you are eating them with.

What should I eat with them?

I mean I know I need protien and fat and vitamins and all that, and I get a pretty good mix. I keep good track.

But I've heard that what you eat within each meal is important, like I should eat X with X to get the most out of each. I don't know much about that. Help?

I agree with fidget. If I eat, say a piece of cake, I look preggo the next day.

I do try to limit my carb intake. When I do eat carbs, I balance them with plenty of protein so there is no spike in insulin. I do my best to NEVER eat carbs alone. I also try to never eat carbs late at night, unless I am working and am going to burn them off before bed.

Well, you definitely want to make sure that all your meals include a mix of carbs, protein and fat. The majority of your carbs should be minimally processed and high in fiber, so, for example, choose brown rice over white rice, whole wheat bread over white bread, and whole fruits over fruit juice. If you do eat white rice or white bread (they are delicious, after all), just have a small portion make sure it is part of a balanced meal.

Combining specific foods is more of an issue for vegetarians and other individuals who don't get much protein from animal products. Most vegetable proteins are "incomplete," meaning that they do not contain all of the essential amino acids (the building blocks of protein). Basically though, it just means you need to eat both legumes and whole grains to get all the necessary amino acids. There are a couple veggie proteins that are complete though, like soy and quinoa.

Well I am vegetarian, close to vegan but not quite, so that information is very useful to me. Keep it coming!