It can be confusing and difficult to tell the difference sometimes since both belly fat and bloating can result in increasing abdominal girth and they can happen concurrently and contribute to your observation.
How to Tell The Difference Between Bloating and Belly Fat?
Pinch Test
In general, bloating is either a sensation of fullness or actual gaseous accumulation in the digestive tract.
Since this process takes place in the deeper organ, it should not affect the thickness of the abdominal wall when you perform a simple "pinch-test" at the 2 sides of your abdomen when gauging the skin thickness.
Did you Gain Weight?
The other way to tell the difference is whether the bulge you observed is associated with weight gain.
Since air or gas has minimal mass, there should not be a significant weight gain with the bulge unless we are talking about fluid accumulation in your abdomen in which case needs to be evaluated by your doctor soon.
Does Your Bulge Come and Go?
If the bulge comes and goes, then we can conclude that at least a portion of the observed effect is related to the contents in your digestive tract be it stools or gas.
Tone Up Your Abs
Lastly, try to tone up your lower abdominal muscles to see if the bulge resolves. Weaker abdominal wall muscles for any reason may manifest as a bulge too.
-Dr Quan
