I still look pregnant 5 months after having DS - will dieting alone get my belly back to normal?

[MandyBOO]

or am i going to have to have a tummy tuck after all?

Seriously, i have lost count of the number of people who have asked me when im due even though i had ds 5 months ago!

Cant fit into any of my old clothes (despite BFing!) and am getting down about it tbh.

I am 11 stone 5 lbs and was 9 and a half before i got pregnant. Im fairly tall so dont look particularly overweight but then my belly looks so much more obvious because im slim elsewhere iyswim!

Any suggestions?

I might have to buy some bridget jones style pants!

You need exercise, not a tummy tuck! Your abs are weak. If you do Tae Bo or pilates, to strengthen them up, they will look much better, and it will help avoid back problems, too.

the exact same thing happened to me, Mandy (although my humungous arse offset my flabby belly rather well).

I didn't bother dieting while bfing and the weight gradually reduced, with the final few pounds dropping off when I stopped bfing.

NQC is right about exercising though - dieting won't help your saggy abs.

Check they haven't separated too much before you start exercising though - if you lie on your back then curl your shoulders off the floor, is there more than a finger-width vertical gap between your abs, an inch or two above your belly button?

My baby is 16 months and I still have weight to loose to get back to what I was.

I go on my exercise bike most evenings, walk to school twice a day and have salady things for lunch, as well as been cutting down on coke and cutting out chocolate, wine and crisps. It is a lot harder to loose the weight after baby number 3 than it was with one and two.

Oh, I should have said - I have got two kids, 5 years and 2 years. I'm now about 10 kg down on my pre-pregnancy weight, largely thanks to lifestyle changes, I have never dieted. (Granted, I am not thin now, but I am thinner, and v much healthier.)

After each pregnancy, I found I didn't lose any weight from leaving hospital to about 6-9 months after the baby was born. At that point, the baby started sleeping through, I was no longer tired all the time, and hence felt like preparing and eating real food, rather than boosting my exhaustion with sugary crap. I also felt like exercising more.

thanks guys - will book in for some body combat sessions me thinks!!