Bloating?

I am generally thin pretty much all over, but I eat very healthy and consistently through the day. For some reason though, whenever I eat a somewhat larger amount of food all at once, my stomach bloats out a lot. It can look like I'm like 4 months pregnant. My mother has the same problem, and we have very similar builds and both have fast metabolisms. Is there anyway to minimize/prevent this? I don't work out much, although I just started Jackie Warner's routine...would toning my abs up more help (just simply by adding some muscle in there, I don't mean getting rid of belly fat)? Thanks for any help.

I totally have exactly the same problem as you! If I have around 300 calories or more at a time its like...huge stomach time. haha except I have no idea how to give you advice because I don't know what to do either! The only thing I do is just make sure to eat small amounts every few hours rather than like 3 large meals a day.

what happens is that your valve at the bottom of your stomach is refusing to open.  It could happen as a reaction to the food you are eating, or it could be from some other factor.

Read this:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php? t=710797

Good information that is not too much into selling herbal cures, or too much into cure yourself.  Beware of trusting doctors, as they are the best; but not perfect in any way.  Keep a notebook of the foods that seem to cause more bloating, the foods that never cause bloating.

Perhaps it is because the larger meals involve larger amounts of sodium? Are they restaurant meals, or from prepackaged foods (from boxes or cans)?  If so, that is probably the reason. I am slim too, and thats what does it for me.  Usually by the next day I'm fine if I drink enough water.

Same thing happens to me, seemingly no matter what I eat!  I hate it.  :(  It makes my pants not fit right right after I eat.  It's horrible.  Can't read that link from #2 because I'm at work, but I'll give it a shot.  SOMETHING'S gotta give.  In the meantime, I try and chug A LOT of water in the hopes that it will help flush out some of my bloat, but I doubt it's a sodium issue...

I don't think it's IBS, because I very rarely have the gas problem accompany the bloating... I am however going to try the fennel tea and also pay more attention to see if it happens more often with dairy...thanks a lot for the link!

Haha it's called a food baby.  Think about the volume of food you ate.  It has to go somewhere.  You probably just notice it more when you've eaten a lot at once.  I never used to notice this when I was heavier, but since slimming down quite a bit my stomach majorly sticks out after I've eaten.  Same with all my thin friends.  I wouldn't worry unless you are also having digestive issues.

Jillmenow: My food baby is called Eduardo. P:

I'd just like to say to the OP, though - my sister bought me some fennel/nettle infusion tea to aid with my bloating? And it is BRILLIANT. I am not even kidding - about 20 minutes into sipping my way through a glass and I suddenly belch, and then feel a HECK of a lot more comfortable! Hahaha. My mum was scolding me for how loudly I burped! :D I'd read about it being good for bloating but I had no idea it would help this much! May it help you too!

Bloating is a HUGE problem for me, but I have three solutions:

1) Midol! It has anti bloating properties and it really helps.

2) Grapefruit and Grapefruit juice... it's a natural diuretic... good for you!

3) Drink lots and lots of water. I know it sounds weird but it works!

I used to get bloated all of the time now I've figured out what works for me. I drink TONS of water, no white flour and no pasta. I don't get bloated any more. I hope you find something that works for you, cause bloating=HUGE irritation.