Postpartum body - truthful answers!

[Sammie1990]

Hi all
just for context before having my baby I was a semi professional athlete who trained 5 times a week to a very strict regime with a nutritionist also. During pregnancy I put on 4 stone (I know!). I am now 8 months PP and 4lbs heavier than my pre pregnancy weight which considering the training I was doing I’m pretty cool with (im obviously aware I’ve lost some muscle). I am back in the gym and have been since 3 weeks PP. I train hard but obviously not like I did before. My diet is okay, could be better but not terrible.

so my question is is it possible to get your stomach to be how it was before kids? I’ve always had short big legs (which I hate but needed for my sport!) with a really flat toned stomach. This meant if I was going out I’d wear wide leg trousers/jeans with a crop top and feel like I looked quite good. However my stomach doesn’t stick out now but it’s not toned looking and a bit wobbly. If I up my cardio and sort out my nutrition can I make improvements to it or is this just what PP stomachs look like? I see a lot of women online who seem to have done it but that’s the internet after all!

interested to hear people experiences

thanks

So basically “can I grow another human being and then make my body look like it has never done that”? I would say highly unlikely. I’ve never seen anyone achieve that, though I’m surprised that’s what you would want.

I think you can but it will take time. I would recommend adding reformer, esp lagree to the mix.

I’m surprised you’re surprised….if you’re used to looking a certain way is it unimaginable you’d quite like to look like that again?

thanks for your rude and unhelpful reply 👍🏼

Hi
thank you I did look at reformer but unfortunately the classes by me take place when I don’t have child care but definitely something to look for in the future!

My stomach was very flat and has never looked the same again at all. But I have seen women who do have flat stomachs so I think it depends on how big your baby was, what happened to your muscles etc.

I didn’t put any weight on really in pregnancy so mine was back to normal afterwards. I only put on weight of baby plus fluid, and was actually lighter post birth than pre conception. I was a horse owner/rider so active before and after. I mucked out as usual on my due date etc.

I had diet controlled GD though and so was on an ultra strict low carb regime. It was kind of awful but also not as it kept me from ballooning!

Menopause fucked all this a few years later mind you….

I think @Sammie1990 that you can improve on what you have to some
extent but probably can’t completely change it back. Acceptance is key. And don’t have a second if it bothers you because that’s the point of no return! I couldn’t have another but that’s not why.

First post nailed the body shaming.

I’m surprised you’re surprised that people have different ideas about how they want their body to look and function.

Feminism is embracing our differences as women. Nothing to do with preferring a flabby tummy to a toned one.

I think it totally depends on the individual body. I know multiple women who've had 3+ children/twins and have the flattest stomachs. I know women who've had 1 and their stomach has never been the same.

I have seen a couple of mums who've had surgery and it looks fantastic.
If exercise doesn't give you the desired results then maybe speak to your dr about checking if your stomach muscles have split.

Mumsnet isn’t big into feminism! It’s a strange old place isn’t it 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

Hi
thanks for the reply. Yea I don’t think they have split as I’ve done that test where you stick your fingers inbetween them and there isn’t a big gap. Is the surgery to pull them back together they’ve had?

As a semi professional athlete you know more about training and nutrition than I do, so I’d just suggest asking some of the women who’ve had kids at your gym/sports club how their bodies changed and whether they got their pre-baby core back.

My mum is 53 and had 4 kids and still has abs and very little fat on her tummy. I think that’s her genetics though. I’m a year PP and very doubtful my lower belly will ever look the same as it did pre pregnancy

To be fair considering the enormous amount of weight I gained I’m pretty happy with how things have turned out 😂 I haven’t had to try very hard to lose the weight I’ve just been weight training which I enjoy. I know from previous times that my body responds well to cardio and at the minute I’m not doing any so I think that will help.

yes I’ve heard after the second it’s much harder but that wouldn’t be a big enough reason for me to have another if I do decide I want one…still in the trenches at the moment 😂

My first pregnancy gave me a perinatal umbilical hernia and diastasis recti, 4y ago. Second pregnancy (and the ones miscarried in between) magnified it. I'm on the list for surgery to repair the hernia (was waiting for a consultant appointment for about 18m, now no idea how long I'll have to wait for surgery) and then once that has been done, I'll be on the list for physical therapy for the diastasis recti. I'd love to have the flat toned stomach I had pre-babies but don't think it will ever be achievable for me and I'm beginning to make my peace with that (given my 40 year age as well).

But if you have no medical reasons like I do, I can't see why it's not achievable.

I go to the gym with a lot of women who have had babies and see plenty of six packs, visible abs and flat stomachs.

It's certainly possible. These women do events like Hyrox, so plenty of weight training as well as cardio.

I'm in better shape than pre-kids, having had two. No six pack, but definite ab definition and a flatter stomach than in my young party days.

More muscle and a better diet has changed my body, but it has taken a couple of years.

I’m training at a different gym now as sport is on the back burner. I know some women who look amazing after kids but I can’t say I’ve closely inspected their stomaches before and after 😂

Really, that’s positive! Yes I think cardio will help, well I know it will I just hate doing it 😂

I think I'd be more concerned that your significant weight gain in pregnancy implies you are overly restricting your diet normally. What does your nutrionist say about that?

I breastfed and I couldn't keep weight on at all after giving birth. I looked like an athlete trained in long distance running with absolutely no effort on my part - in fact I struggled to try and keep some weight on. I had washboard abs like I have never had before or sadly since finishing breastfeeding. I seriously considered staying as a breastmilk donor but sadly expressing didn't seem anywhere near as effective as my self produced milk monsters 😅🤦‍♀️

Your abdominal skin has been stretched out by pregnancy. It will stay that way even if you tone the muscles. Sorry, that's just the way it is.

I don’t think it’s “feminist” to want to look like you haven’t had a child, and I also don’t think it’s realistic. It’s rather like trying to diet and exercise your way back to your prepuberty body once you’ve matured. There are of course very toned mothers but they look like mothers not as they did before pregnancy/birth.
i think if you’ve lost 4 stone in 8 months that’s amazing and very fast. I would imagine your body is still recovering from gestation and birth so will be “healthier” after more time.

I think it’s a bit like stretch marks, I didn’t get any and did nothing to stop them, but my mum didn’t have any either-yet some much slimmer people get loads. Luck of the draw how your body responds. And yes stretch marks fade and products help-but if you get them you get them and it’s just luck or not.

I got away so lightly to be honest- but as I say menopause is having the last laugh now 🙈 gained 4 stone and have ridiculous boobs for the only time in my life. Can’t lose a pound.

What a silly informed comment….

firstly I had high fluid through my pregnancy which contributed to the weight gain. Do you really think if it was all excess fat it would be off in 8 months?

secondly when you train in a certain way you eat foods that’s compliment and enhance your training. So for me that meant high protein, veg, carb repeat. Yes it was ‘restricted’ in that I ate no processed foods and had to hit a certain protein amount and calorie count each day.

in pregnancy I ate pretty much what I wanted as I had nausea all the way through and for a while could only stomach bread and pasta so inevitably when you go from being an extremely active person who monitors their food to someone who isn’t very active not monitoring their food you put on weight….oh plus a baby, placenta and fluid!

Yes, it is possible to get it back but I think it depends on what age you are.

Obviously supposed to say uninformed