# Ball belly stuff



## Tad (Jan 10, 2006)

My body is inclined towards the ball belly. I really would rather that it was not. I dont like the look, it makes it hard to keep my pants seated where they are supposed to be, and it is less healthy.

Yep, it is less healthy. Fat can sit in two places, under the skin, and in the abdominal cavity. Many studies have concluded that a lot of the issues that are widely ascribed to being fat are actually mostly associated with how much fat you have in your abdominal cavity. One old theory on the why was that this fat pushed against your internal organs, more recently they have been claiming that for some reason this fat is more chemically active. I dont think they really understand the why behind this observation yet, but the correlation does seem pretty solid (much more so than the broader correlations between being overweight and getting diabetes, high blood pressure, etc). There are several bodies now suggesting that doctors move from checking BMI to simply measuring waist sizealthough this will not really check how much abdominal fat you have, you could just have a lot of under the skin fat rolling around your waist!

I suspect that this is mostly just one of those things, like colour of eyes or male pattern baldness, that you inherit and just have to live with. However, I was curious if anyone has either heard/read anything more in depth on this subject, or if anyone has heard anything suggesting that you can control whether fat goes in your belly or under the skin?

I know I for one would be more comfortable about my size, and in particular about the prospect of getting bigger, if I did not display this distribution.

Oh, and for what it is worth, apparently it seems to correlate somewhat with low good cholesterol levels, something that I also seem to have (have had them since at least my teens, and it seems to be genetic as this is widespread on my moms side of the family. The region of Finland that her father is from apparently has one of the highest rates of heart disease, even controlled for lifestyle, in the industrialized world). So just possibly the fat distribution is simply a symptom of some underlying issue, but even if that is the case Ive never really liked how that looked.

-Ed


----------



## noob (Feb 2, 2006)

I think it might be genetics...but I don't really know. I'm the opposite I think, I wish I had a ball belly.


----------



## bigwideland (Feb 2, 2006)

Now I understand why those bubble bellys that seem not to be effected by gravity, as for mine that just hangs, so I must be under the skin type, explains my my cholestrol is 4.0 when some thin people I know have levels as high as 6 or more,


----------



## TallEnglishman (Feb 9, 2006)

Stop sweating the small stuff, or worrying about medical opinion! The bottom (or maybe belly) line is: HOW DO *YOU* FEEL?

Just my sixpence-worth... :eat2: :eat1: :eat1: :eat1:


----------



## FatAndProud (Feb 10, 2006)

Ball bellies...hmm Sounds cute...something like a kid at a playground would play with heh.

But I think I have the dangly one...so yeah. I much rather have the ball belly no matter how unhealthy it is. Dangly ones are saggy and weird


----------



## TallEnglishman (Feb 10, 2006)

FatAndProud said:


> Dangly ones are saggy and weird



I've always LOVED saggy bellies, all soft and squidgy mmmmm  You shouldn't be so negative!!

:eat1: :eat1: :eat1: :eat2: :eat2: :eat2:


----------



## FatAndProud (Feb 10, 2006)

Heh, squidgy...yes when you use that word I don't want to be negative!


----------



## growingman (Jul 26, 2006)

I have a ball belly although I am sure it is smaller than most here and I really like it mostly because I get more complements on it from women. Now if I could just convince them that rubbing it would grant them their wishes!


----------



## Jeannie (Jul 26, 2006)

growingman said:


> I have a ball belly although I am sure it is smaller than most here and I really like it mostly because I get more complements on it from women. Now if I could just convince them that rubbing it would grant them their wishes!



Rubbing it would grant me my wish!


----------



## noob (Jul 27, 2006)

growingman said:


> I have a ball belly although I am sure it is smaller than most here and I really like it mostly because I get more complements on it from women. Now if I could just convince them that rubbing it would grant them their wishes!



Dude, you have a wicked awesome gut.


----------



## growingman (Jul 28, 2006)

noob said:


> Dude, you have a wicked awesome gut.



Wow, thanks for the complements!


----------



## noob (Jul 29, 2006)

growingman said:


> Wow, thanks for the complements!


Any time :bow:


----------



## Skinny_FFA (Jul 29, 2006)

Well Im attracted to the soft saggy one. I´ve read somewhere that the yoyo effect changes the consistence of the flesh. Means if you loose some weight and then gain it again (or some more) the fat goes rather under the skin. The more often it happens the more softer one becomes. Doesnt sound scientific but I can confirm the phenomenon for me and also for my boyfriend. 
A possible explanation could be that if you loose you loose also muscles. When you gain its just fat (except you excercise hard, well we dont  )
I have the same weight as with 18 but my body feels much softer now (at 35). Maybe cos I tried real hard to get extremly thin in younger years. But now I know it better. And also my bf tried many times to loose lot of his weight and now he´s actually a big sooooft ball of joy!  verrry to my liking.


----------



## gentle_viewer (Jul 29, 2006)

I like both kinds. I just like bellies.


----------



## Laina (Jul 30, 2006)

gentle_viewer said:


> I like both kinds. I just like bellies.



I've got to second that one. As long as it's soft enough to snuggle with, I'm a happy girl.


----------



## Spiff (Jul 30, 2006)

edx said:


> I suspect that this is mostly just one of those things, like colour of eyes or male pattern baldness, that you inherit and just have to live with. However, I was curious if anyone has either heard/read anything more in depth on this subject, or if anyone has heard anything suggesting that you can control whether fat goes in your belly or under the skin?



Ed, i'm wondering if maybe you saw the same news show i saw. a while back (a year and a half ago, at least), i saw a news program on the subject. can't remember which station, which news show, when, or anything like that (helpful, aren't i?), but it talked about different types of fat, only this show seemed to use slightly different terms. they basically described some fat as being just "under the skin" and other fat (what you described as being "in the abdominal cavity") just as being "under the muscle". it also described the latter type of fat as being less healthy. they also said that this particular type of fat is often associated with high levels of stress. people with more stressful jobs / lifestyles apparently, according to someone's research, have a greater tendency to build fat in the abdominal cavity rather than just under the skin. whether you want to believe that or not is entirely up to you, i don't have any kind of evidence to back that up, no peer reviewed articles, no doctor's name, can't even remember what the news show was, but that's what *they* said.


----------



## growingman (Jul 30, 2006)

Spiff said:


> Ed, i'm wondering if maybe you saw the same news show i saw. a while back (a year and a half ago, at least), i saw a news program on the subject. can't remember which station, which news show, when, or anything like that (helpful, aren't i?), but it talked about different types of fat, only this show seemed to use slightly different terms. they basically described some fat as being just "under the skin" and other fat (what you described as being "in the abdominal cavity") just as being "under the muscle". it also described the latter type of fat as being less healthy. they also said that this particular type of fat is often associated with high levels of stress. people with more stressful jobs / lifestyles apparently, according to someone's research, have a greater tendency to build fat in the abdominal cavity rather than just under the skin. whether you want to believe that or not is entirely up to you, i don't have any kind of evidence to back that up, no peer reviewed articles, no doctor's name, can't even remember what the news show was, but that's what *they* said.



Yes, that is because stress produces cortisol, a stress hormone, and that is supposed to cause increased fat in the abdominal cavity. I have also heard that transfats cause increased belly fat too. I am not sure why my belly is the focus of my gain, but I have had some stress in life, so that could be a reason, but I tend to think genes play a part too. My father gained mostly in his belly too.


----------



## missaf (Jul 30, 2006)

So, do you guys with ball bellies wish for more even distribution, or are you happy with your fat as is?

Someday we need a fat distribution machine, I'd gladly move mine around


----------



## activistfatgirl (Jul 31, 2006)

missaf said:


> So, do you guys with ball bellies wish for more even distribution, or are you happy with your fat as is?
> 
> Someday we need a fat distribution machine, I'd gladly move mine around



Someone just said my naughty words. :shocked:


----------



## growingman (Jul 31, 2006)

missaf said:


> So, do you guys with ball bellies wish for more even distribution, or are you happy with your fat as is?
> 
> Someday we need a fat distribution machine, I'd gladly move mine around



I think as long as there are women that like my belly this way I will like it. If they want it bigger, all the better. I don't know that it will stay as it is. Perhaps it will change as it gets bigger, or if I gain and lose and gain again. I am willing to go with the flow and take things as they come.


----------



## noob (Jul 31, 2006)

growingman said:


> Yes, that is because stress produces cortisol, a stress hormone, and that is supposed to cause increased fat in the abdominal cavity. I have also heard that transfats cause increased belly fat too. I am not sure why my belly is the focus of my gain, but I have had some stress in life, so that could be a reason, but I tend to think genes play a part too. My father gained mostly in his belly too.



My gains are mostly in my belly as well. I've also had above average stress for years due to OCD.


----------



## bigrugbybloke (Mar 6, 2007)

definitely more ball bellied here than fat! that said i used to be fairly flabby a few years back until i regularly started drinking beer most nights and i have now put on about 40kg and my flabby belly has converted itself into a traditional british beer gut!


----------



## HDANGEL15 (Mar 6, 2007)

bigrugbybloke said:


> definitely more ball bellied here than fat! that said i used to be fairly flabby a few years back until i regularly started drinking beer most nights and i have now put on about 40kg and my flabby belly has converted itself into a traditional british beer gut!




*SHow us that traditional ball bellied beer gut ........

please????????
an innocent FA bored at work* :smitten:


----------



## rachel (Mar 13, 2007)

I am more of a ball-belly girl. >.> I know it's less healthy, which is sad. But I prefer big, bulky guys who are all muscley and hairy, with huge ball guts.  I should have been a gay man.

My boyfriend is turning out to be more of an even-distribution sort of guy. Argh. But he's trying to keep his weight "reasonable" (in the 200-230 range) while bingeing occasionally to give me my round-belly fix. It works. 

rachel


----------

