How do you get rid of that postpregancy "pooch"? - Page 2

[PPK]

Originally Posted by Carrieanders

It doesn't matter how loose the skin is, MUSCLE will make a difference! Now, I do have to tell the truth here, some of the "pootch" will most likely stay..because after all some of it is skin. But loose, stretched out, toneless muscle and extra fat can appear to be "only skin". I highly recommend Joyce Vedral's book Weight Training Made easy. It is adaptable to ANY level of fitness and schedule. It, with extra aerobic excercise and a normal diet will make certain you get to your best shape ever. I'm 26 and have gained and lost over 250lbs between 4 pregnancies. Until I got pregnant this most recent time (i'm about 4 mo), I had the BEST abs of my life Yeah, I will admit there was a slight lower belly skin pootch, but some loose skin is nothing compared to tight, strong body. I have been assured that only *I* could see the Pootch

You can loose MOST of it. you don't need to look like an 87yr old.

Carrie

I love Joyce Vedral. I had a book of her's as a teenager, and still do most of the same workout to this day!
I recommend looking up excercises to work your transverse abdominals. I did some research, and its the oly ab group recommended pp. I can tell a huge difference almost imediately after working this group of muscles. One way I've been getting a small workout in is to do them standing, arch my back over like a halloween cat, hands on knees, and suck tummy back towards spine as hard as posible. hold.and you can feel the flex/contraction in the sides of your stomach, like a girdle..this has helped alot of what looked like loose skin. I' m one month pp and just about back to normal.

[intorainbowz]

I'm of the belief that the only way to get rid of it is through a tummy tuck.

[LemonPie]

I still have mine. I gained 40+ with both kids and lost most of it immediately after birth. Weight loss and regular stomach crunches made it look smaller. Too bad I didn't keep them up

But I know what you all mean about that "drape" of skin. I'm very self-conscious about it and feel disfigured, but not enough to undergo major surgery for it. DH assures me that it doesn't bother him, and says "eh, it's just leftover baby cocoon".

Jen

[simonboy'smommy]

Seems to me that everyone is a little different and will get various results. I've wondered about the same thing. I gained 40lbs during pregnancy and lost all but 5lbs of it by the time my son was maybe a year and half old. I think for me it is poorly toned muscles and I'd like to try some of the ideas here to tighten it up before my next preg.

I know I will wear a support belt after the next babe because when I got out of bed the first time after ds was born it felt like I had bricks in my stomach. It just sagged terribly. I think it would just feel so much better with some support!

[pamamidwife]

we're supposed to get rid of that? I use mine as a good shelf carrying our toddler.... It's been 13 years since I birthed a baby, though. I think I weigh the same now as I did when I delivered her.

[cheery]

You can lose MOST of it.

I woudnt have believed this last year but this year I believe.
I started a simple exercise routine of my own, with wrist and ankle weights and various arm and leg movements while lying on my back, sides and flat on my tummy. There is no jumping, or impact on feet / knees. I love it. It takes 15-20 min / day and has made all the difference.

[yogabear]

I LOVED the results I got from Pilates and Yoga, but honestly the absolute best way I've found to get rid of that pouch was to get pregnant again.

[vesper0]

I gained 40-40+ lbs. with each of my pregnancies and I got back into bikini shape. I had to lose all of the weight and do 200 lower and upper ab exercises along with 60-75 oblique ones to get my tummy back in shape---4 or 5 times a week. I got back to a size 0. With each baby it gets worse though. With baby #1, I was able to bounce back within 6 mos. However, after the second baby, I went to put on a pair of old pants that were always big on me and nearly cried...I think I actually did. I didn't realize that while I was growing that baby I was growing my a$$ like a well fed house plant. It took a few years for the skin to look normal after baby #2 and by the time he was five people couldn't tell I had children. I know it seems like a he!!ish long wait and it was. I wore bras to bed when my breast size increased and used underwire nursing bras. Definitely, support the tummy skin, too. I think it helps to support the skin, as well as make you feel better. Make sure you get panties and pants that go up to the waist until it is under control though. When I didn't it looked like I had a muffin top hanging out of my pants. When I wasn't wearing support while trying to get in shape, I felt fat/gross and would fall off the exercise ban wagon and wallow in pity..usually with chocolate to keep me company. I hope that gives you hope. Exercise/diet really helps with the pooch. It was a horribly grueling mission for me to get back in shape, because I really don't like structured exercise although I know some enjoy it.

[LoveChild421]

beats me!

No matter how much weight I lost or how toned I got, I never could loose that little bit of loose skin.

[Nettie]

I agree with all the posts recommending exercise & building/strengthening muscle underneath. There's one thing that hasn't been mentioned, though. Be sure you don't have an abdominal diastasis. During pregnancy, especially one where there was a big weight gain or if you carried far out front, the abdominal muscles above & around your belly button can separate. After pregnancy, they do not go back together on their own, and it causes a pooch. Doing normal crunches or other abdominal work will make the separation worse; you have to do modified abdominal exercises until the separation is closed (or at least lessened).
Here's a link explaining it better.
http://www.mommymuscleblog.com/2005/...sis_do_yo.html
It shows you how to tell if you have the separation, and how to fix it.
I went from 114 to 170 with my 1st baby and also carried him way out front--lo and behold, I had a bad separation afterwards. My midwife checked for & found it at one of my post-partum visits and told me what I needed to do. I did the modified exercises, along with my regular cardio routine and diet, and I eventually lost it all--the separation, the fat, AND almost all of the excess skin--it took about a year of regular, dedicated exercise & diet, though. But I can proudly say that I did end up with a nice 6-pack, AFTER having had a baby and after having had a very flabby, poochy, skin-sagging tummy!

[PapayaVagina]

i just talked to a good friend of mine who is a personal trainer about this same thing a few weeks ago. he said that crunches are absolutely worthless and you have to do some sort of cardio workout and it will eventually catch up as far as the fluff layer goes but that the skin may never return to the way it was before.

i hear ya though...i've lost 80-90 pounds since my dd was born and am much thinner than what i was before i got pregnant and could probably wear a size smaller in pants if i was pouchless . it's got down an amazing amount though since i've lost all that weight.

[SublimeBirthGirl]

Originally Posted by indigo515

photo shop.

LOL! I was gonna say tummy tuck.

[Robinna]

Incidentally, if you're little to begin with (I was 125lbs ppw), the Medela "small" pospartum belt is too big to do any good.

[lifescholar]

I gained close to 90 lbs. while pregnant, and I've got a "jowel belly" (ie. looks like the jowels of a dog! lol).

I found that belly dancing helped a bit, but the results plateaued pretty quickly. My abs are SUPER strong (probably from having to heal after diastasis), but that skin is still there.

I never understood why women would feel the need for a tummy tuck...now I know! lol I plan to have several more kids, so I'll wait until I'm all finished, but then I think I'll be saving up for a tuck!

[holly6737]

Originally Posted by intorainbowz

I'm of the belief that the only way to get rid of it is through a tummy tuck.

Seriously. I've been planning mine since my first baby. As soon as we're done, I'm going under the knife!

[alaskaberry]

best exercises for a post-pregnancy abdomen

I found that link. According to, crunches don't work because they're working the wrong muscles... these are for the transverse muscles. I am going to try it. I gained 80 lbs (50 were water weight) w/ my pregnancy and am currently down to a size 10 in GAP jeans (I don't have a scale so I do it by pant sizes ), so I prolly weigh 170...anyway I have the tummy tire instead of the pooch... let me know if this works for you.

Oh wait, the loose skin...yeah, tummy tuck is the only cure for that apparently. Saving my money...after the next kid. DP doesn't believe me though--I mean, that you need a tuck to get rid of loose skin. Weirdo.

[DoomaYula]

I work at a gym and our lead fitness trainer (teaches 10 cardio/fitness classes a week) has 3 kids. She recently had a tummy tuck. If that's what a trainer does... :

[wombatclay]

I used the "Lose the Mummy Tummy" book by Tupler after dd1 and my belly wasn't "flat" but it was back to normal by a year pp. I haven't had time to do it this time round, but I've been doing a few of the exercises in the shower (the exercises are kind of like kegels and you can do them anywhere) and my belly bulge is getting smaller! They focus mostly on pulling together the diastasis and providing support for all the inner bits that have sagged down/out.

This page has the "pregnancy" version but it's the same basic thing pp (http://www.maternalfitness.com/baks_basics.pdf) and there's the amazon page at http://www.amazon.com/Lose-Mummy-Tum.../dp/0738209813