Does This Uterus Make My Stomach Look Fat?

GottaBurnEmAll · August 2018

I had the idea to paint over my underwear. I'm 56, and had a baby when I was 40. I have a lot of loose skin on my abdomen and a forward tilting uterus.

BMI 22.7
BF% No idea really, my loose skin makes it hard to tell. Somewhere around 25-27%
Two pregnancies

Primary form of exercise is walking, with light bodyweight workouts added three times a week. I have done running and worked with weights in the past and had to stop due to medical issues.

This is relaxed, bad posture:

This is standing at a good angle, with good posture, flexing and wearing compression shorts pulled up:

middlehaitch · August 2018

OK, I'm back. Had to do a few extra pics then play at editing on my small iPhone

Just turned 65 on the 10th August so did take a few pics to celebrate.

Age: 65

BMI: 19.5

BF%: ? Guessing 22-25?

All my fat is in my abdomen as you are going to see.

Number of Pregnancies: 1 (45years ago)

Medical Conditions affecting appearance: none (well, slightly wonky leg with a big dent where the femur popped through, but we ignore that)

Primary form of exercise: at the moment, virtually none(walking and bodyweight). We had a number of family medical emergencies over the past ~18 month where I have had to travel and stay away from home for months at a time. I say I'm doing a recomp, decomp, maintenance, cycle.

Preferred exercise: when life is 'normal' lifting x3, plus a variety of classes, walking, yoga.

Length of time exercising: 10 years. I started exercising at 54 (cal counting too) with aqua fit.
I used to hate exercise, now it is a mild dislike.
I have run the gamut of classes just to keep me going, so well versed in a lot of things, proficient at none.

Me on my 65th birthday in my birthday suit (new bikini inspired by @quiksylver296' blue one) as normal a posture as possible when taking pics

Same day poor posture.

Belly pics. With the skills of a contortionist, or so it felt, a sharpei clinging to my belly as I plank.

I have a B belly, just what everyone dreams of when that is also where they carry all their excess fat there. Here is it sat- dressed it can swallow a belt.

And, lastly, here I am, just snaps.

Got to add, I am extremely healthy, take no meds, and love my body for what it can do and how it looks.

Cheers, h.

PennyP312 · August 2018

Haha Mom23mangos! 5th pregnancy and my uterus has totally given up 🤣

peggym4640 · August 2018

I could not love this thread more. Thank you to all the women posting and sharing. You are fabulous. I'm not at a normal BMI but will participate when I get there - even though I don't have a uterus anymore. I've finally learned at 50 to love and appreciate my body and all it does for me. I'm so thankful and much love to everyone fighting the good fight every day!!!

Cahgetsfit · August 2018

Third effing time lucky posting on here gah!

Recap- great thread yeay awesome loved looking at it and all the real people thanks for sharing!!

Me:
168cm 62kg BF% around 22 id say at the moment. 1 kid. Effed up uterus (backward and it also fell out when I gave birth). No other issues apart from loving food.

Pics:
-Normal me a few days ago front and sides (my undies are bigger than my bikinis so don’t go deleting my posts due to inappropriate attire 🙄)
-pinching the flab and sitting down
-sucking guts in and posing
-relaxed laughing

Cahgetsfit · August 2018

Eh looks like one didn’t come up and they also came up in wrong order. Not a fan of the forums using phone app.
The one flexing the abs is when I was 60kg. If I drop a couple of kilos things happen.

AnnPT77 · August 2018

Thread needs additional aging, so this will be 60ish, lowish normal BMI, strong/active but not particularly muscular. (Apologies for before & after, which you didn't ask for - the raw afters are lost somewhere on an old hard drive backup, not on my current laptop).

BMI or Height/Weight/Bone Structure: Around 5'5", weights below.
BF%: Dunno.
Number of Pregnancies: 0
Medical Conditions affecting appearance: None that I know of, other than the weight loss/skin thing. Oh, and the bilateral mastectomies, I suppose.
Primary form of exercise: Mostly rowing, on water in summer (lots), machine in winter (not lots); twice a week spin class; desultory weight lifting in off season.
Number of years doing aforementioned exercise: Rowing for about 15 years, spinning for slightly less. Some other stuff earlier and overlapping - aerobics, yoga, and whatnot, over the past 18.

Photos are around my heaviest (180s, BMI 30-31ish), a long time back (probably age 45-50, so in early/mid 2000s?), as compared with near my lowest recent weight right after weight loss so I still look pretty haggard in the face and I think skin has tightened up some since (weight about 120, BMI 20, age 60) . . . in all the same clothes. (I think old me has slightly better posture than younger me; I think I was trying to stand up straight, but not sucking in or tightening abs.) Were there other poses, I do have the B belly and the post-weight-loss shar-pei if I plank.

quoteloveunquote · August 2018

Love this! Thanks to all you women posting! I'm 5 pregnancies/2 c-sections+a bonus abdominal surgery in, and it's great to have a realistic idea of where I might end up so I can focus on being proud of the work I'm putting in instead of how not social-media-ready my body feels.

jennacole12 · August 2018

I love this thread!!! Just about to cross the Norma threshold.... will post soon 😁

Faebert · August 2018

This is really important. I have two young daughters and I’m so worried about the impact ‘perfect’ pictures on social media will have on their confidence and self-image when so much of it is a lie. So me:

39yrs old
BMI: 18.3
BF: ? 16% at a Dexa in May
Number of pregnancies: 2 (7 and 9 years ago)
Medical conditions: 0
Primary exercise: Home workout circuit type exercise (bodyweight, light dumbbells and cardio) and hot yoga - about 10 hours a week
Number of years doing exercise: 5, although volume and intensity has increase over the years.

Hopefully these pics work but this is with bad posture/pushing out stomach then flexing, and I’ve thrown in a colour edit to the flexed ones to show how that can also trick the eye!!

Faebert · August 2018

Oh, and I couldn’t possibly get a picture of it, but when I look down at my stomach hanging/ belly button when I’m in a plank it makes me think of the mouth in Edvard Munch painting ‘The Scream’...

mom23mangos · August 2018

Faebert wrote: »

Oh, and I couldn’t possibly get a picture of it, but when I look down at my stomach hanging/ belly button when I’m in a plank it makes me think of the mouth in Edvard Munch painting ‘The Scream’...

Bwahaha!!! I just took a pic of my plank belly last night and now all I can see is The Scream.

MushroomLadyJR · August 2018

I just want to thank you all for posting. I hope I will be as brave as you all some day.

I've lost over 140 pounds. I still have around 15 or 20 to go. I am not happy with my body really and I feel very insecure with my partner. He loves me, but he's made comments that have at times, made me sad.

I am going to rededicate myself to strength training and exercise in hopes of gaining self esteem and good health.

Again, thank you to all you lovely ladies. You are an inspiration.

TavistockToad · August 2018

i love this thread... it makes me thing that

a) i have really bad posture (help....?)
b) i need to learn how to pose for my next set of 'after' photos!!!

Gaygirl2120 · August 2018

Age: 37
BMI or Height/Weight/Bone Structure: 5’4 145 pounds
BF%: N/A
Number of Pregnancies: 1
Primary form of exercise: Weight lifting & cardio
Number of years doing aforementioned exercise: 6

Gaygirl2120 · August 2018

kdbulger · August 2018

I'm still overweight but I would love to later show or see how a c-section scar can affect bellies. For me, I had no real "flap" or apron from my scar until after my next pregnancy. It's normal but many women find it hard to reconcile.

VUA21 · August 2018

As soon as the swelling goes down from surgery, I am definitely going to add to this. Bookmarked!!!

shadow2soul · August 2018

kdbulger wrote: »

I'm still overweight but I would love to later show or see how a c-section scar can affect bellies. For me, I had no real "flap" or apron from my scar until after my next pregnancy. It's normal but many women find it hard to reconcile.

I’ve had 2 C-sections.

This is the lower half of my abdomen that you couldn’t see in yesterday’s pics.

sardelsa · August 2018

I love this thread!

Age: 34
BMI: 21.2
Height/Weight: 5'7", 135lbs
BF%: 20-22% (estimated)
Number of Pregnancies: 2
Primary form of exercise: Lifting, yoga
Number of years doing aforementioned exercise: 4 years

Left side is standing up straight, good posture. Right is slouched and relaxed.

quiksylver296 · August 2018

middlehaitch wrote: »

OK, I'm back. Had to do a few extra pics then play at editing on my small iPhone

Just turned 65 on the 10th August so did take a few pics to celebrate.

Age: 65

BMI: 19.5

BF%: ? Guessing 22-25?

All my fat is in my abdomen as you are going to see.

Number of Pregnancies: 1 (45years ago)

Medical Conditions affecting appearance: none (well, slightly wonky leg with a big dent where the femur popped through, but we ignore that)

Primary form of exercise: at the moment, virtually none(walking and bodyweight). We had a number of family medical emergencies over the past ~18 month where I have had to travel and stay away from home for months at a time. I say I'm doing a recomp, decomp, maintenance, cycle.

Preferred exercise: when life is 'normal' lifting x3, plus a variety of classes, walking, yoga.

Length of time exercising: 10 years. I started exercising at 54 (cal counting too) with aqua fit.
I used to hate exercise, now it is a mild dislike.
I have run the gamut of classes just to keep me going, so well versed in a lot of things, proficient at none.

Me on my 65th birthday in my birthday suit (new bikini inspired by @quiksylver296' blue one) as normal a posture as possible when taking pics

<<snipped pics>>

Got to add, I am extremely healthy, take no meds, and love my body for what it can do and how it looks.

Cheers, h.

@middlehaitch You are awesome! The bolded really made me smile.

Speaking of the blue bikini... I've never had "abs" in my life, but good angles and lighting make it look like I have.

mom23mangos · August 2018

@SCoil123 - I loved your IG post. Thank you for sharing that. I'm so glad that you are learning to love your body for its strengths.

@GottaBurnEmAll - great example of how the clothes we wear can give different impressions.

@middlehaitch - even with everything going on in your life recently, your recomp looks amazing. And you win the award for best formatting. :P You beat me to the plank pic. I added one last night. Thanks to you and @AnnPT77 for representing the 60's decade with style and class. You guys are inspirational.

@Cahgetsfit - you crack me up and you look fantastic. Love all the different angles and poses. I think it's great that people can see that as fit as you are, you still have a bit of a curve to your abdomen. I think it's also really helpful for people to see what a difference just a couple of kg make when you are already lean.

mom23mangos · August 2018

@Faebert - great job being a role model for your daughters. I only have sons, but I think it's equally important that they know what a normal female body looks like and to not have unrealistic expectations of their girlfriends or future wives. Sadly, female anatomy is something I had to explain to my husband as well. I wanted to clobber him over the head when we'd be watching a movie with some actress with an amazing body and he'd point out her "pooch".

@Jax2120 - your confidence shines through in your smile. It's just as attractive as your rockin' body.

@shadow2soul - thank you for sharing your c-section scar.

@sardelsa - thank you for posting! I've been waiting.

You are such an inspiration to so many ladies on this site that I think it's great they can see what you look like slouched too.

funjen1972 · August 2018

I really hope some of the men are reading these posts since they are excellent examples of realistic expectations. Hollywood, model and porn star bodies are not the norm. We are the norm.

StargazerB · August 2018

Age: 34
BMI or Height/Weight/Bone Structure: BMI 21, ht 5'2" wt 116
BF%: no idea
Number of Pregnancies: 3: 1 c section and 2 vbacs
Medical Conditions affecting appearance: Scoliosis
Primary form of exercise: Weights and some cardio
Number of years doing aforementioned exercise: about 2

hesn92 · August 2018

Sure I’ll play. All these “my belly is fat” posts are sad.
I’m 29
BMI 22.7
5’10” 155-158lbs
I’ve had two pregnancies, one vaginal one c-sec
Don’t know of any conditions
I lift weights 3x a week and I try to run 2-3x a week

Here are my front, side, and one of me sitting just for fun. These pants are a little more low cut than usual.

englishmuffinruns · August 2018

This is my favorite thread. Ever.

2snakeswoman · August 2018

Thank you so much for starting this thread. It isn't just the presence of the uterus, it's also how the pelvis is tilted to accommodate it and a pregnancy. In most women, there's going to be a rounded effect that will never go away.

dhiammarath · August 2018

This is such an important thread. This weekend has been rough for me (not to do with weight loss or body image), but knowing that my body (and my belly) are not out of the norm is somewhat enlightening. As a child, my examples have been either overweight images or Hollywood's perfection. Even now, while I'm still doughy, I am super critical of what I term my inner rubber ducky floaty (a good chunk is fat I have left to lose that seems to want to ride on the tops of my hipbones) and how, even though my pants fit, my stomach still "spills out" when I sit down. I have low-rise pants that fit, but because of this "spilling out" problem, I never wear them because surely no one else has this weird donut at the tops of their pants. And sometimes I don't believe the pants I'm wearing fit because of this pooch that sometimes appears (granted, it comes no matter if the pants are falling off, so it just needs to take a hike, but that's a different story, still being written). I don't wear fitted shirts because I'm super self-conscious of the muffin. >.>

I'm not at a healthy BMI (yet), but I'm getting close. It is time to realign the struggle of perception with reality. I guess I'm not assembled from alien parts, after all.

kiwiroz · August 2018

I'm nowhere near ready to post a picture but just wanted to say this thread is awesome. Thanks to all of you rocking your bodies your beautiful bellies. I particularly love finally being able to put a face/body to the MFP legends

Does This Uterus Make My Stomach Look Fat?

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