STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

I'm not overwieght, but I'm not happy with my waist and stomach. My stomach is not in proportion with the rest of my body, I guess I have the apple shape body. I do cardio and have been strengthining my core, but I'm having a lot of trouble getting a smaller stomach. I mean, let me put it this way-- when I try on almost any different brand of jeans, the jeans are always inches loose in my thigh, but I can't even get the button closed because it's too small for my waist. And I've done that ratio test where you compared the measurement of your waist to the measurement of your hips, and if its between .8 and 1, then that means that it's at an unhealthy proportion and supposedly has something to do with your insulin. I'm not quite sure, but I was hoping a nutritionist could help me determine what I can do as far as my eating habbits to help reduce the size of my belly.

But the main problem is lately, I've been having trouble with my digestion and passing of food. I don't know how it came to this, but now if I don't go to the bathroom right after I eat, I feel very very uncomfortable. It's not usually a problem when I eat snacks or small meals, but when I have a large one (or even just a normal size one) I get instantly bloated and my stomach gets huge. And then I get a very strong feeling that I have to go, but when I'm not able to go, I get upset and uncomfortable and feel very constipated.

I try to eat healthy, and this summer I really have been having a lot of fruits and veggies. I do still have trouble resisting sweets, but I've been a lot better at cutting out things like cookies and ice cream. And because of my problem with digestion, I sort of stopped eating meat because it's just too heavy for me.

My problems with my digestion is especially worse on the nights that I jog. I usually eat about 3 to 4 hours before I work out, but I still have many days where I try to run and I get such a pain in my stomach. Not really my stomach, but more the intestines. I feel them churning and it's so uncomfortable. And I don't even work out that hard. I jog lightly, usually for about 5 minutes and then stop and walk for a bit, and then back to light jogging. But there have been many times when I had to stop my workout because I have the biggest urge to go to the bathroom. Last night I was supposed to go for a jog, but I couldnt go to the bathroom to pass my food even though I had the feeling to, so I was too uncomfortable to jog.

I'm worried that there are certain foods that are causing these problems, but I don't really know what they could be. But since insurance doesn't cover a nutrionist, I'm wondering if it's worth it to see one. Has anyone went to a nutrionist and found them to be very helpful? Should I go see my regular doctor? I'm not sure if a doctor will give me the advice I need when it comes to specifically changing my eating habbits and targeting certain areas I want to improve.

-- Edited by Emilie at 16:54, 2005-08-11

-- Edited by Emilie at 16:56, 2005-08-11