I will be two months post op on the 22nd of Dec, and i am noticing that i am going to have some (not much) flab down at my lower stomach area, sometimes it gets pinched when bending over, not real comfortable. I was wondering what kind of excercises would i need to do to try to get that extra to suck up, or is it not possible and i have to have surgery to take care of it? thanks for any input

Kevin

I am down 72lbs from 337

Kevin, from everything I've read you cannot spot reduce fat, nor can you spot reduce excess skin. You can increase muscle mass in a certain area which can possibly help tighten saggy skin. But the thing is, so many people see themselves losing weight, but they think the lower abdominal area is going to be a problem because it is still not toning up as fast as other parts. That's the nature of the beast. The abdominal area is where we guys store most of our fat. It stands to reason that it will be the last to tone up. But to tone it up you should just keep doing what you've done to tone up the rest of your body all along. It will just take longer. People will say to do sit-ups or crunches, but a strong core will be active and working all day long. A few crunches won't make much difference. As for saggy skin, if you had a big belly then yes, there might be some saggy skin that only surgery will fix. But it can take 2 years for the skin to finish shrinking. It does not withdraw as fast as we can lose weight. So give it time to see what it will do on it's own.

After a certain amount of time you need to start adding weights to your ab workouts to build your abs

I had my surgery Oct. 3 2012 and have lost about 40 pounds so far. I have the pouch in the middle of my abdomen region( about 2-3 inches above my belly button) that at first seem to be shrinking but now it seems to be filling up again. Any suggestions for the middle section of the abodmen region?

I think Butterbean is right - for alot of guys and sadly for "apple shaped" women like me the tummy was just a prominent feature so will go down slower. Spot exercise tones he muscles underneath which I do think helps, but don't actually get rid of the fat in that location.

I am approaching goal and my tummy isn't nearly as bad as I feared. I did not do spot reducing, but have done alot of exercise and general activity geared toward cardio fitness, building muscles and burning calories. So, the fitness classes I do at the gym always have a core strength component. When I do weights, I am sure to build core/abs/back into it. I have firm muscles in my legs, arms and abs, but they are still under some loose skin and all.

Okay will be working on my core - I am using a 15 pound kettlebell for my arms and will research using it for core too. Thanks for input.

I found yesterday water aerobics seem to be working on stomach muscles in lower part of stomach. I could feel it when I was in water working out. It was just like old school exercise in water. Yesterday was first class ever so we will see. Worth a try though.

Sleeve Guru - Water aerobics is on my list to do in a couple of months - I do not like being outdoors in the pool during the winter - even in SoCal it does snow and the temp in the 30's. Thanks for your contribution - good to hear.

Kevin, from everything I've read you cannot spot reduce fat, nor can you spot reduce excess skin. You can increase muscle mass in a certain area which can possibly help tighten saggy skin. But the thing is, so many people see themselves losing weight, but they think the lower abdominal area is going to be a problem because it is still not toning up as fast as other parts. That's the nature of the beast. The abdominal area is where we guys store most of our fat. It stands to reason that it will be the last to tone up. But to tone it up you should just keep doing what you've done to tone up the rest of your body all along. It will just take longer. People will say to do sit-ups or crunches, but a strong core will be active and working all day long. A few crunches won't make much difference. As for saggy skin, if you had a big belly then yes, there might be some saggy skin that only surgery will fix. But it can take 2 years for the skin to finish shrinking. It does not withdraw as fast as we can lose weight. So give it time to see what it will do on it's own.

This is exactly correct. I workout every day and I am surrounded by some of the best personal trainers and nutritionists in the business. I wish we could target fat but you cannot. You can do core exercises that will build the core and abs but it is still under the fat and loose skin. I am in the best shape of my life but there are still problem areas. They are getting better but if I want it totally corrected, surgery would be the only option. I lost about 125 lbs and I am perfectly healthy. The sleeve did it's job and my surgery was almost 2 years ago. I eat healthy and exercise every day and I get more toned every day. My trainer tells me all the time, running will help the stomach and hips more than anything. He is right but I hate running.

Running helps really well to target those problem areas.