does anyone ever really go back to pre pregnancy body?

[fulllife]

hi, am a bit bummed out since realizing after birth how much FAT (not water, blood, baby) i really gained during pregnancy (10K), and now after 6 weeks also realizing that it doesnt "fall off" as everyone keeps saying...

is this some kind of sisterhood-conspiracy that nakes everyone lie about how their pregnancy flab just magically disappeared?

is there anybody out there that really-squealy got back to their pre preg weight, and if so how long did it take them and what did they do?

need some light at end of tunnel - have end-of-alphabet cup and look like a kangooroo. used to be LITHE!

We adopted our two daughters. 6 years later I'm a bit fatter (if it's any consolation.....) Nothing to do with childbirth but more to do with huge quantities of kiddy food about the place which are so hard to resist...Just saying this is making me want to go and make a rice pudding!!!

Sorry realised I forgot to say what I did:

Low fat, low carb (although not ketosis) calorie controlled diet, logging everything I ate online.
Lots of exercise, both cardio and weights, and exercise DVDs at home.
Weight came off at rate of 2lbs a week until last stone then more like 1lb a week, so as I lost 4 stone took several months and I didn?t start until he was 6 months old.

In terms of the comments about kiddie food, yes if it you regularly finish your DCs meals and eat extra rubbish then you?ll put on weight.

Everyone is different. I was always big, but while pregnant I just craved fruit. A few weeks after giving birth I was back in my pre-pregnancy jeans. I don't know if I'd lost weight (always too scared to get on scales) but I was a different shape, flabby bits in different places.

For most people it takes effort to lose weight. Some people lose weight when BFing, others lose it when they stop. Some people (like me) lose it a long time afterwards with a strict diet and exercise regime. I joined Slimming World when DD was 2 and I lost 3 stone... I'd needed to lose it for years. This time around I'm under no illusions... I'll have to do it all over again, but I'm still a lot lighter than I was after having DD. It's taken me 9 months to put the weight on whatever weight I've gain and I expect it will take at least 9 months to lose it too.

I do have a friend who went straight back to her size 8 pre-pregnancy body. A few weeks after giving birth she actually went out clubbing in a catsuit!!! But that's one friend out of many.

I felt cheated too. Everyone said that if you breastfeed then the weight drops off which I guess may be true for some but I lost absolutely nothing until I stopped breast feeding.
I did weightwatchers 6 months after my DD was born and lost the majority of the weight. Then I started excercising and didn't lose anymore weight but became more toned. I maintained a weight that was still 10lbs more than my pre baby weight for a couple of years and then piled weight back on.
More recently I have become a vegan and am now actually half a stone lighter than pre baby days... yipppeee I hear you say.... not quite. I might be the same weight as I was then... and even the same body fat ratio... but nothing will ever take away the stretch marks, badly formed belly button, crepey breasts and skin tags

oh god yeah the saggy belly button :(

i don't know anyone who has escaped childbirth unscathed from that one, even the skinniest of pingy-back-into-shape ladies!

The thing is though, your pre-pregnancy body (or pre-children body) might be the body you had in your 20s, and by the time you reach you 30s/40s you're going to look different anyway, whether you've had children or not. My body has changed in lots of different ways over the last 10 years - some of which are related to having children (stretched tummy-button, knackered leg - don't ask!), and some of which are not (various scars, wrinkles around my eyes).

But I like to think that my body says what I've done and where I've been, and is more interesting now than in my 20s, because it has a history . . .

The thing is though, your pre-pregnancy body (or pre-children body) might be the body you had in your 20s, and by the time you reach you 30s/40s you're going to look different anyway, whether you've had children or not

yeah thats so true bram i have a friend who is really obsessed with her (admittedly nice) figure, she's always down the gym etc, and she is horrified of the thought of losing her looks and figure and doesn't want kids because of it she is only 29, she doesn't seem to have realised that kids or not, she will lose her figure and looks eventually :o

personally i would take my 2 dc over looking perfect anyway! not that i ever really did! and when i had a flat tummy and perky boobs they didn't make me half as happy as my kids do now. :)

My first pregnancy, I was 8st 10 when I got pregnant, and 10st 7 when I had the baby.

24 hours labour with nothing to eat, over 9lb baby, lots of water lost, there's the placenta too, followed by shiteola hospital food and madly feeding baby ... I was incredulous and displeased to discover when I got home I hadn't even lost a stone! Bloody cheek!

Baby continued to feed like a maniac and I was soon losing a pound a day. It was fascinating to lose weight like that while stuffing my face. By the time he was 5 weeks old I was 8 st 2! Tummy was a bit ahem softer but the clothes-on impression was fantastic.

Second and third pregnancies both finished at 10 st 7 (seems to be my 9 months' pregnant weight). But getting it off again was a different story - much much slower. I have just got back under 9 stone after nearly 4 years.

Much smaller babies 2nd and 3rd time around, so must have had more fat on me combined with less milk taken I suppose.

I put on 3 stones while pregnant and lost a stone through the giving birth part (baby + water IYKWIM)
Took me about 12 weeks to lose the other 2 stones, I think BF helped along with sleep deprivation, stress and walking DD for miles in the pram every day to try and get her to sleep! It's not a weight-loss plan I would recommend!
Even though I'm back at my pre-pregnancy weight, I've got a bit more sagginess (if that's a word) than before.

I look exactly the same no stetchmarks, crepey skin, boobs exactly the same etc. However I have always been celeb slim as such, didnt put on much weight, mum is in 50s and hasnt got stretchmarks or anything either, also did lots of exercise before birth and was very toned, do lots of physical work both in employment and pushing around a hilly area, bump was all baby and I didnt breastfeed.

I personally think it is a combination of all them and luck.

I put on 2 stone and it took months to come off. When I started weaning the weight really fell off and by the time I stopped breastfeeding at 13 months I was lighter than before the pregnancy. I'm rather saggy though with horrendous stretchmarks. But I look great with my clothes on :-)

Actually I think the mobile ds got the faster the weight loss. I chase him all over the house to stop him climbing and banging and rarely get to eat hot food.

I go back the same but not until after about 9 months ish.
Luckily though I never got stretchmarks, and nothing sagged or went loose. After dd1 I actually looked better a yr later, as my hips went broader and I looked more in proportion. Also don't undestimate the muscle toning that will happen from lugging a huge mobile baby around when they start getting into everything. Dd1 didn't walk til nearly 16 months and was a huge baby, guns and thighs of steel doesn't cover it.
Give yourself 9 months to a yr, very few people ping back, even the naturally thin.

I've always had a weight battle but was at an ok weight when I became pg. I put on about 4 stone in the end, and lost 2 quickly but struggled with the rest. I walked every day, more than I've ever done, and tried to watch what I ate but it was hard to shift the weight. After 6 months I took advice and starting exercise 3 times a week (at home, when baby napping, for 45 minutes whilst watching a dvd). It finally worked for me and my middle sprang back into shape. For me, the walking didn't do it. It was the light bulb moment that I'd lost my muscle tone and until I worked it hard through sit ups, etc, it wouldn't go back into shape. After following weightwatchers too, I finally hit my goal weight.... and now I'm pregnant again! I'll know the best approach for me next time though, WW and regular toning sessions to get back to pre-preg size!

.... wonders what Victoria beckham's belly button looks like...

I put on 45lb, was back to prepg weight by 4 months (10 stone), 20lb lighter by 6 months. I put it down to bf, being more active picking up and carrying baby rather than sitting at a desk all day boredom eating. Tummy looks fine when standing up straight but like rhino skin if I bend over. Boobs currently better than ever before as still bf.

yes junebug i have to agree with you

since having DC the ONE part of me that has improved noticeabley are my upper arms, they are very toned and slim and i am sure its due to lugging them about and also pushing buggies.

Ooh yes, the hanging stomach when bending over.... nice. Good point on the toned arms though. Myy DD still likes to be lifted on occassion at 5 years old and I'm in no hurry to stop her

I was always told 9 months on and 9 months off and that really worked for me. I put 3 stone on in total and it gradually came off over the following 9 months. I didn't follow any kind of diet, did breast feed, and did go out for walks regularly with the pushchair.

My tummy isn't as flat as it used to be and the boobs are not the same shape as they were but I've got a beautiful boy to show for it. The best diet plan that I've ever seen is French Women don't get fat. It's really good common sense and more importantly is something that you can follow for the rest of your life.

You're doing brilliantly, your body is still in recovery mode from giving birth and adjusting to being a Mum. :)

I was a stone overweight when I got pregnant, and I put on just under 3 stone in pregnancy (7lbs of it when I ate all around me post-dates, went 13 days over!).

I was back at my pre-pregnancy weight at exactly 10 months (nine months off!) and lost another stone in the next three months without really trying.

(Sorry, I should say I did do weight watchers to lose that last stone but I used breastfeeding points so really, you can eat a lot so it was WAY easier than at any other time I have done any slimming programme in my life... being on mat leave also helped as I could walk every day as much as I liked and had none of the usual work pressures...)

Well, i managed to get to 3 stone light after 2 dd's. I was always a size 14-16 for as long as i have known. I am now a 10-12 and pretty well toned so it is possible.

Not unless you have surgery. I am very slim, but my stomach is deffo saggier than it was, despite constant exercise

I'm now mid 40's and had 2 children early 20's...I dont recall gaining any fat when I was pregnant and weigh the same now as before I had children

I found it hard to get back into exercise. One step at a time though! I will get back into it. At the moment I'm doing this: www.mamamio.com/uk/bootcamp-for-tummies-skincare-and-exercise-system.html Just 4 minutes a day but I do notice a difference ;)