When your stomach is bloated, you may experience flatulence, rumbling or gurgles in your belly, or frequent burping. While the foods you eat can cause bloating, so can other seemingly innocuous activities like chewing gum or smoking. All of this can cause your abdomen to distend, resulting in bloating, according to Healthline.

One way to know your bloat is not fat is that fat accumulates over a long period of time as a result of excess calories. In addition, you can grab belly fat with your hand, while you cannot do that with bloat, per University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Remember, bloat is something that can cause your stomach to expand throughout the day as you eat, but will often disappear after you've had time to digest your food correctly. If you want belly fat to disappear, you need to watch your caloric intake and up your exercise, causing fat to melt away gradually.