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Original poster

Hands up if you're a mum with a flat tum

52 replies

DeeLite · 07/04/2011 19:43

Hands down here.

I'm 9 months post partum with DC1 and really struggling to come to terms with my flabby tummy. My flat tummy was one of the best things about me and now it's gone! Will it be back with time, with hard work or never? I'm prepared to put a bit of hard work into it but not crazy celeb-style starvation.

OP posts:
Fleecy · 07/04/2011 22:06

I had a flat stomach pre-DC and managed to get it back (just about) for holiday last September - was so pleased I put a very smug pic of myself in a bikini on FB Blush. Circuit training did it for me.

Am now pregnant again and very round.

cabbageroses · 07/04/2011 22:24

Most flabby tummies are fat- it's not simply muscle. No amount of sit ups etc will help if what is really there is a bulge of fat.

Most experts say the only way is tol ose weight all over.

Mine would be flat if I lost another 3lbs- i am mid 50s, 2 dcs.

ninah · 07/04/2011 22:28

cabbage if I lost enough weight all over to have a flat tum the rest of me would look like a cadaver. For me the old face/figure dilemma really is true ..

suwoo · 07/04/2011 22:30

Mine is flat. 3 big babies (2 c section). I have a hideous saggy arse though if that helps.

BarefootShirl · 07/04/2011 22:34

Have to agree with cabbageroses - when I lost some weight the flat tum pretty much returned (despite 2 DC), although I was also going to the gym regularly. Sadly I got complacent lazy and am now about a stone overweight so the tum is more of a muffin-top - didn't stop me from wearing my bikini in the garden today though Blush. Am also back on a diet Sad.

CakeandRoses · 07/04/2011 22:35

Yy I agree with blossoming about body shape - mine is hourglass (pearshaped on a bad day) and it's always been a case of flat tum and big hips here.

hellymelly · 07/04/2011 22:37

Another 2 c-section wrecked tum.Not too wrecked after the first but the second..well. I have a horrible bulge above the scar.I need to shift some weight,but looking at it,even if I ever get to pre-preg slimness I think the bulge will stay as it seems to be the pull of the scar that causes it iyswim.

hellymelly · 07/04/2011 22:39

I wonder now about the muscle separation thing though,as mine is still not right.What excercises did you do tulpe?

Skinit · 07/04/2011 22:40

Almost flat....2 c sections and youngest child is now 3. I was very very strong there before DC...due to working as an actor for ten years and dancing since I was 10.....but it's not properly flat anymore because I'm too lazy busy to work out properly. It has taken me 3 years to recover after DD2....after DD1 it was flat.

Skinit · 07/04/2011 22:43

INteresting about the flab not being due to muscle loss...I can FEEL my flat tun under my lovely roll of fat! I am also around a stone overweight...mine is sitting on my hips and thighs mostly. Though it is flab which is stopping m having a proper flat tum....I feel better reading all this though...

[forget the easter egg I just devoured]

StillSquiffy · 07/04/2011 22:44

Be very careful on the exercises. If your muscles have fully separated then exercise will simply push them further apart, making you look fatter. I ended up losing all my babyfat and looking 8 months PG after DS because of this - wasn't until I got a personal trainer that I discovered that all my ab work had simply made things look a lot worse than if I'd done no abs at all.

It's only in the minority of cases that this happens, but if they have separated and not restitched themselves then nothing but a tuck will fix it.

lollystix · 07/04/2011 22:50

Liking your style Skinit with the premature egg eating. Glad I'm not alone Grin

Yellowstone · 07/04/2011 22:52

Yes flat after quite a few kids (eight) but quite small framed anyway. Didn't do anything special, just run around a lot, no tucks anyhow and no gym type stuff (hate all that), just walks with the dog/ whoever wants to come.

Was quite plump after DC1 (took the eating for two very literally); after the rest back to normal after two or three months.

hellymelly · 07/04/2011 22:54

yellowstone I'm very impressed! and also very [jealous]

Bunbaker · 07/04/2011 23:04

Cattleprod that's an interesting theory because my uterus is tilted.

franke You are right. I did specify that I waited until my midwife said it was safe to do so. I didn't have a gap, and breastfed so my uterus was back to its pre-pregnancy size within 10 days.

blossoming You could be right. Before I got pregnant I was a bit of a gym bunny and was in pretty good shape. I had strong, toned stomach muscles, plus I had a small baby and yes, I am a pear so any extra weight I carry is on my hips and thighs (sigh).

tulpe · 07/04/2011 23:08

Hellymelly - I used the Tupler method which was developed by Julie Tupler an American midwife. It works the transverse muscles which are the ones which wrap wround your middle and give you a proper waist. If they are weak your abs and lower back will be unstable too causing not only poorly toned tums but putting you at risk of injury: when your abs are weak your lower back and pelvis becomes hugely overworked.

Google her for more information :)

Skinit · 07/04/2011 23:08

I've just been and ordered a push bike...been meaning to for ages and this has given me the push I needed. I KNOW my flat tum is somewhere under that easter egg!

solsticestar · 07/04/2011 23:09

Mine is flat, but I only have the one child who is now 12 so I've had plenty of time to get back into shape! I had him when I was 20 and I think that helped - my body sort of sprung back into shape, but it's yo-yo'd a bit over the years.

I'm doing quite a lot of ab work at the moment as I need it for sports - at times in my life when I haven't done sports it gets out of shape pretty quickly. Having a good posture helps, which I picked up from dance classes.

I'm a pear and I really wish I'd have more weight on my chest than my hips!

Bunbaker · 07/04/2011 23:14

"m a pear and I really wish I'd have more weight on my chest than my hips!"

Same here. Today I bought one of these and the results are amazing!

hellymelly · 07/04/2011 23:16

Thanks tulpe,I will have a look at that.I didn't realise I had separation there but if I sit up then I can see a ridge,so there must be something not right.

Butterbur · 08/04/2011 09:02

I was always a plump apple, with a smooth, if roly poly stomach. Now that I have got fitter and lost weight, I have abs of steel under swags of loose skin. It's generally an improvement, as I look better in clothes, which is how most people see me. DH is the only one who gets to see my stomach anyway, and he doesn't mind either way.

Skinit · 08/04/2011 09:09

CattleProd...my uterus is inverted too and my stomach is almost flat after 2 c sections...could be something t do with it

Thornykate · 08/04/2011 09:12

I had a little '4 pack' & flat tummy after 3 DC...BUT there was a large gap between them (between 4 & 6 yrs)& after DS2 & DS3 I did run, train at the gym & do sit ups & core strength work a lot. I know it sounds a bit Hmm but I am one of those people who loves training & really love doing my abs otherwise I wouldn't of been doing it for years!

Am 33 weeks pg with DC4 now & I can't wait to get back in the gym, I know it sounds vain but I will be disappointed if I can't get it back this time as for a start I don't want to have to invest in a new wardrobe.

bunjies · 08/04/2011 09:29

I'm one of those people who still look 6 months pregnant even though my youngest is 6, was even offered a seat on the tube last night Blush. I just looked at them scathingly and said "no thanks".

Anyway, how do you know if you have diastasis? Will a gp be able to tell?

StillSquiffy - would you please expand (!) on the theory that doing abs work will make it worse. What should we do instead?

wendihouse22 · 08/04/2011 10:28

Hands down.

My son's 10.....initially (through BF, I guess) I lost so much weight really quickly but now have returned to my standard pre-pregnancy weight. I'm a pear shape and my tummy will NEVER be flat. I also do not sport the petite derriere. Fuck it, what ya gonna do???

It's only a problem for me if I have to strip for the beach. I exercise at the gym. I eat (reasonably sensibly) and drink..... a bit. I'm 49 yrs old and frankly have other stuff on my mind.

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