Baby Belly

I did do a search but couldn't find anything, so feel free to point me in the right direction if this is already covered...

I'm wondering what exercises to do to lose my belly? I am sooo not used to having a gut, previously i had a pretty flat stomach and didn't realise how lucky i was. Now 4 months after a c-section and since i have stopped breast feeding, i just feel awful and still look like i am about 4 months pregnant, if not 5! :(

should i be doing loads of sit ups, or should i be doing cardio exercise like jogging and trying to get the heart rate up? is it safe to to lots of ab crunches etc after a c-section?

is there any miracle exercise to help get rid of the gut? do women who have had c-sections have bigger baby bellies than those who birthed vaginally? Is it possible that no matter how much i try to lose weight, i will always have a bit of a spare tyre?

it is seriously depressing me and with summer coming up, i just feel like i am going to look disgusting and not enjoy getting out and about because of the extra weight. i am having huge discipline issues (or lack thereof) in regards to food... comfort eating so badly. :(

ive never really had to worry about what i ate and this is such a shock to me to feel so wobbly and gross. am wondering what is a 'normal' timeframe to get your figure back or at least lose the belly?

any tips would be much appreciated :D

They say it takes nine months to grow a baby belly, it should take nine months of good diet etc to lose it. Having said that, it's common for c/s women to have a little overhang over the scar. I am terrible and haven't lost an ounce since having my first and now number 3 is on the way feel at a total loss. Taking time out for exercise for yourself is not easy with kids, having said that, it's something that you should do to make YOU feel better. I don't know of any miracle exercise, I wish to god I did (then I might get my old body back!), but I hope I have given some helpful advice.

It took me a year after DS #1 to lose the weight, but I didn't get the "tone" back on the tummy area, it was still a bit wobbly and stretched. My goal this time is to lose the weight in a year again, but include weights (I only did cardio last time) to hopefully fill out the tummy area a bit so it's less "wobbly". But I can't say if this will work or not!

Hey Emma

9 months to grow a baby, 12 months to get your figure back (though with every pregnancy your body hangs on to 1-2kg) and 2yrs (some people say 5yrs) for your body to have recovered from the process of pregnancy and birth...phew :)

c/s can make it a little harder to tone the abdomen again...simply because the major abdo muscles where surgically separated and it takes longer for them to repair and then return to prepregnancy tone.

All over body toning is my tip, as it is not just the abdo muscles, but also the lower back and pelvic floor that all need to regain tone and strenght. Walking, swimming and yoga...and patience...it took me 12 months to lose the pregnancy weight with both my boys, and it only came off when it was ready.

hope that helps...:)

xx yogababy

After the birth of my DD#2 my physio told me whilst watching tele, peeling the spuds, feeding bubs etc if you suck your abdomen in and hold it for 5 secs, then release, repeat, then release etc etc you are actually working at strengthening your tum tum muscles. I only did it for a few mins a day (i was a bridesmaid 6 months after my DD#2 birth, so wanted a flat tum tum too)....i actually found it did strengthen my muscles .....i was b/f too though and had normal vag. delivery..

I was thinking the same thing.
I had a emergency CS and have the overhang belly. It doesnt appear to have any muscle what so ever.
When i suck my gut in it stays where it is.......

I have been trying doing ab exercises and that doesnt appear to have helped all that much. Please let me know if you find a miracle exercise as I will be there doing it with you.

THere's a few factors here.

1) muscles - they are looser from being stretched over bubs for all that time and take time to go flat again, once they ARE flatter, they've usually lost tone.

2) fat - you will probably have a little fat still from PG, and this will go in time - fat cells are storage cells and once they've formed they never go away, which means as we lose weight we go through a "wobbly" stage as there is the same amount of cells with half as much in them - like a half-deflated balloon (horrid analogy but you kwim). This will remedy itself with time, worry not. If you feel you want to lose fat then cardio exercise (running, aerobics etc.) will help with that. Talk to your GP or a qualified instructor before you begin anything new.

3) skin - it's been stretched too and depending on your skin type/tone will take a while to go back the way it was. It will happen eventually, and there are creams you can buy which, while they probably won't make it happen faster, will give you a lovely soft tummy in the meantime.

I can remember, when DD was 5 months old, still feeling like i was 5 months PG, but now, nearly a year on, it HAS all gone back much more to normal and i've done NOTHING in terms of muscle toning because i run all the time. This winter i'm going to do body pump and see if it makes any difference :)

HTH

Bec

Bec thats so great. I will def try those exercises

How are you going Emma? I had an emergency caesarean and I still look 4 or 5 months pregnant too so you're not alone. My DS is only a month old though so I'm not expecting to have a flat tummy just yet (besides I did put on 21kg with him) but after the c-s I can tell my gut isn't going anywhere in a hurry. It's good to put it into perspective that we have had major abdominal surgery and we need to be gentle with ourselves too.

One thing too, I did not take my tape off (from over the stitches) until day six which was a bit mistake in hindsight. Another mum at JHH removed her tape on day two and her tummy was seriously flat as a tack. My belly started to go down only after I took the tape off so I wish I'd taken it off sooner.

I'm just doing the brace excercises until I get the ok at my 6 weeks check up.

hmmmm well i haven't been going so well.... i had a great spell of eating healthily and cutting out all snacks and junk, but then i got my period and have seriously had chocolate every day since!!! before being pregnant i was never into chocolate, now i dream about it!!
think now that the weather is getting better i will start to do some exercise.... its so hard though!!! my tummy is still pretty big, but if i wear the right clothes i can disguise it, but there will be no disguising it on the beach!! i do want to lose about 5-7 kilos though, but i actually put 5kg on immediately BEFORE i was pregnant, so i guess im almost back to my pre pregnant state, except for the belly....
hopefully i get motivated to get moving!!

I too have this, and also had a emergency c-section but i have found that sucking my tummy in while walking is helping a bit & the odd sit ups (and i mean the ODD ones!) help too. I've also started doing weight watchers myself too, sofar i've already lost 1.5 kilo's in a week! YAY! - guess it really wants/needs to come off! The trick for me not to eat junk food is - i just wont buy it, otherwise im ating it! As for the wobbly skin - on me its there forever, the streching after my first DD left me with way too much skin.
Gook luck!

My partners friend is a personal trainer and I asked him what to do, I asked if sit-ups would help and the look of horror on his face told me no. He said that after any birth the muscles have separated and if you do crunches you are only going to make it worse and cause serious health issues in the long run. Anything that causes you to flex your spine is a no no. He didn't say for how long but he did say you need to strengthen the core muscles first. Pilates and Yoga and walking is a good start he said, just don't do any of the spine flexing moves like the hundreds. Now to just find the motivation and time.

Hi guys,

Please get professional advice about what exercises to do, as some that used to be in favour are now considered very dangerous - unfortunately Hoobley, the one you suggested with the leg lift and lower is one of these exercises. This is very dangerous for your back and abs, I would strongly advise against this exercise.

The ones where you are trying to pull your tummy in or hold it in while walking (make sure you keep breathing so you're not sucking in) are best generally speaking, as it is a light load/effort but you are still teaching the muscles what to do. Just take care!

Ok i've edited it. It's funny, they taught my friend leglifts in Germany (3 months and 2 years ago (2 kids)) as part of her postnatal recovery programme. And come to think of it they still teach them in my gym, though they don't count 4 months after the birth as post-partum still unless you have specific issues...? *shrug*

Bec

Hey Bec, no wonder you suggested that exercise if people are still recommending it to others!!! Hope you didn't take the post personally, just wanted to ensure everyone was safe. I assume the trainers at the gym have the appropriate qualifications (I think they have to now) - just out of interest, when you return to the gym after having the baby, do they do another baseline assessment on you to see what your aerobic fitness is like, and if you've got any issues such as ongoing SPD pain or a separation of the rectus abdominus muscle?

I'm a physio by training with some postgrad training in back pain, so I am pretty keen to ensure people avoid hurting their backs in any way as I know the problems this can cause in the short and long term. I used to run 6 days a week, ski 2-3 times per week, and was also a ballet dancer in the distant past - and I wouldn't have attempted that exercise any time in the last 10 yrs as I know even my abs wouldn't have been strong enough. But there are other versions which are suitable - for example, lie on your back with knees bent up and feet on the floor. Pull in your belly button towards the floor and keep it in while breathing in and out a few times, then slowly slide one leg along the ground until it is straight, then slide it up again to the bent position, then relax your tummy. That's still a pretty challenging exercise to do properly! That's the one I'm doing at present along with pulling in while doing everyday activities. I used to find in my practice that people would often think they were doing an exercise like that well and so try to do harder ones, but in reality they didn't have the control they needed to be safe - it helps sometimes to do them with someone else so they can tell you if you 'lose it' in any way.

No Feathertop, the internet can be deadly for people trying stuff out themselves and getting hurt! You're right to be concerned if it's dangerous.

Yeah, they do a baseline assesment and post partum check (there's 2 trainers at the gym qualified specifically in pregnancy and post partum so you have to get one of them) and if there's any problems you have to get a doctor's cert before you can begin on anything (so like if you have SPD or diastasis rectus when you first go back PP you have to have a note saying it's all fine before you can begin). They don't really consider you post-partum after, i think, 12 weeks post partum, and even then only if there were problems. I don't really know as i ran (on my own) and swam (on my own) and didn't do classes.

My DP is a personal trainer but he only has the general qualification and the specialisation in Spin - nothing else yet (he's picking them up in his spare time). I'm trying to persuade him to get the pool qual - that'd be really handy for me :) He knows all the safe lifts and moves but he's not allowed to even TALK to women less than 3 months post partum! lmao.

The instructor in my gym who taught leg lifts has you concentrate first and foremost on keeping your lower back pushed into the floor, like in the pelvic tilt. In fact the first week or that's all you do, and you slowly progress to lifting the legs. He did say if you lift your lower back you can hurt yourself and also not to do those exerices to exhaustion as that's when people get sloppy and hurt themselves.

Bx

Great to hear all that stuff re their training and procedures hoobley, very reassuring! And yes, the internet can be a dangerous thing......

Emma,

the other thing to consider is we are all wearing hipsters now, and let it all hang out! If "harry highpants" were in fashion, I suspect there would be a better chance of returning to a trim abdomen!

Your muscles are a combination of myocytes and supporting fibrous tissue (I'm a vet by trade, so talking out of my species range here). Inside each muscle cell are two sets of fibres that do this really funky contraction thing (if you're into biochemistry) involving the release of calcium when the nerve cells fire them up.

When you're using weights for your arm and leg muscles, trainers recommend you work through the entire range of movement, and/or stretch thoroughly after to prevent shortening of the muscles. In the case of the pp belly, we want that shortening to happen. However, you might only get to do stomach / pilates-style core stability exercises etc. for 5, 10 maybe 20 minutes (maybe once a day), but they then spend the next 23 1/2 hours hanging out again!...

Also, as your connective tissue tightens post partum, the fibrous tissue heals to the length of the muscle: if those internal fibres of the myocytes remain fully elongated you retain the sag.

So... how do you go about shortening those muscles?
1) first of all, if you've bunged on weight, then you're adding to the load the muscles need to work against, so try and keep off chocolate etc.

2) consider wearing a pair of bell bottoms (only joking, they were pretty woeful fashion the first time around) to support the muscles in a shortened state. I wonder if a support girdle might help? (comments please - I'm really out of my depth here!)

3) do some (approved) abdo exercises in bed just before you retire for the night, then roll over and go to sleep in the 'recovery position' with a pillow or cushion jammed under your belly. The idea is that the pillow prevents sagging of the muscles, and allows the recovering-from-exercise muscles to 'go to sleep' in the shortened state.

The pillow thing is my mum's (six kids, flat belly) suggestion, and which she also suggested early pp to help 'drain' the uterus...


cheers,

Angie
ps. watch out when you start to feed solids to your bub, it is so easy to finish off the plate after a session of goop - the extra calories are affecting both me and the dog!

This is great info Angie-La! Thanks so much for taking the time to explain all that it sure does make a whole lot of sense and I will def put your suggestions into practice. Can I ask if you know what other factors may be involved if you have had a caesarian? Welcome to BB I hope you stick around!