Why won't it go away????

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Bella151
Bella151 Posts: 123
in Motivation and Support
I am so frustrated right now:mad: I have been working my butt off to get my pre pregnancy body back, and everything else is shaping up EXCEPT, the one thing I truely want to see gone-the belly. I had a C-section 7 months ago, and I am down to 136 pounds (which for my frame is a good weight, still want to lose 9 more lbs.) I just feel like this is useless, because I still have a little pooch that makes me so self conscience.... is anyone else feel this way? Will it ever go away?

Replies

  • JStarnes
    JStarnes Posts: 5,576 Member
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    I feel the same way & I feel like its never goign to go away. But I'm sure you'll get a flood of responses saying it will - but, in the moment, I feel like its my souvenier from my kids. :grumble: like the kind you get from your great grandmother after her trip to the grand canyon. :ohwell:
  • rachi20024
    rachi20024 Posts: 229 Member
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    I do I had my little boy 4 months ago and as I've lost weight I am getting loose skin and my pouch is turning into a W not too attractive! On the good hand I know I can get rid of the butt stomach by continued weight loss and exersize I did it with my 5 year old so I know I can. The pouch can dissappear...and it will:happy:
  • JStarnes
    JStarnes Posts: 5,576 Member
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    I do I had my little boy 4 months ago and as I've lost weight I am getting loose skin and my pouch is turning into a W not too attractive! On the good hand I know I can get rid of the butt stomach by continued weight loss and exersize I did it with my 5 year old so I know I can. The pouch can dissappear...and it will:happy:

    :sad: I have the "W" too!! I hate it.
  • XFitMojoMom
    XFitMojoMom Posts: 3,255 Member
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    From everything I've read and heard, you will never get rid of the pooch unless you resort to cosmetic surgery. I had 2 c-secs, less than 2 years apart and despite all my efforts, the pouch remains (my pouch is more like, the size of an inner tire tho!)
  • lulubenmom
    lulubenmom Posts: 45
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    tell me about it! I had a c-section 15 months ago. I have lost 18 lb's (am now at 124 & 5ft 2). I go to the gym everyday and train with a personal trainer 2 x week (for last 6 months). I went to see my OB/Gyn and asked her if she'd left something in there! This was after someone congratulated me on my new pregnancy! She suggested I see a plastic surgeon about a tummy tuck as I might have separated muscles that won't reconnect.

    I told my trainer and we've been concentrating on more core work and not doing anything that will make the tummy bulge (eg crunches), that will make it worse. It has improved a lot in the last month and looks pretty good if I stand up straight. Forget about it if I sit or bend over, there's a horrible sag.

    So I went to the plastic surgeon and he said the lower abs are 2 finger width seperated, which isn't too bad and that it would be a mini-tummy tuck if I wanted to go ahead. I've decided to keep persevering for another 12 months and reconsider.

    So the exercises I do mostly are planks. Side planks, forearm, hand and many variations of them. I also concentrate on posture and "sucking it in" as much as possible. Oh and lot's of Nivea CoQ10 cream.

    Good luck. Feel free to check in to see how it's going. I've been recording the inches I'm losing on the belly and I lost an inch last month!!!
  • leavinglasvegas
    leavinglasvegas Posts: 1,495
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    I am so frustrated right now:mad: I have been working my butt off to get my pre pregnancy body back, and everything else is shaping up EXCEPT, the one thing I truely want to see gone-the belly. I had a C-section 7 months ago, and I am down to 136 pounds (which for my frame is a good weight, still want to lose 9 more lbs.) I just feel like this is useless, because I still have a little pooch that makes me so self conscience.... is anyone else feel this way? Will it ever go away?

    Is the skin tight? Or do you have a large amount of stretch marks? If the skin was not strected too much and you still have undisturbed amounts of elastin, you can lose it. If the pooch is from sagging skin due to loss of elastin then a tummy tuck would probably be the only thing that will help.
    Try some body wraps to firm the skin in that area and keep working out. Its probably not fat that you need to lose in that area, but I don't know, I'm just guessing. It will not happen quickly but your muscles in that area will do thier job if you keep working them. The wraps will help firm the skin and increase circulation moving out any fatty pockets in the skins layers.

    Look for a wellness center or upscale spa for wraps. Avoid the miracle products that are advertised or the places that claim to reshape your body in just a few treatments. And don't do anything that involves being wrapped in plastic wrap and running on a tredmil:laugh: A real wrap is relaxing and peaceful and you will feel a difference in your tummy.

    Hope that helps.
  • annaliza
    annaliza Posts: 809
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    I do I had my little boy 4 months ago and as I've lost weight I am getting loose skin and my pouch is turning into a W not too attractive! On the good hand I know I can get rid of the butt stomach by continued weight loss and exersize I did it with my 5 year old so I know I can. The pouch can dissappear...and it will:happy:

    :sad: I have the "W" too!! I hate it.

    Lol, I've always called it "the smile"

    Yep, for some of us it will never go away....for the lucky others, it will just take time and effort.
  • rachi20024
    rachi20024 Posts: 229 Member
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    tell me about it! I had a c-section 15 months ago. I have lost 18 lb's (am now at 124 & 5ft 2). I go to the gym everyday and train with a personal trainer 2 x week (for last 6 months). I went to see my OB/Gyn and asked her if she'd left something in there! This was after someone congratulated me on my new pregnancy! She suggested I see a plastic surgeon about a tummy tuck as I might have separated muscles that won't reconnect.

    I told my trainer and we've been concentrating on more core work and not doing anything that will make the tummy bulge (eg crunches), that will make it worse. It has improved a lot in the last month and looks pretty good if I stand up straight. Forget about it if I sit or bend over, there's a horrible sag.

    So I went to the plastic surgeon and he said the lower abs are 2 finger width seperated, which isn't too bad and that it would be a mini-tummy tuck if I wanted to go ahead. I've decided to keep persevering for another 12 months and reconsider.

    So the exercises I do mostly are planks. Side planks, forearm, hand and many variations of them. I also concentrate on posture and "sucking it in" as much as possible. Oh and lot's of Nivea CoQ10 cream.

    Good luck. Feel free to check in to see how it's going. I've been recording the inches I'm losing on the belly and I lost an inch last month!!!

    How did the doctor determine that your abs were 2 finger widths apart and how can I test my abs?
  • XFitMojoMom
    XFitMojoMom Posts: 3,255 Member
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    Lulu you sound a lot like me. One thing I noticed is that my skin and belly above the incision still feels numb. When I asked my doctor about it he said it's likely the nerves never really reattached and that area may be "dead". From all accounts though, I've heard dead skin turns black, and mine is still quite flesh colored :tongue:
    I've been on this journey since November of 2008. I lost 24 pounds quite easily, but have since stalled and been stalled since January. I hired a PT in Feb, worked out with him 3 x/wk, then 2, now once a week and nothing has changed on the scale - although my measurements have, which leads me to believe that I've lost the inner fat (around my organs etc..) but not the outter fat.
    I'm going to see this through to the end of the year, but if I'm still stalled, my husband agreed that I can go see someone and get advice on a tummy tuck or lipo. He sees first hand how hard I work out and he doesn't get why I haven't dropped a pound over the last 9 months.
  • rachi20024
    rachi20024 Posts: 229 Member
    Options
    I do I had my little boy 4 months ago and as I've lost weight I am getting loose skin and my pouch is turning into a W not too attractive! On the good hand I know I can get rid of the butt stomach by continued weight loss and exersize I did it with my 5 year old so I know I can. The pouch can dissappear...and it will:happy:

    :sad: I have the "W" too!! I hate it.

    Lol, I've always called it "the smile"

    Yep, for some of us it will never go away....for the lucky others, it will just take time and effort.
    :laugh: :laugh: That's awesome!
  • proctor0828
    proctor0828 Posts: 179
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    It's does go away, you just have to work on it... It takes time... expecially if you've had a c section. They cut through muscle so you have to rebuild that muscle and train it to flatten... you can do it.
  • staceyw37
    staceyw37 Posts: 2,094 Member
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    nice to see good, solid replies. there is no magic way to get rid of it. stretch marks and elastin and collagen, etc, are genetic. you get what you get.

    just so you know, it's not always from c-sxns. i have had 3 kids and no c's and youngest is 2 3/4 y.o. and i still have some pooch (some fat and some skin). will have to see when i get to goals and have really worked on core to determine what remains.
    my 2nd child gave me stretch marks and my 3rd gave me a spare tire shape. :tongue:

    my sister waited 17 yrs to get her tummy tuck. she gained so much pg wt and was otherwise thin and just had all this extra skin she'd have to tuck into her clothes. (i'll admit it was kinda icky). and then she finally had a tummy tuck as that was the ONLY way to get the extra skin gone.
    bear in mind tho, that tummy tuck is a major surgery with long recovery time.

    congratulations to us all on becoming mommies and the amazing gifts from our bodies! :heart:
  • jljohnson
    jljohnson Posts: 719 Member
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    Bella - I feel your pain! I was the same way. I had a c-section and was down to 132. I still had some of the pooch, but it really was starting to go away. Definitely not a bikini body, but I was starting to get there. I definitely recommend strength training at this point. Reverse crunches, and lots of ab work in general will help. Pregnancy in general and a c-section to boot really messes with your ab muscles, so it takes a lot of work to get them back. (Oh, and don't watch the scale as much... I sat at the same weight for 2 months, but went from a size 6 to a size 4 while I was doing this). I had a lot of stretch marks too. I posted a similar concern early on, and a lot of people told me that it really does take time... like YEARS, if you don't want to resort to a tummy tuck.

    I like the idea of a wrap... I'm definitely going to try it after this baby.
  • birgit
    birgit Posts: 3
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    ... my pouch is turning into a W ...

    Awww, "the W"! Now I have a name for it (going to try to pretend I did not read "butt stomach"!). So sad. The W is one of the things I've been using as an excuse not to lose weight, as I'm 99% sure mine will be there even after I reach my goal weight.

    But bella, given your age, that fact that this is baby #1, and your fitness levels both pre and post pregnancy, I think you have a very good chance of losing it. Give yourself a little more time for everything to come back on line.
  • lulubenmom
    lulubenmom Posts: 45
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    the doctor had me lay back and then he felt the edges of the muscles and the gap in between them
  • lulubenmom
    lulubenmom Posts: 45
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    proctor0828


    Joined Apr 2009

    Posts: 153
    Fri 09/11/09 07:51 AMIt's does go away, you just have to work on it... It takes time... expecially if you've had a c section. They cut through muscle so you have to rebuild that muscle and train it to flatten... you can do it.


    Starting weight: 169 lbs.


    ...How??? And how old are you? I think it's a lot harder the older you are....
  • lulubenmom
    lulubenmom Posts: 45
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    the doctor had me lay back and then he felt the edges of the muscles and the gap in between them
  • lulubenmom
    lulubenmom Posts: 45
    Options
    proctor0828


    Joined Apr 2009

    Posts: 153
    Fri 09/11/09 07:51 AMIt's does go away, you just have to work on it... It takes time... expecially if you've had a c section. They cut through muscle so you have to rebuild that muscle and train it to flatten... you can do it.


    Starting weight: 169 lbs.


    ...

    How? And how old are you, as I think it's easier the younger you are.

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