How Many Ladies With Babies Were Able To Get Their Abs Back?

Journey · 16-Mar-04, 01:35 PM

Hey ladies,

I have two beautiful girls.

My pre weight before my first was 103 pounds, but I wasn't training then so I had about 19% body fat.

My pre weight before my second was 112 pounds, and my body fat was about 16%.

I have had Cesareans with each. My upper abs are great , but my lower Abs are awful. I know part of this is because of the Cesarean. No matter what I do I can not trim or tone this area. I have thought about a Tummy Tuck.
but wanted to know if you ladies with children were able to keep your Abs?

I now have about 13% body fat even with my recent weight gain, due to an extended vacation.

(Working out like a Warrior)!!

AnnaD - TX · 16-Mar-04, 02:16 PM

Tummy tuck? What about a little lipo? Doesnt a TT leave you w/ a scar? I hope someone can answer this question, because I am so scared of never getting back into shape after kids. But I look at the ladies in magazines that have had children and they look great??

yogalove · 16-Mar-04, 03:16 PM

Yes, you can get back in shape after having kids.

It might be a little harder though. I had two children and gained 50#

with each pregnancy. I was able to get my abs back, but with bad eating habits it didn't last long. Untill one day when I got motivated to be healthy and fit. And now I am on my way to getting some nice abs! Pilaties did wonders for my abs!

: And then I realize what weight training could do for them, even better!

I totally recomend Pilaties and weightlifting for good abs, but don't do both on the same day.

jogym · 16-Mar-04, 04:56 PM

I have one little girl who is 4 years old. She weighed 9lb 6 and at 5'1 and very petite I was very big (all baby). I did not weigh myself my whole pregnancy because I wasn't interested in knowing but I don't think I was that careful in what I ate. I had exercised regularly for about a year before becoming pregnant but stopped at 3 months as I was too tired (and I wanted to take it easy as I had had a miscarriage with my first). I'm afraid I was not able to get my `abs' back to normal afterwards. I am left with loose skin just below the belly button area and have lower tummy bulge and refuse to ever wear a bikini again, I am too conscious of it. I too had a caeserean. I was told that my stomach muscles had separated more than average and might never come back to the way they were.

I am currently 117lb and am trying to lower my body fat. I am currently doing weight training and cardio sessions. I am always conscious of the way I look in my lower tummy area. Sometimes I think I put all my efforts into exercising and it's just a waste because I can't do anything to change that area.

Anna D - `I,m so scared of never getting back into shape after having kids'.
I think if you have a balanced diet and don't put on too much weight (and still try and do some form of exercise) you should have no problem at all. I hear that yoga and pilates is good.

A tummy tuck (which is for stretched and loose skin) is quite drastic. You are left with quite a scar (from hip to hip bone) though it is low down. And I think lipo is only to remove fat is it not. So if you exercise you should get rid of the fat, stretched skin is a different matter.

I am planning on trying for a second baby mid year and am worried that my stomach will get worse so I am back exercising to get as lean as I can in this area and hoping that next time I'll not get so big.

So yes I was one of the unlucky ones but at the end of the day I have a beautiful healthy daughter and if I know I'm eating right and exercising to stay fit and healthy then I'm happy with that.

sillyme · 16-Mar-04, 05:03 PM

Got em back after kid #1. Still a bit pudgy after kid #2, but that's more due to laziness and not taking care of myself than to my son.

Acuarius69 · 16-Mar-04, 08:46 PM

It is possible to get your abs and body back after pregnancy and even look better. I got my abs back after having baby #1 and #2, and I am on my way to have them back after baby #3 who is now 2 months old. I workout until the 8 month of my last pregnancy, maybe it made a difference. Right now, I am trying to lower my body fat, (very high after the last pregnancy and most around hip area), but my stomach is very flat and still showing a little bit my abs. It will take a few months to achieve the original look though. I have been exercising since I am 18, now 35, first weight training and yoga, later long distance running and now again weight training.

SurfinAmy · 17-Mar-04, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Journey

I have two beautiful girls. My upper abs are great , but my lower Abs are awful. I know part of this is because of the Cesarean. No matter what I do I can not trim or tone this area. I have thought about a Tummy Tuck.
but wanted to know if you ladies with children were able to keep your Abs?

I got a lot of stretch marks from both my pregnancies and my sister didn't get ANY!!!!

Maybe it's genetic!!! I know what you mean about the lower abs, your skin stretches out, I don't know if it will ever be the same as it was before kids but it's a heck of a lot better than before the weight training and diet changes!!! Not half bad!
(Can't believe all those times when I was 16 with an absolutely PERFECT string-bikini-worthy body saying, "I'm fat!" hehehehehehehe!!! lol)
Tummy Tuck seems so drastic though, huh! I hate the thought of going under the knife...unless my life depended on it!
I think we can do what we can do, and then just accept ourselves. We both have 2 beautiful kids to show for it too!

-Amy

Journey · 17-Mar-04, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SurfinAmy

I got a lot of stretch marks from both my pregnancies and my sister didn't get ANY!!!!

Maybe it's genetic!!! I know what you mean about the lower abs, your skin stretches out, I don't know if it will ever be the same as it was before kids but it's a heck of a lot better than before the weight training and diet changes!!! Not half bad!
(Can't believe all those times when I was 16 with an absolutely PERFECT string-bikini-worthy body saying, "I'm fat!" hehehehehehehe!!! lol)
Tummy Tuck seems so drastic though, huh! I hate the thought of going under the knife...unless my life depended on it!
I think we can do what we can do, and then just accept ourselves. We both have 2 beautiful kids to show for it too!

-Amy

Amen to that.

I Thank God each and everyday for 2 healthy girls.
(Even though my belly looks like playdough)

My problem is not fat, is loose skin.
I too was told by a doctor that I suffer from Diastratis Recti (sp) and would never regain my muscles back. It is genetic. My mother suffered from hernias and is very petite and short wasted. I too am petite and short wasted. It didn't help that I gained about 55 pounds with each one.
Currently I am at 121 pounds. My normal weight is 106-110. I went on an extended vacation and ate everything in sight. So really I should stop complaining because I have kept myself in pretty good shape. I am 35 and often mistaken for 26-27. I can fit into a size 5 quite nicely. So I just better be quiet and deal with the playdough!! (As quoted by my daughter's in reference to my belly)

SurfinAmy · 18-Mar-04, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Journey

Amen to that.
My problem is not fat, is loose skin.
I too was told by a doctor that I suffer from Diastratis Recti (sp) and would never regain my muscles back. It is genetic..........So I just better be quiet and deal with the playdough!! (As quoted by my daughter's in reference to my belly)

hehehe! Kids are so funny! What's Diastratis Recti????
-Amy
P.S. Doctors told me stuff before too and they were proved wrong! Seems like they just keep throwing drugs at you instead of prescribing better eating habits!!!!
I think you (we) can improve it a lot, but its going to take some time.

Journey · 18-Mar-04, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SurfinAmy

hehehe! Kids are so funny! What's Diastratis Recti????
-Amy
P.S. Doctors told me stuff before too and they were proved wrong! Seems like they just keep throwing drugs at you instead of prescribing better eating habits!!!!
I think you (we) can improve it a lot, but its going to take some time.

Diastratic Recti (sp) is the seperation of stomach muscles. I no longer have the skin between the wall of the muscles to aid the muscles repair.
That skin has been damaged from Cesareans. If I lay back I can put 3 fingers in between my stomach muscles of my lower abs.
Yuck.
Also after my Cearsaren I did not allow myself enough time to heal. I waited 6 weeks before working out hard. This is not good! I think that the fact I did not allow myself to heal was a key factor in ruining my abs.

SurfinAmy · 19-Mar-04, 07:44 AM

Journey,
One of my closest friends had FOUR C-Sections! Now she also has a very hard time with her stomach muscles (she's not really into working out at all, but I think she's going to be pretty quick here)
Seems like the doctors just want to schedule deliveries half the time or something - why all these C-Sections these days? I bet half of them aren't even necessary (not saying yours weren't) it just seems like there are more and more C-Sections. So many young ladies I know in absolutely perfect health have had 1, 2, 3 and even more C-Sections!
Or how about this one! They give you a date to come into the hospital so they can induce you (that's what they did to me and I just blindly did whatever the doc said - was only 22) with potosin (sp). Then you get to be in labor MUCH longer. Totally unnecessary.

Ya, 6 weeks definitely was not enough time to heal before really kicking back into things, but live and learn! It's hard for me to picture what you're saying, I should check out a diagram of what the stomach muscles look like sometime.

-Amy