What is up with my stomach?!

[ThymeLord]

As the title says really! I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem before. Bear with me; I've lost 7 stone in the last 15 months and have gone from a size 22 to a size 10. Yay. I've exercised continuously throughout so I don't have much in the way of loose skin, or so I thought. I happened to catch sight of my bare stomach in the mirror last night (whilst I was doing a plank) and nearly had a heart attack with what I saw. The best way I can describe it is that the skin/fat/whatever on my stomach sort of split into two definitive sections, with a gap down the middle, and hangs down. It's not exactly flat when i'm standing up but certainly nothing like this at all. I can wear tight tops and not have bulges/ripples so this has thrown me.

My first thought was it could be that thing where the pregnancy muscles separate but i've only had one small baby and that was nearly 15 years ago so I don't think it can be that.

Is it fat/skin/muscle? Am I doomed to never bend over naked? In all seriousness, if anyone has any experience of this I would be grateful to hear.

If you gone from a size 22 down to a size 10 then it’s going to be excess skin I’m afraid.

Thanks for replying. I thought that's what it was but I was hoping to be proven wrong. Dammit.

I have this too. Have also lost a lot of weight about 5 years ago. Combined with really bad stretchmarks, my stomach looks absolutely awful

Sorry to hear that Pidlan but well done on your weight loss!

Have you found anything that helps at all?

I haven't had significant weight loss but my stomach looks awful at that angle, I don't think it's particularly flattering for any stomach. Well done on your weight loss...a bit of excess skin is a small price to pay and you don't walk around on all fours.

you don't walk around on all fours

that made me laugh! You are right, I suppose not many people will see me from that angle! I'll keep up with the weight training and hopefully tighten up the muscles under the offending skin.

This happened to me. Lost 3 stone of baby weight, still a bit to go, my belly had been enormous. DS was being very cute on the floor so I got down on hands and knees to kiss him. Was in my underwear.

Shocked at the saggy drooping pouch, I was visibly shocked. DS, 3 at the time, said "don't worry mummy, you're belly is yucky but your boobs are good"

This was a few months ago. I checked again recently and I think it's very slightly tightened up.

How have you tightened it up Spoonful?

at your boobs are good!

I've been working on my core strength, and weight loss, and I think the huge gaping stretch marks and crepey skin are very slowly tightening of their own accord. (Youngest is nearly 2, I think I lost weight too quickly for the skin, so was very wrinkly. Same with my boobs for a while, but the skin on my boobs seems to also be tightening of it's own accord).

I'm using a nip and fan tummy cream. I honestly don't know if it's helping, but I'm using it daily.

Nip and fab, tummy fix.

Good for you. Do you mind me asking what exercises you do to target your core?

It's a really unflattering angle for anyone (unless you're 19 with super-taut abs and very low body fat).

My stomach is reasonably flat standing up, but I caught sight of it in the mirror in push-up position once and was at how much it hung down. I'm sure it wasn't always that way, but everything just gets a bit softer and saggier with age...

Most people are going to see you upright in clothes though, so I don't worry about it too much!

Mine does that too - 3 babies in 4 years seems to have buggered it. I don't think it's diastasis recti - I think it's stretch marks/stretched skin. I'm a bit overweight but not massively (size 12 but short) and when I've been thinner it's been worse. Youngest child is now 3.5 and it doesn't seem to improve much.

I go to body pump and realised I was really struggling with the core track at the end.

I booked a pt session and he tested my core strength with sit-ups and plank and wasn't actually too bad. During most gym classes I've been engaging my core, so slowly building strength.

The exercises he gave me reminded me of a Gabby Logan workout dvd I attempted after DS1, when I had absolutely no core strength. Gabby Logan Twin Results. I'd recommend it. Exercises include Side planks, lowering and raising hips in that position.

From body pump- lay on back, knees bent, lift hips off ground, straighten legs, with legs straight , lower hips back down and into start position. I remember being able to do this when I was about 6 with absolute ease!

Mine does that in the plank too! No kids, healthy weight etc. I reckon it’s gravity! Just don’t look!
Congrats on weight loss

I incorporated some of those moves from body pump into my usual routine Spoonful. I could barely sit up the next day! Going to persevere with it and see if it makes a difference, thanks for the tips