How do you reduce a belly pooch? All other parts of my body are toned down except for the fat on my lower belly.
There are several things you can do to get rid of, or reduce the size of, your lower belly. You should do the following: start a regular program of doing abdominal curls, make a habit of holding your abdomen “in” when you are standing and sitting, and make sure you eat a high-fiber and low-fat diet with lots of veggies.
Here are some ideas for exercising at home (doing this routine about five or six days a week would be ideal!):
Lie down on the floor facing up, with your feet on a chair so your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle. Place your hands behind your head and inhale. On the exhale, slowly raise your chest, shoulders and head off the floor, concentrating on pressing your navel toward the spine and making sure that your lower back is pushing into the floor. Stay in this curled position until you have fully exhaled, and focus on tensing and flattening the lower belly. Slowly lower your upper body to the floor, inhaling as you come down. Repeat 12 times, building your way up to 36 times. In the beginning, you may need to take several breaks to complete a whole set of 12, but as you get stronger, try not to stop until you have done the entire set. After the 12, take a 15-second break and then do another set of 12. Eventually, you will be able to do 3 sets of 12 reps to make your total of 36 reps.
Another good exercise for you to do is to lie down on the floor facing up. This time bend one knee, placing the foot on the floor. Exend the other leg straight out on the floor in front of you. Place your arms next to your sides. On an exhale, slowly raise your head, shoulders and chest off the floor again, but this time also raise your arms, reaching your hands toward your toes. Exhale fully while contracting your abs, and then slowly lower yourself down. Repeat this exercise 8 times, then switch legs. Complete 3 sets of 8 reps on each leg. Remember to do these exercises on a regular basis, and be patient; the visual results may not come for 4 to 6 weeks, but you will feel stronger in that area and your lower back will feel longer and more stretched out.
Also, when you do any exercises for the rest of the body — like arm raises, leg lifts, etc. — even if you are seated or lying on your side, it is important that you start off each exercise by holding your abdominals firm to support your back.
Remember to check your posture all day long and when you find that you are letting your abdominals stick out, flatten them by moving your navel toward the spine. Also, remember that there is no such thing as spot reduction — you must move your whole body to reduce fat in the abdomen. Above all, make a plan to stick with your program and don’t let yourself give up before you see any results.