Having Babies is no Excuse

sl1ngsh0t

I love hearing stories from other moms who have been able to get fit and shapely. I have 1 kid, born 13 years ago. I never lost the hanging skin and the extra weight around my midsection. I'm seeing improvement, and don't know if my stomach area will ever really look better, but the more I see stories about moms who were able to tone that area and look great, the more I feel it is possible for me, too. I just have to stick with my diet & exercise plan.

Thanks for posting!

aj_31

I love hearing stories from other moms who have been able to get fit and shapely. I have 1 kid, born 13 years ago. I never lost the hanging skin and the extra weight around my midsection. I'm seeing improvement, and don't know if my stomach area will ever really look better, but the more I see stories about moms who were able to tone that area and look great, the more I feel it is possible for me, too. I just have to stick with my diet & exercise plan.

Thanks for posting!

I'm in the same boat.

TinkrBelz

I love hearing stories from other moms who have been able to get fit and shapely. I have 1 kid, born 13 years ago. I never lost the hanging skin and the extra weight around my midsection. I'm seeing improvement, and don't know if my stomach area will ever really look better, but the more I see stories about moms who were able to tone that area and look great, the more I feel it is possible for me, too. I just have to stick with my diet & exercise plan.

Thanks for posting!

It may not look perfect, but I do believe that it can look better. So you are doing great...just stick to you diet and exercise plan!!!!

mama4fitness

I'm a mommy of 4 and my body has been through alot. I got up to 208 lbs. with my last pregnancy!!! It's so crazy to think I was that big. My first 2 kids are 11 1/2 months apart. So, that means when my first baby was 2 1/2 mos. old I became pregnant with my 2nd. My body had no time to recover. I was so fat during those 2 pregnancies. I tandem nursed both of them for over a year and I know that is what helped alot with me losing most of the weight. We then had my 3rd baby and I got to about 183 lbs. And like I said I reached 208 lbs. with my last one. I'm busy with 4 kids, but it's after I get them in bed each night that I make myself go to our gym 20 min. away. I get home late every night, but to me, my health is worth it. It's also my natural antidepressant. I can't imagine trying to keep up with my 4 kids if I didn't workout. I have lots of energy to share with them and I'm silly and dance with them every day. Being a fit mom is being a fun mom!! Thank you for writing this thread!!

tarak83

I was a single / working full time out of the home mother by the time my youngest was 1 (and even with the ex there he worked opposit shifts, so not available if I wanted to hit the gym or whatever). To this day I cannot count on the ex for child care etc, physically he is just not there for them on a regularly scheduled basis.

I just wanted to point out that you don't need a gym membership to lose weight or get in shape. :-)

I'm a single mom of 4 & 5 year old little girls living thousands of miles away from family support and have a lazy ex-husband who only does the minimal. I'm also working and studying. To say my time is stretched is an understatement, but I'm making it happen because there is no excuse.

There are SO many ways to get exercise without going to a gym.
I walk my little girl to school while pushing my 4 year old in the stroller... a mile there.. a mile home.. twice a day.. five days a week rain/shine/snow. That's 20 miles under my belt.

I got some inexpensive adjustable dumbbells off of Amazon and lift weights 3 days a week... I've only been doing the weights for 3 weeks, but holy cow what a difference that has made already. After I lift, I spend 20 minutes alternating running in place, doing jumping jacks, and 'jumping rope' without the rope. I just pulled on a pair of jeans this morning that I ordered a month and a half ago and couldn't even get over my thighs.

Youtube is my best friend when it comes to workout videos.... there are so many on there. I put the kids to bed... do some cardio.. study for a bit.. then pass out feeling amazing. It truly does wonders for stress.

If I can do it... anyone can.

theartichoke

You look wonderful and you're right. My youngest is Autistic and there were legitimate physical reasons I didn't think I could start this journey. Those reasons became excuses. I had to decide that was unacceptable for myself. Thank you for sharing your success and for the motivation!

FitSuga

Great inspiration! I don't want people to say I look great for having had 4 kids, I want to look great, period!

My first two children are exactly one year apart. I bounced back like I was made for it. But, 3 years later I got pregnant with twins and the weight just packed on. Stretch marks. Then I was on bed rest for the majority of it. Ended up having an emergency c-section and we lost one of our babies. So needless to say I was depressed for a while and had no interest in really even trying to get myself back in shape. 3 months later my husband had to leave for the military just to add to it. Ever since my stomach has never been the same. A little more than a year later we had our last child. After a while I realized I had run out of excuses and that I needed to stop and do it for me. Hopefully will achieve a nice slim belly!

va_va_voom

Great thread.

Any ladies who have had success with taking off weight and getting back into shape after multiple pregnancies, please share what exercises you did to help tone your abs.

I am trying to be patient with my body as I am only 11 weeks PP after having my fourth, but I want my flat[ter] tummy back again.

va_va_voom

I don't want people to say I look great for having had 4 kids, I want to look great, period!

Great point!

SexyCook

Inspiring for those with and without kids...Excellent job!

Tvandevoir27

Wow - this is a post I NEEDED to read today. I just had my 3rd baby 8 months ago and I am feeling very frustrated with getting the weight off. I refuse to give up, but I have been feeling down the last few days, mainly because for the 2nd week in a row the scale has not moved when I weighed in. I often look at myself in the mirror and think "wow - I look pregnant, this is depressing." Reading and seeing your success after having twice as many babies as me was the motivation I needed. THANK YOU for sharing and I sure hope to have the same success as you some day!

Kerri_is_so_very

I think everyone does what they can as they can. I can't imagine any mother saying "I want to be fat and unhealthy". So many factors drive why someone can or cannot stick to a program (whatever it may be, at home, youtube, a gym, walking kids to school, whatever). The choice/lifestyle whatever you want to call it must come from the person. It is usually a defining moment when a light bulb goes off and something clicks. If we are lucky, we get it on board. Some people miss the boat though and that's ok. We all have one life to live....it is what you make it.

nroisland

Great post! I've had two babies in 2 years and my body has seen better days. Now that am in my early 30's the weight isn't coming off as easily as it did in my 20's. But I make time to workout almost everyday at naptime. I have no time to make it to the gym so I purchased (a little every few months) an elliptical, weights, DVDs and after 6 or so months I am finally seeing results.

Biggest thing that has worked for me: not giving up! I will see my old body back!

Sh0ewh0re7_BlingItOn

I APPLAUD YOU, op...and could not agree more!!!!!!!

You look fab, by the way!

erineddy81

OMG!!! I love this post!! Although I only have 2 boys, 11 and 7. I believe my highest weight was between 230 and 240. And let me tell you on 5'3" that is not a good look. Now when I am out and about running errands, people comment about how I look so good that I can't possibly have kids. I take it as a bit of a left handed compliment. Just because you have kids you have to let yourself go??? I am now hovering right around 130, and that is a muscular 130 at that ( I absolutely love my heavy weights ) And I lost it the real way, with some discipline and hard work. And I get so frustrated when I hear my friends make excuses as to why they just can't possibly lose the weight, and I'm just thinking, you have to put in the time and effort to get the reward. I can't stand excuses, that is probably why I will never be able to be a physical trainer lol. You can only give someone the tools and information, you can not give them the motivation. Sorry, this post turned out to be more of a rant

TinkrBelz

That is why I posted what I said and pictures. I know that if I had not kicked my butt into gear, I would weigh more and have less muscle mass because after 40, a woman can lose 1/2lb muscle/year!!

I noticed that for some reason my original post, the pictures are huge and not showing. So, I will post some of them individually.

8 months pregnant with 6th child


1 year later after birth of 6th child



Side view almost 2 years later (almost 3 years after birth of 6th child)


Front view almost 2 years later (almost 3 years after birth of 6th child)

TamekaJ1

I really needed to read this today to stay motivated...NO more excuses!

JennC831

You look great!!! I'm trying to get into shape so that when I do get pregnant, I'll be able to keep it up...

qtiekiki

You look absolutely amazing. Having babies is definitely no excuse.

supermom2002

You're awesome. this is a great post. People will always find excuses and take the easy way out. Having children is just one more excuse!

I know lots of moms who worked their a$$es off and look smoking hot. It all depends on how badly you want something.

I WILL look that good at 42!!

yeah--i'm a single mom-have been since the day she was born. I also worked full time, school full time and mom full time and yet i didn't use that as an excuse. I got jiggly because i was lazy. period.

nothing better than some young 20 something guy hitting on you and then says "STFU there's no way you have a kid"