Is this fat or lose skin on my stomach (pic included)

[brazilianandjapanese]

I used to be a size 10 and have a six pack.

After twins and putting in 5 stone, I'm now back at a healthy weight and my body looks toned.

Well, except my stomach which looks a flabby mess. I can't wear bikinis, I can't wear tights clothing.

I'm currently dieting to try and get rid of the excess stomach fat but it makes no difference. Plus, I'm now at a healthy weight for my overall body so don't want to lose too much more.

Is this skin or a combination of fat and skin?

Sorry for the close ups of my flabby mess of a tummy

I will carry on dieting.

Dieting won't target the fat around your stomach so if you already feel that you're at a good weight for you, loosing more via dieting won't do much.....I would look at the core exercises that others have suggested and learning to love your new body.

Definitely loose skin, which isn't fixable by exercise or any topical treatment. In fact the only fix is surgery.

I see nothing wrong with its appearance btw. I hope it's not bothering you as there is more to life.

How old are the twins OP?

What exercises are you doing?

It's honestly not as bad as you think.

It's really not that bad OP! How old are the twins? Was the 5stone all pregnancy related?

You should definitely see your GP about muscle separation though, they'll refer you to a physio. I believe it's important to get it sorted for health reasons if that's what it is.

I'm watching with interest if anyone can recommend core exercises.

My son is 4!!! So no excuse really!

Unfortunately I only have one son now as my daughter died. I think this has been a huge cause of stress and did mean I lost the weight very quickly after having them.

Don't know if that made a difference.

Sorry for your loss OP

I wasn't asking in a judgey way, it's just that sometimes the skin can bounce back quite a bit but takes time, usually a year to eighteen months. Unfortunately, after four years it probably won't improve much now by itself.

You're definitely got some good muscle tone, maybe the appearance of the skin could be improved with Clarins toning body oil.
Although I think we tend to focus on what we don't like whereas others see the overall picture .

Sorry to hijack again - mine is just at the bottom. Flat at the top, it's just the little hangover at the base before the Punic area and some crepeyness around the belly button.

I do crunches etc every day but nothing shifts it! Any tips??

Your tummy looks like a lot of mums post birth. Some people's skin and muscle seems to spring back less easily than others. Having twins causes extra stretch, as does Caesarean section. It's probably a mix of stretch with some more fat than you used to have. Some degree of change to your body is inevitable and permanent but with appropriate exercise and possibly a little weight loss, you can improve the appearance and strengthen your core muscles. That would also make you feel better because your back would get a lot more support and your posture would improve.

Pilates is the best for post natal recovery. A good practitioner will teach you how to maximise the recovery of your abdominal muscles.

Fat stays the same shape in water roughly, but loose skin sort of floats. Check in the bath or when you go swimming.

So sorry OP

Hi there, I'm in hospital now having just had a tummy tuck yesterday! They stitched together the rectus abdominal and removed the loose stretched marked skin. It looks to me from your photos that you have 'rectus-diastasis' the same as me and although Pilates and deep core exercises (never sit-up crunches) can help a bit, I was told by more than a few doctors and medical professionals that you cannot join the gap together without surgery! I have a son of 19 when the distasis first occurred and with physio, I got it back to a one finger gap but many years later (my second life) I have a daughter now 16 mths and my2nd son is 3yrs. The muscles did not knit back after DS so went into 3rd pregnancy with a big gap. I've had physio and tried Pilates and I was running 3-4 times per week but I still looked about 4/5 mths pregnant. I am happy to share my before photos with you and when I get this bandage off I can share after photos weekly for anyone considering this surgery!!!

These photos are standing so you can see that I still look pregnant!

Is this fat or loose skin?

I reckon it's a mixture of fat and loose skin. The wrinkled area just above your waistband would suggest an excess of skin there, but the shape makes it look to me as if there is still some fat deposited there too.

Maybe you could stand to lose a bit more weight, but do it slowly to give the skin time to catch up. Moisturise regularly. I have heard that taking liposomal vitamin C orally helps with skin elasticity and have been taking it myself for a year or so now. It's expensive but I can feel a difference in my face and although I have lost a lot of weight my stomach looks a bit like yours but without the wrinkled effect I referred to earlier. So I am pretty sure that what I am left with is fat.