Now for most of the year I have been dieting. But recently I started eating normal again, with, in mind, stretching out my stomach. At first I was fine with it. I had Chinese food and ate the whole thing. But for me it felt like it was abnormal. I hadn't had anything else to eat all day. Then, I have felt like I have a tire on my upper abdomen ever since.

Though I am eating more.. sometimes I am shocked at how little i am eating but think I am eating more.

I would like to get it checked out but I don't know what to check. If I would tell my doctor she would be dismissive. Obviously I was just dieting... my stomach shrunk and I should expect it to take a few weeks to not feel full, but I feel like this is different.

I would like to get it checked out but what to check? I had a uterine ultrasound last year.. and it was ok. But this is the upper part of my abdomen...above the belly button.

Am I just crazy? Do things just change as you age? As a younger person I could consume chinese plus three other meals and have no problem.

Things just change as you age. It is pretty normal for your appetite and ability to eat large portions to get smaller as you age. Not anything that needs diagnosis.

Originally Posted by lolagrace

Things just change as you age. It is pretty normal for your appetite and ability to eat large portions to get smaller as you age. Not anything that needs diagnosis.

Thanks. I didn't know this but now that I think about it I think you are right. My mom always seemed to eat almost zero food as she got older. True she did die from Stomach Cancer but it was well before that.

I am also wondering if I don't have weird body at the moment in that I am losing weight but I have stopped and it is like maybe I lost weight in other areas but not my stomach. So the weight of the fat is still in that particular place.

It has still been bothering me and I even made an appointment with my doctor... dreading it because I knew there was nothing she could do for me really. But I am excited to say I think I figured this out.

I can't believe I didn't think of it.

The same day I started eating more I started a project in my basement painting. Literally every weekend since I have been down there for 6 hours or more every weekend day. Bending down to paint detail. Getting up on a stool to paint detail near the ceiling. Sometimes I have done work during the week.

It isn't "feeling full" it is muscles in my abdomen getting a work out.

This makes the most sense because I reduced further the food I was eating and I still felt full. It isn't that.. it is tightness in the tummy area due to exercise. Phew!

[All Is Revealed]

Originally Posted by Emily Fox Seaton

It isn't "feeling full" it is muscles in my abdomen getting a work out.

This makes the most sense because I reduced further the food I was eating and I still felt full. It isn't that.. it is tightness in the tummy area due to exercise. Phew!

So true. Believe it or not, when we exercise excessively (more than 2 hours a day) we tend to get fuller faster. You would think that exercising excessively makes you more hungry, but it does not. As you mentioned, any abdominal workout shrinks your stomach further, and causes that annoying bloated feeling.

Good job on the diet and work out. Exercise is awesome! It is my drug of choice.

[Mountaindewed]

Good job on the diet!

The same thing happens to me. I’ll get so ravenously hungry my mouth will water and I’ll have all these thoughts of stuff I want to eat. Then I’ll stop for fast food and eat 4 bites and will be incredibly full, and not eat much the rest of the day.

It’s frustrating because I love food.

The symptoms that you describe after eating the Chinese food sounds like trapped gas in your intestines. There are great yoga poses and stretches that you can do to release that trapped gas, that you can find online.

I have terrible digestion, due to my thyroid disease, so foods that normally never caused gas before now do, and if I don't do those yoga poses after I eat, I feel like I have a tire wrapped around my stomach and upper chest.

Also, walking before a meal for a minimum of 20-30 minutes, and not drinking liquid with your meal also helps with food digestion. Even if its walking in place, or up and down a nearby staircase, or up and down on a stool. Movement before a meal gets the digestive juices flowing. Of course, there's always Beano, or probiotics that you can take before you eat, that are supposed to get rid of the gas produced from undigested food. You have a lot of options. Good luck.