For moms with more than one kid....

MariaLivingFit
MariaLivingFit Posts: 224 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
For those moms out there with 2 kids (or more!) I'd love to hear your stories about if-when-how you lost the "mommy pouch". Was it mostly diet, or mostly core exercises that helped? How soon after giving birth did you really start trying to lose it? Any before and after pics?

My youngest is 2, but I didn't really start trying to lose the tummy until a couple months ago. This is the only part of my body I'm not happy with. I'd love to hear your successes (or struggles) with this.

Thanks!

Replies

  • tabbykat6802
    tabbykat6802 Posts: 233 Member
    I have 3 wonderful boys and 1 angelbaby. I ended up having to deliver my boys by c-section(and 2 DNC for Elliott), so my pouch is enormous-at least to me. I am thinking that it will never go away. Any help/ideas and supportive people would be much appreciated.
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    I'm no help. I had a mini-tuck to lop off the extra skin.
  • simplythefreakingbest
    simplythefreakingbest Posts: 109
    this is the one area i really want to work on!!

    I had my first by section 2nd vbac I've heard you can never totally get rid of it but then seen some people loose weight and it really go down to almost flat???

    bon xx
  • ErinRibbens
    ErinRibbens Posts: 370 Member
    I have had 2 c-sections, and also gained way too much weight with both pregnancies. I have pretty bad diastasis recti and thought for sure my tummy wasn't going anywhere despite the fact that I've been at my goal weight (actually under!) for a couple months. I started weight lifting as opposed to just doing cardio and it has gotten SO much better. Diet definitely got rid of the fat but it took heavy lifting to get the muscles pulled back to where they were supposed to be. I do the stronglifts program. Oh, and my youngest is 15 months.

    Unfortunately I have a TON of stretch marks so my skin doesn't look good, but my stomach is much, much flatter.
  • nursenikki829
    nursenikki829 Posts: 432 Member
    I lost pretty much all of my "pouch" and 60 lbs. Now there is just mostly loose skin and stretch marks from my big babies! I have three kids, and my youngest is going to be 2 in January. I have never had any c- sections, though. Mine were all born naturally, but I still wasn't exempt from getting a mommy pooch! I lost mainly through cardio, strength training and clean eating. Feel free to friend request me and check out my diary! And here is the link to my story with some pics! Good luck, it isn't easy, but it is so worth it!
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/743481-finally-the-person-that-i-want-to-be-60-lbs-later-pics
  • mvasallo
    mvasallo Posts: 57
    I'm crossing my fingers that this is a possibilty, I have yet to see it done though... :frown:
  • SheilaN1976
    SheilaN1976 Posts: 266 Member
    my kids are 19, 16 and 10...and i still have yet to lose my pouch!
  • daynalee30
    daynalee30 Posts: 45
    I was 220 lbs at 9 months pregnant with my first, had a c-section.. lost all the weight and within a year I was 120lbs.. I was fit but still had the little "pouch" it just shrunk but it never went away. Because it's loose skin, I figured there is nothing you can do to make it go away except a mini tuck. :( I too have an almost two year old now, another c-section, and don't see that pouch going anywhere. If anyone ever comes up with a solution, I'd love to know! But for right now, clothes and dresses with ruching seem to be the answer!
  • mvasallo
    mvasallo Posts: 57
    I lost pretty much all of my "pouch" and 60 lbs. Now there is just mostly loose skin and stretch marks from my big babies! I have three kids, and my youngest is going to be 2 in January. I have never had any c- sections, though. Mine were all born naturally, but I still wasn't exempt from getting a mommy pooch! I lost mainly through cardio, strength training and clean eating. Feel free to friend request me and check out my diary! And here is the link to my story with some pics! Good luck, it isn't easy, but it is so worth it!
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/743481-finally-the-person-that-i-want-to-be-60-lbs-later-pics

    Love your pictures!
  • twinkychops
    twinkychops Posts: 228 Member
    I have two children, age 10 and 5 and have only recently started to loose weight, both of the kids were born by emergency c section and i had months and months of infections and split stitches etc.. ( sorry if tmi!) I was scared to do my stomach exercises after all that and now have a huge overhang and after I've lost some more weight I'll be looking to see what I can do about the flabby skin! Any tips here would be appreciated too!
  • MariaLivingFit
    MariaLivingFit Posts: 224 Member
    Thanks for all your responses so far! I'm always amazed when I see pictures of women who have had multiple kids, but have a flat tummy. How did they do it???? We need to know their secrets ;-)
  • sdm242
    sdm242 Posts: 8 Member
    I think it's just genetics. I have two children, ages 9 and 12. When pregnant, I gained in the recommended range for both (25-30 lb). Don't hate me, but within 8 weeks of giving birth my stomach was back to being flat. I figure I got off easy as far as my stomach is concerned but my boobs (and lack thereof) are another story.
  • luvmypwds
    luvmypwds Posts: 81
    I don't have any before pics, but you can see the after pics in my profile. I have 3 boys, 8, 5, and 1.5. I had no trouble at all getting my flat stomach back, but keep in mind that genes play a large part here. My parents are both naturally stick thin, and I am also naturally lean and thin. Having said that, I do LOVE running, so I run quite a bit, which helps. But what gave me really nice abs was pilates. I was doing it 5 times a week, no cardio, when I took those photos in my profile. I've stopped the pilates (circumstance changed - I went back to work, etc.), but am now training for a half-marathon. I try to eat healthy just b/c I want to be healthy, but I am not obssessive about it. For example, the last two nights I had to go out for dinner and I don't care that I go over my daily calorie "allotment".
  • luvmypwds
    luvmypwds Posts: 81
    I also should add that I gained very little weight during my 3 pregnancies - we're talking 12-15 pounds, and only 11 with the third as he showed up 6 weeks early. So i have no loose skin, etc. That definitely helps.
  • MariaLivingFit
    MariaLivingFit Posts: 224 Member
    Yes, I would agree that genetics plays a large part. I was just so disappointed to not lose the pouch after the 2nd because I had lost it after my 1st....
  • pinknecessarily
    pinknecessarily Posts: 4
    it's mostly genetics, but the more weight you gain during pregnancy, the harder it is to get that flat tummy. Mine was flat again after my son via c-section, but then I was heavier when I got pregnant with my daughter, then I gained more weight with her than I ever gained with my first. She was also a c-section, but I've put on twenty pounds since I had her (mostly Reese's peanut butter cups during a year of ppd). I'm hoping it will go flat again, but it's hard to tell how much damage I've done this early in the game.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    I've got 2 kids - my son is 3 and my daughter is 16 months. Both were born naturally (i didn't even need stitches - thankyou childbearing hips :smile: ) I went back to the gym when each was 7 weeks old, and I lost pretty much all the weight after the first before getting pregnant with the 2nd, but 2nd time I put on lots of weight.

    I'm smaller now than when I got pregnant with my son, but I still have that lower stomach fat/loose skin. I've heard that it can take 2 years for your body to return to normal. I've never had a totally flat stomach anyway, but I'm hoping that in the next few months it'll get smaller and smaller!

    I think genetics makes a difference, as does age. The older you are, the less elasticity your skin has. I was 31 when I had my son and 33 when I had my daughter.
  • Shelbert79
    Shelbert79 Posts: 510 Member
    I have 4, youngest will be 2 tomorrow. Can't say I've lost the pouch yet but it's getting smaller.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,286 Member
    I'm no help. I had a mini-tuck to lop off the extra skin.

    this. even though I lost the weight, and the pouch seemed to go away while standing, the extra skin was undeniable when I sat or bent over. I had a tummy tuck when my youngest was 6 months old, best thing I ever did!
  • Jes_ika
    Jes_ika Posts: 72 Member
    I have two boys 2 and 4 and they make it so hard to workout on a regular basis so I still have a pouch.
  • bushidowoman
    bushidowoman Posts: 1,599 Member
    I have six (no c-sections), and I was pleased with the progress I was making with my mommy pouch...before I got pregnant again. :laugh: At least I'm hopeful this time--if I got it off after six, I can do it again! My before and after pics are here:
    http://bushidomama.blogspot.com/p/my-journey-to-healthy-mind-body-and.html

    After baby #6, I started exercising as soon as the midwife gave me the OK--six weeks? Cardio for awhile, then eventually I started adding weights and core exercises like planks.
  • MotorCityFemmeFatale
    MotorCityFemmeFatale Posts: 222 Member
    6 children. It's not genetics for me, I come from an overweight/obese family and am an easy fat gainer. The "secret" is 75%-80% diet (I was strict with whole foods and macros of 40/40/20 for the weight drop) and the other in sweat, mostly from lifting hard and heavy. From the time I became really serious and stopped trying to fool myself, it took a full year.
  • blackiris49
    blackiris49 Posts: 128 Member
    I too have 6 children, 24,23,22,20,16 and 10. After the first I was hypothyroid (still am). With the last (at the age of 41) I had to have bed rest for two months because of bleeding due to a low placenta followed by a c-section a month early (healthy 3.5kg boy).:smile:
    With a total of almost 3 months inactivity my muscle strength was almost non existent. Thankfully I hadn't put a lot of weight on so I just had to concentrate on fitness. Problem is bad stretch marks and a 'mommy apron' which refuses to go. As everyone seems to agree, genes.

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