The Double Belly...UGH

13

Replies

  • candctaber
    candctaber Posts: 274
    I gained so much weight with my twins and had to have a C-section. I have tried just about everything to get rid of my extra belly, but nothing works! I guess I will have to learn to live with it or get a tummy tuck!
  • mamamc03
    mamamc03 Posts: 1,067 Member
    I too have my above belly button flab & then what I call "THE FLAB APRON" aka...Odie (what I nicknamed it in jr high) I have ALWAYS had this issue!! When I was younger, it was more of a pooch. But now...It's more like a GREAT DANE or MASTIFF!! Mine is hereditary in it's origin...my mom had the below the button pooch @ 115lbs when she got married umpteen years ago. I hate it. with a PASSION!! But...it's my body. And the muscle that is under it is SOOOO hard to access!! I figure it will melt along with the rest of me...but for now..everything is so saggy baggy, I can walk around naked and no one can see my goodies...top or bottom!! HAHAHA
  • jreed1920
    jreed1920 Posts: 123
    Yep I too have a double belly. The ab work from 30DS has helped tremendously to shrink both upper and lower bellies.
  • batalina
    batalina Posts: 209 Member
    I too have my above belly button flab & then what I call "THE FLAB APRON" aka...Odie (what I nicknamed it in jr high) I have ALWAYS had this issue!! When I was younger, it was more of a pooch. But now...It's more like a GREAT DANE or MASTIFF!! Mine is hereditary in it's origin...my mom had the below the button pooch @ 115lbs when she got married umpteen years ago. I hate it. with a PASSION!! But...it's my body. And the muscle that is under it is SOOOO hard to access!! I figure it will melt along with the rest of me...but for now..everything is so saggy baggy, I can walk around naked and no one can see my goodies...top or bottom!! HAHAHA

    i have the "flab apron" too... it's only gotten worse as i've lost weight, because now the skin just hangs :sad:
    mine's hereditary, too.
  • batalina
    batalina Posts: 209 Member
    yeah, the losing-it part is what sucks, though. i'm cool with keeping the division at navel-level, because that is where i wear my skirts and stuff (like another poster mentioned, i use that as my "waist"... in fact, i'm not sure where the REAL waist is... when i got measured when i started Curves, the Curves-lady used what seemed to me to be a completely arbitrary spot, but she assured me that that was my waist). i think doing lower-ab stuff would work. but i don't know how to do any of that, everything seems to focus on the upper-part.

    Along with stomach crunches, I love the one where I lie on my back, hands slightly below my hips or at the small of my back, then legs together and lift them. I don't let my legs touch the ground every time, about 5 inches above ground and lift smoothly again. I feel that in my lower belly.

    I do believe in working all muscles. I don't believe it melts the weight in those areas, but once we get the weight off we should have some nicer muscles under it. :)

    My measurements when I gauge them are waist (right around rib cage where I'm smallest) then abs for my middle at my navel. Then lower belly, as I want rid of that too. Then hips and onward.

    i will have to try that leg-lifting move! thank you so much!
  • cbevan1229
    cbevan1229 Posts: 326 Member
    Yes - me too! I have a double belly.

    Your waist is not at your belly button? This is news to me.
  • FiercelyBeautiful
    FiercelyBeautiful Posts: 590 Member
    Thanks to all who replied! Now who is willing to share a before and after double belly success with us!!!! We need hope!
  • jessykagalow
    jessykagalow Posts: 1
    I have this stinking problem too! I have been trying to lose weight and finally decided to research what this is called. I am so excited to have found this forum! My front looks like one of those baby toys that has the stackable rings that start big and get smaller. It's sad!

    Are there exercises that will help? What do you do to lose the weight in your belly?
  • simone319
    simone319 Posts: 3
    haha thats such a good name for it!
    yes, that has always been my biggest insecurity about my body
    most days i even have a line on my stomach because of the double belly
    i think the trick is to just stick to cardio (i don't think ab workout will contribute much to solving the problem)
    it's so annoying, because my side stomach profile is completely flat until it gets to my lower stomach :(
    from the front it doesn't look as bad but is still noticeable in person
  • Jeepjenn2
    Jeepjenn2 Posts: 7
    I'm so there with all of you ladies! My trainer said that just working out and losing weight would help. There is no way to lose weight off of one region specifically....

    She suggested NOT doing abdominal focused workouts until the size has gone down because building the muscle underneath a fat belly would only make it stick out more!

    So....we wait and walk and do everything else....

    The top one will go first, but i'm pretty sure the bottom one won't go away completely...
  • PurpleEpiphany
    PurpleEpiphany Posts: 96
    This is definitely one of those "glad to know I'm not the only one" moments :) I'm always so jealous of girls in bellydance class who don't have the 'overhang' issue that comes with the double belly :(
  • j2tyco
    j2tyco Posts: 42
    I am a 2 tummy girl as well....one of the main things that got me out of my denial of how big I am was seeing pictures of myself and seeing that bottom belly getting so big and droopy that any type of pants or shorts with front zippers would cause what I call a "tummy camel toe" effect with the fat...* I shudder about how gross this all is * but I am doing something about it now and the tummy camel toe is going away which gives me hope that the belly part is shrinking-- I have to laugh about it and sometimes focusing on that damn tummy camel toe being gone is what gets me through some of my work outs...

    I also appreciate the info on where a waist and abdomen are...I have never known exactly where to measure myself...my boobs not in a bra are big enough that they droop down almost to the end of my rib cage so I assume I would lift them to measure my waist? I just measure the belly that droops lower then my hips as part of my hips so my measurements are all HUGE--if I measure at the belly button for my abdomen then it will be smaller then my waist due to the double tummy thing--I alwasy considered the abdomen to be a the rib cage and the waist to me right above where the hip bones end (basically the belly button)
  • beckyc77
    beckyc77 Posts: 12 Member
    I have always had two bellies...even before babies...but I have always been overweight.
    Glad to know there is hope.

    Adios two bellies!
  • FiercelyBeautiful
    FiercelyBeautiful Posts: 590 Member
    Update!!!! I am beginning to get real hope, my top belly is almost gone! And my bottom belly is shrinking away. I know I will have a lot of loose skin but I think the results will be better than I expected. I hope to post before and after photos someday!!!

    xoxo
  • tabathavm
    tabathavm Posts: 99 Member
    Ugh! I have the same thing too! Looking forward to result pics!
  • raige123
    raige123 Posts: 352
    I too am in this club. Mine really didn't come out until after I had my son, and I kind of joke and say my organs didn't go back in the right places after I had him. Obviously that isn't it but I have often wondered if where you wear your pants has anything to do with it because mine seperates where the top of my pants sit. I wish I could have 1 belly ... that was flat ... plastic surgery is probably the only fix! Le sigh!
  • losingcan
    losingcan Posts: 5
    My top belly is bigger than my bottom, but both need to go. Overall weightloss and toning will be the key
  • tara_seay
    tara_seay Posts: 171 Member
    I have two "bellies" too - but my top belly is far bigger than my bottom. I have never see my belly button if i am naked.. lol.....

    I feel you though -
  • dawnsjourney
    dawnsjourney Posts: 80 Member
    I used to have one big belly. Then I had 2 still big bellies. Now I am at 3 not so big bellies. I think of it as a deflating balloon or a roll of bubble wrap that is being popped. I just pray it goes away at some point
  • tyrantduck
    tyrantduck Posts: 387 Member
    i have one of those too! splits in half across my belly button. UGH i look like i'm pregnant all the time because of it. even when i was pregnant with my daughter i had the double-belly. i usually call the top one my stomach and the bottom one my gut. blech! the only time they become one is when i lay down flat!
  • Shanaw2525
    Shanaw2525 Posts: 9 Member
    I swear by planking, it seriously was the only thing that really helped my stomach issues.
  • TLHarwick
    TLHarwick Posts: 44 Member
    I have done a lot of reading on this and those top bellies may be the result of diastasis recti (some information regarding is here: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diastasis-recti/AN02153) - a seperation of the abdominal muscles after pregnancy... you can tell if you suffer from easily.... They actually suggest NOT doing regular ab exercises b/c it can become worse.... definitely worth looking into, if you think that is the issue.

    I have had 4 C-sections and I suffer from a "mommy flap" which is mostly scar tissue and skin, since losing almost 70lbs... I am too much of a chicken to have it removed... I have seen a large improvement in it through core strengthening... it has lifted and become less noticeable, but still there :(
  • AprilMae1975
    AprilMae1975 Posts: 726
    Same here! Except my bottom belly is sliced in half top to bottom from a c-section so I have laugh when I say I have two bellies and two butts.

    What can you do? Not sure, but learn to accept it and try to improve it. Life ain't always beautiful, but its a beautiful ride.

    I have two bellies and two butts too....LOL!!!!!!
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    i have a B belly (thats what it looks like from the side) and i reckon i always will

    when i was pregnant with my daughter the middle of my double belly stayed the same so i would end up with her butt in the top part and her head in the lower part or visa versa.

    maybe it would have eventually rounded out to a nice basketball preggers belly but shes impatient and made her big entrance 15 weeks early

    i see lots of full body spankz in my future
  • Silvervixen79
    Silvervixen79 Posts: 116 Member
    My top belly is bigger than the bottom, but is kinda pinched in at the sides so it looks like a sad face :(
    :sad:
  • cingroomer
    cingroomer Posts: 6 Member
    i have that little pooch line above my belly too and from what I hear you can only exercise to get that off. I've done the Jillian Michaels boot camp DVD and she talked specifically about it. I think some of it has to do with after menopause too and getting that midriff bulge. I've got about 13lbs left to lose but don't have much hope that is going away, and I do exercise, every week day.
  • Lbf321
    Lbf321 Posts: 81 Member
    I have the double belly too. With exercise my bellies are sinking lower and lower and looking more deflated lol. I have more soft lower belly flab so a pair of slightly tight (tight like you would wear if you use pads for TOM) and so just look 4 month's pregnant. I did look like I was 6 month's pregnant before MFP. I've also had a few kids and I was overweight before I got pregnant and now I have lots of stretch marks.
  • hannahpark3r
    hannahpark3r Posts: 50 Member
    I have that too! I've had it all my life. It's so frustrating because my waist/belly button area is kind of small but my upper and lower stomach sticks out way more. My upper belly is starting to go away (it's almost kinda flat!) but the lower belly will not go away and it's driving me insane. It makes my hips huge and that whole area round. And it's so annoying because I can wear two pieces or anything with a midriff because them my bottoms go under my lower belly Ugh.
    I don't think I've ever met anyone that I know of that has that body type so I'm glad I'm not alone!
  • ImpossibleGrl
    ImpossibleGrl Posts: 83
    I have this. :( I sometimes try to make my kids laugh by squishing the halves together and pretending it's talking. But then later I feel like crying sometimes. lol...my belly is pretty much becoming the biggest part of me now, like a gigantic version of the one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater, except much more gross and not nearly as cool...
  • beelanc
    beelanc Posts: 71 Member
    Hugs to all my Multi-belly friends!! I am adding you all!! LOL

    But yep..as most have suggested. You cant really do anything to target one specific area. You need to just keep on keeping on with the weight loss and work in the weight training. My top belly has gone down some but it is a stubborn area. Good luck with your journey. :)

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