I'm 5'8" and 178lbs. I'm not fat and nobody that sees me would think I'm fat. However, I do have a lot of "jelly belly" around my waste that I can't seem to shed. I do lots of cardio work like uphill mountain biking, I just scaled a 10,000ft mountain last weekend, I do martial arts a few times a week. I think I do plenty calorie burning excercise. However, I have trouble getting ride of this stubborn fat around my belly and waist. When I'm standing up straight, it's not noticable, but when sitting down, it causes rolls to bunch up. I'll never have a six pack or good muscle definition until I get rid of it. But it seems so stubborn I don't know what to do. Oddly, I have almost no body fat below my waste. I can barely pinch up any fat on my legs, it's as if all the fat in my body isn't evenly distributed, it just goes straight to my mid section.

Is there anything I can do? I really want the "beach body" look, but maybe it's not in my genes.

well, you've talked a lot about what you do for activity, but not what you eat. diagnosing your problem is easy, then. proper diet is not just for the fat or inactive.

the distribution of body fat on your body is genetic, and also related to gender -- guys tend to put it onto the belly first & take it off there last.

the cliche 'abs are made in the kitchen' applies here.

You probably have a anterior pelvic tilt that makes you look like you have a gut.

And everyone's stomach bunches up like that when they sit.

buy the book ultimatediet 2 by lyle mcdonald and do loads of excersise on day 3 .... everyone has places were the fat comes off last and on day 3 of thisdiet is the day when the blood runs to these places i would elaborate more but my arm is broken and itsall sciency the book explains it better then i can if uracheapskateand dont want to buy it =( this is the link to a pdf version of it http://members.tripod.com/ns_powerlifting/UD2.pdf

Okay, so maybe diet is a large part of it, but I don't eat cheeseburgers and pizza every night. I don't have the healthiest diet in the world either, probably somewhere in the middle. I've heard that you shouldn't eat after 9:00pm, but what if you get hungry after that, what are some late night foods that are safe to eat?

if you're not going to log your diet & prepare to make significant changes, you're going to just have to live with your body the way it looks.

if/when you're ready for that, get back to us.

Try to reduce carbohydrates at night, stick to proteins, fats, and green veggies.