Ok so I know I just had a baby...but prior to that I also had a belly that had friends and strangers asking if I were pregnant on five separate occasions. I am relatively petite aside from that. I weigh 135 and am 5'2. Now that I've had a baby I can tell some of it is loose skin and the rest is something inside me. I used to binge drink before I was raw. I have been mostly raw for the past year and a half. Very rarely have I eaten animal products in that time. I am trying to go back to all raw. When I drank a lot I ate lots of fast food (loaded with trans fat) and all my weight went to my stomach. Haven't been able to shake it from there very much. Will it just take time, or could it be due to another problem? I've been reading the posts on liver cleanses or parasites...but I don't have any aches or pains in my abdomen and my bowels move well when I am raw. Any thoughts or similar experiences?

I think a liver cleanse! I'm 5'2" as well and have weighed 135 on cooked food. In addition I used to party and drink alot and loved Mexican food on a hangover. By my late 20's my metabolism was frustratingly sluggish and I just knew it had to have something to do with the toxins I was ingesting.... so, I started perusing information and came across Sandra Cabot's liver cleanse book and it was awesome. I lost weight right in my midsection to the point where you could see a bit of ribcage underneath my skin, I was so excited - and my metabolism felt normal again. btw that book is neither raw nor vegan and I lost even more weight a few years later when I did raw. I'm now 118.

Sushine79's advice sounds very encouraging.

What works for me, in addition to raw food, is exercise - the more the better. I've found that if I do at least a half hour of strenuous exercise in the morning before eating, my tummy stays smaller all day long. Then I can eat until I'm satisfied, but without feeling stuffed.

I do more exercise during the day and/or evening.

I just re-read the post & notice that you've been raw for a year and a half... so, it could perhaps just be your body type, as well - the tendency to have a little more weight in the midesection.

Is your spine correctly aligned, or do you have extra curvature in your lower back? Pregnancy could've created or exacerbated such a condition, and make one's tummy stick out further as though pregnant. A chiropractor could fix this but beware of chiropractors! Many if not most of them still perform neck adjustments, which can result in paralysis - so call around (if indeed spinal lordosis is what's causing your pregant look).

Sunshine79,

I do have a slight curvature in my lower back (more than the average person)...nothing that's ever been observed by a doctor as being bad, but that probably contributes a bit. Also, I've been mostly raw but had a period of 50% or so raw, lasting a few months. I have seen a chiropractor, but that was just for aches and pains. What was the gyst of the liver cleanse that you did?

Suncloud,

Yes, I also need to get moving!

Ok... I'm up too late reading message board posts, because Sunshine79, I read your post as "I am now 118" as your age, and not your weight. I thought "Heck, I have to look up the Sandra Cabot book," thinking she was probably dead by now, if you read it in your 20's... LOL DUH!

Tara - haaaahahaha!!!

Musicbebe - the Sandra Cabot liver cleanse was greens, vegetables, lean meats, and I think fruit, too, but no starchy carbs like bread, pasta etc. Also green juices & milk thistle, which is a liver cleansing and protecting herb (I liked the Solaray brand from health food stores). I still keep some around for detoxing on the now-infrequent occasions when I drink alot.

Regarding spinal lordosis, it's not something I ever would've given any thought to, but after I pinched a nerve in my back the chiropractor corrected both, and I remember exclaiming "hey I don't look pregnant anymore!" I'm just kind of iffy about chiropractors in general though - I wish there were medical specialists with rigorous training who could re-adjust spines. I dunno, maybe they're ok, I can't decide. I'm certainly happy to have had the excess curvature corrected, and the pinched nerve... on the other hand, he did a neck adjustment, which did not feel good, and later I read that it can cause paralysis! I'm so mad that chiropractors still do that despite the evidence, and with no warning. Argh.

musicbebe,

I second or third or whatever, going to a good well-regarded chiropractor and telling him or her exactly what your problem is. A good chiropractor will not paralyze you through manipulation; they do study anatomy, you know : ) Just do your investigating before deciding on one, and you conduct the consult.

I find it odd that a liver cleanse would include "lean meat," as the Cabot one does. This is counterproductive and also nutritionally unecessary, as it takes a long time to develop a protein deficiency, much longer than a flush would take. Also, as we all know, you don't need meat to thrive : ) Perhaps the meat eating is optional?