Mumsnet Talk

i swear sometimes i look 6 months pregnant

today is one of those days <sigh>

am just over 8 stone and 5 foot 2 so clearly not overweight. BMI is only about 21/22 i think. and got skinny arms and skinny legs but a right pot belly. i eat a good diet - eat less than about 1600 calories every day but then have one day at the weekend when i let it go a bit. AND, and i do sit ups and push ups regularly but i feel like not fecking bothering for all the good it does

its not like i have a baby, youngest dc is 3 ffs

am ttc dc3 atm and i dread to think if am successfull what the state of it will be like after.

is anyone else like me? and is there anything i can do?? other than be 10 years younger and never have had dc help me

Me sort of!

I am slim think size 6 but I have a lot of fat on my belly. Its like stretched skin as it just wont fuck off or even tone up

I'm the same, 4ft 10inches and 7 stone, slim everywhere except a mini pot belly! I usually hide it with control pants. Personal question and a bit TMI, you don't have to answer it, but do you get constipated often? That can cause a bit of a fat belly. That or bad diet, which doesn't sound like your case.

I am not dead skinny but I have a similar problem. Size 14 and shrinking down to a 12 all over but big tummy that seriously makes me look 6 months gone. I have been mistaken for pregnant twice in the last month... I am not. The last person asked me "are you sure" when I told her! I do have ibs which doesn't help.

Youngest dc is 2. I would love some stories from fellow mners about how they managed to budge the tum! It is not loose skin, it's just a very sticky out stomach...

Only in.my head, in reality I am clinicly obese

Solid I'm a whole 1 inch taller then you I don't know how much I weigh though. Between 7 and 8 stone though. Do not wish to find out

I am taller and heavier than you - bmi is about 23 I think - most of my extra weight is on my tummy, hardly any excess on my legs or bum. I think it is an unfortunate side effect of having dc - I have had 3, all by section - I don't think my tummy will ever be right again.

SP i wish I had one more inch on me When you are that short, you count every 1/8 of an inch!

I do too! An inch might even be a tiny exaggeration If people ask I say just under 5 foot or say 5 foot

How do you find out your BMI?

I have scales here at home from wilkinsons but they are very indecisive. They give or take half a stone each time I stand on them

Yes SP, round it up to the nearest foot I say

I am 5'2 and similarly weigh 8 stone. I bloat if eat bread or too many carbs.

Have 4dcs and find loose skin in my tummy hard to turn to muscle... Mainly though as too lazy.

Feel for you op..

Scales say 7 stone 10.

But I am wearing boots, clothes and a scarf so I should take 5/6 pounds of right?

I have this problem but I am far too lazy to do any sort of tummy work.

I'm 5' 8" size 10 but like yourself, can easily look preggers and do most days.

My trick to disguise it is to buy tops that are a size too big so they are loose on my tummy and long scarfs.

I'm learning to just accept my tubby belly, you should try the same its prob not as bad as what you think.

I'm the same. I currently have a BMI of 21/22, but even when I was a size 8 and underweight for my height I still had my little pot belly. I long for a return of the days when Louise Werner (Sleeper) made having a little pot fashionable.

Sit ups are not the best exercise for it, btw. Crunches (on a swiss ball), reverse crunches and planks help but they never get rid of it totally for me. I don't even have children so cannot blame it on pregnancy!

I've got this problem but it seems to be getting better now. I've found doing more overall muscle toning( Not just sit ups, thing for arms and legs as well as your core) is helping. You need to build up overall muscle tone rather than just concentrate on one area.

Depending on what your diet is more protein could help, it is fairly necessary for trying to increase muscle. Alternatively more fibre could also help depending on how "regular" you are going to the toilet. Make sure you drink loads of water as well!

You need to be patient for this to work. If you are skinny but have fat areas it is one of the hardest things to get rid of, because generally you eat the right amount calorie wise. I think most people with this problem have lower muscle mass than they should do so that is the area that needs working on but it takes time to see an effect.

Yep, me! I wouldn't say I am skinny but slim at 5'1" and about 8 and a bit stone.

The thing is that if you have had a baby your tummy muscles get stretched (diastasis recti) and the only way to get them back to normal is through surgery (I did a lot of research on this). Even if your tummy is not actually fat, you will look it if your stomach muscles have been too stretched by pregnancy and have not knitted back together. Exercise doesn't really make much improvement although you could try the Tupler technique; diastasisrehab.com/

Me! Kind of, thanks to 3 month old DS.
Almost 9 stone, 5 ft 3.

And I used to think I was fat when I was a size 6/8 (pre pregnancy)
Now size 12 top (breastfeeding) and 10/12 skirt (baby belly).

What is your diet? Give example of average day?

Can you eat same calories but cut carbs in favour of protein and fat? And exercises that focus on core. Aim to lose fat, gain muscle, weight stays the same and pot belly goes.

yeah i was wondering if i had that diastis recti or whatever its called, but tbh after having dd 3 years ago i actually went back to quite skinny quite quick after i had her, and i only put on about a stone whilst pg. its only been in the last year or so really.

both dcs were born via section though (planned, not sure that makes a difference) but i doubt that helps

ok example of average day

breakfast - 1 slice wholegrain toast with peanut butter plus coffee with semi skimmed milk and a sweetener

snack - an apple

lunch - boiled egg and 1 slice wholegrain toast and probably another coffee

afternoon snack - small bag of popcorn, hot chocolate (low cal)

dinner - chicken kiev with polenta chips and 2 veg, usually grilled mushroom and petit pois or similar

after dinner - bag of maltesers or similar

i drink loads of water too. Also, i chew sugar free gum a lot because it helps deaden my appetite a bit

I think also when you're short and thin every little bit shows. I have a very short torso and one meal can make the difference between flattish belly and pot belly. I've always had that but would love to lose the rolls that appear when i sit down!

Yup, sounds familiar. I'm very slim but have a tummy and occasionally get asked whether I'm pregnant. Grrr. But I carried twins so a bit of a residual tum is probably inevitable.

Me! I have two DC (8+5) and both were very large babies delivered by section. If I do no exercise and eat anything I like I have a pot belly but I never put on weight anywhere else. Really the thing I hate more is the sluggish feeling I get. I find running is best to make me feel healthy, but its hard to be motivated in winter!

I have this Even at my very fittest, pre DCs, size 8 self I had a bit of a belly, always worse after food it just pops out.

Now I've had two DCs and put on a tonne little weight its bit just the imposing stomach but lots of extra flabby skin as well, dd2 is 4 months old now and I still look 5 months pg

Also worth checking out Cushings disease

5 feet tall and 6 and a half stone. size 4/6.
have a small pouch after my c section but it was VASTLY improved by doing those postnatal stomach exercised albeit abot 4 years later. Apparently the pouch effect can be caused by stomach muscles not coming back together properly after birth.