Why does your stomach from having babies take forever to lose??

What are your stats? Height weight etc?

Ok and height and age?

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach

Also as an active 5'4, 28 year old at 135 pounds: You're at a normal weight BMI and it's going to take a lot of time to take off any fat. According to the TDEE calculator I use, it appears you could eat another ~200 calories a day and still lose weight. Slow and steady is the key on so-called vanity pounds. Maintain as much LBM as possible.

And give yourself a break; you've had your stomach stretched and re-stretched 4 times in a pretty short period of time (assumption based on your age). It's likely the stomach you see is loose skin, may just need to wait it out to see if it shrinks.

It does take a long time for many of us but let's be serious--you've been at this for three weeks. That is hardly forever.

My thought is that your skin is all stretched out. The subcutaneous fat is spread all over that stretched out skin. The skin is not going to retract/shrink much until the fat cells shrink. Think of a stick of butter softened and then spread thin all over the surface area of that stretched out skin. It takes four sticks of butter to equal a pound and how many would it take to make a 1/4" or 1/2" or 1" layer all over your belly? Plus, you're losing fat from other places too, not just on your belly. That's why it takes so long.

GracieLeephillips wrote: »

My youngest is five:) I got all boys lol so they are half my workout lol and so is loose skin from babies is that even fixable on your own?

Skin? No. Over time it may shrink up, appear tighter as it gets pulled from shrinking your overall physique.
Some may be skin, some may be fat.
What is your goal weight?

strong_curves wrote: »

I don't think it's just from having babies. There are lots of women who haven't had kids yet that have this issue.

It gets a lot worse after having babies...in general.
My kids are 6 and 8...I've lost 97 lbs since having them and I still have a lot of sagging skin and fat on my belly. Not sure it's ever going away.

Bah. My tummy was FINE after my daughter was born, but now, 10 years later, it's definitely my trouble spot. I'm fairly proportionate all over, except for my tummy, which on a bad day, looks pregnant. I don't have any advice, just wanted to commiserate. It pisses me off. They're all like, "oh, you have to lose the fat to reveal the kick-*kitten* ab muscles underneath." Dude, I'm fairly certain that I could lose ALL the fat and this dumb pooch would still be here. Hiding my six-pack.

MommyMeggo wrote: »

GracieLeephillips wrote: »

120 is my goal..:)

Are you doing any strength training?

+1

GracieLeephillips wrote: »

I'm bout to start weight training this week and try that.. It just sucks that the world has a certain way a woman should look..having babies does alot on your body and it is a beautiful thing, but people don't see that..I do alot of sit ups everyday when I can..but like some of you I just don't think that excersising will fix that "baby pouch" I drink about 10-12 bottles of water a day and drink meal replacement shakes instead of eating and still no tummy shrinkage..everywhere else is but not the dang ol tummy lol..and that tummy tuck sounds amazing but expensive and scary:)

To be fair, I think that a lot of the "the world has a certain way we should look" stuff is hogwash. The majority of women and mean who have been pregnant or overweight understand that stretched stomach skin and its associated subcutaneous fat are extremely challenging. It's also hidden most of the time. I'm not saying it's not annoying and disheartening--it can be and I struggle a lot with my body image because of it. But that is self-inflicted struggle and drama. It's not due to societal beauty standards. My husband tells me regularly that I'm sexy and beautiful and besides him, I'm the only person who I try to look good for. It's my own dislike of what I see that makes me a head case about the stomach, not anybody else.

jemhh wrote: »

To be fair, I think that a lot of the "the world has a certain way we should look" stuff is hogwash. The majority of women and mean who have been pregnant or overweight understand that stretched stomach skin and its associated subcutaneous fat are extremely challenging. It's also hidden most of the time. I'm not saying it's not annoying and disheartening--it can be and I struggle a lot with my body image because of it. But that is self-inflicted struggle and drama. It's not due to societal beauty standards. My husband tells me regularly that I'm sexy and beautiful and besides him, I'm the only person who I try to look good for. It's my own dislike of what I see that makes me a head case about the stomach, not anybody else.

I get what you're trying to say, but even if it is just in your head in your opinion, you are still certainly influenced by society. Most social pressure is internalized to this degree (nobody is going to outright comment on someone else's tummy) but that doesn't mean it's not there.

But on the subject, I know very, very thin mothers who have never had a weight problem in their life and they have a little tummy years after pregnancy. I think it can take a loooong time to disappear and depending on your genetics it might never go away completely. You can try to work on it but should also try to make peace with it on some level.

GracieLeephillips wrote: »

I'm bout to start weight training this week and try that.. It just sucks that the world has a certain way a woman should look..having babies does alot on your body and it is a beautiful thing, but people don't see that..I do alot of sit ups everyday when I can..but like some of you I just don't think that excersising will fix that "baby pouch" I drink about 10-12 bottles of water a day and drink meal replacement shakes instead of eating and still no tummy shrinkage..everywhere else is but not the dang ol tummy lol..and that tummy tuck sounds amazing but expensive and scary:)

I've definitely reached an acceptance that I won't be wearing a bikini anytime soon! I carried 4 babies in that belly and it's amazing so I truly don't care if it looks perfect. All I care about is being fit and healthy and I've definitely accomplished that. I do this for me, not other people.