Beating The "Baby Belly"

[foreigngirl]

I was beating my head over this (still am)


After pregnancy, one of the biggest concerns for women is that dreaded 'baby belly'. But there are a number of exercises women can do to squash that belly permanently.

How much exercise a new mother can do depends on how much exercise she undertook during pregnancy and if she had any delivery complications. Women should listen to their bodies and be willing to adapt their routines to suit both good days and days when they might be feeling under the weather from the demands of motherhood.

Abdominal and pelvic floor muscle exercises are a good starting point for most women. To help with toning the abdominal muscles, all abdominal and postural exercises will help. However, those women who have had a C-section should avoid these exercises for a while. A woman can actually start exercising within hours after delivery with a simple "pulling in" of the abdominal muscles. This type of exercise can help bring the uterus back to its original size and expel residual blood.

A good overall postpartum exercise and diet plan will help women lose the extra pounds, which should include the fat stores around the midsection. While light exercise is fine, aggressive dieting and exercising is not recommended while breast-feeding.

 

[foreigngirl]

How can I get my body back where its suppose to be after having a c-section, its been bothering me for 2 months now and I am going nuts over it

 

[Sassy69]

Does your doc give you any guidance on this? Because that was fairly invasive and traumatic surgery I know I would certainly hesitate before offering advice on physical activity. Your stomach is goign to have some challenges because of the surgery. The rest, just as with any diet & training program, you just simply cannot force. As I said on another thread, first you need to consider that your body is still recovering from the trauma of the birth itself. After that, are you eating enough and getting enough sleep to recover adequately just from your new life as the Baby Chaser, Queen of all the Baby Gets Into, Wife of Jr's Dad, New Mom, You, etc.? Then when you're sure you have all those bases covered, THEN you can start looking at how you can hit your body. Obviously we want to look at your diet to make sure you are getting enough and the right stuff. Then its up to you to make sure you can stick to that diet, get the foods prepared, dont' skip meals, etc, don't fall into emotional eating, etc. And drink enough water! Then the training .. again make sure you are recovering enough, make sure you are getting in good quality & intensity sets. You don't have to spend hours lifting, but what you do, you need to make count. Cardio - this may be really important for you to make progress along w/ the diet. For me, even as a sort of veteran BB competitor, I can't lose bodyfat w/o significant cardio.

And at the end of all that, you need to give yourself 6 -8 weeks to get the whole routine established, get your body used to it, start makign some progress and also more time post-birth. Patience & persistence. And DON"T get worked up about whether or not you think you are making the progress you think you should be makign. You have ALOT on your plate right now and you don't need extra cortisol buildup from addition self-created stress.

 

[jenscats5]

How can I get my body back where its suppose to be after having a c-section, its been bothering me for 2 months now and I am going nuts over it

Another thing you have to consider after having a C-section is the state of the muscle. I think I read it can take up to a year to recover..... Plus the muscle may need surgical repair. Stop beating yourself up & give your body time to heal. You had major surgery 2 months ago!!

Here are some links that may help:

http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/pregnancy/cesarean.html

http://pregnancyandbaby.com/read/articles/247.htm

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/simone9.htm

http://www.postpartum.net/shape-up.html

 

[foreigngirl]

Does your doc give you any guidance on this? Because that was fairly invasive and traumatic surgery I know I would certainly hesitate before offering advice on physical activity. Your stomach is goign to have some challenges because of the surgery. The rest, just as with any diet & training program, you just simply cannot force. As I said on another thread, first you need to consider that your body is still recovering from the trauma of the birth itself. After that, are you eating enough and getting enough sleep to recover adequately just from your new life as the Baby Chaser, Queen of all the Baby Gets Into, Wife of Jr's Dad, New Mom, You, etc.? Then when you're sure you have all those bases covered, THEN you can start looking at how you can hit your body. Obviously we want to look at your diet to make sure you are getting enough and the right stuff. Then its up to you to make sure you can stick to that diet, get the foods prepared, dont' skip meals, etc, don't fall into emotional eating, etc. And drink enough water! Then the training .. again make sure you are recovering enough, make sure you are getting in good quality & intensity sets. You don't have to spend hours lifting, but what you do, you need to make count. Cardio - this may be really important for you to make progress along w/ the diet. For me, even as a sort of veteran BB competitor, I can't lose bodyfat w/o significant cardio.

And at the end of all that, you need to give yourself 6 -8 weeks to get the whole routine established, get your body used to it, start makign some progress and also more time post-birth. Patience & persistence. And DON"T get worked up about whether or not you think you are making the progress you think you should be makign. You have ALOT on your plate right now and you don't need extra cortisol buildup from addition self-created stress.

Thank you soooo much, I kinda needed this understanding, cause I was worried that I was pushing myself to do more and more and that I was going way too fast. With these 2 kids and my husband being the 3rd one, I hardly have time for myself. By the time he leaves for work - I am too tired to cook myself a meal. I'll look at the recipes to see if I can find something that I can do quickly, cause I'm sick of the chicken on the George Formans grill. But, as I said I am gonna open my log for my diet and workout...

 

[fmorrow6]

I had a c-section with my daughter, Emily, in december of 2003. I have a three year old, rock solid, destroyer of a son, so as soon as I came home from the hospital, 3 days later, I had to pick him up (all 36 pounds of him) and hold him and give him some attention ( he missed mommy). It hurt, yes, but I'm stubborn and stupid. I also started working out again right away, and didn't follow my doctor's advice. Because of the heavy lifting, the skin healed fine, but the underlying muscle have more scare tissue and didn't heal properly. My doctor had told me to only lift my baby for at least six weeks, and no heavy lifting or abdominal exc. for at least six months, maybe even a year. Now, in order to fix it, I will have to have surgery (cosmetic, of course, it doesn't physically bother me). My advise is to listen to your doctor. Take it easy for a while, after six weeks you can start some light cardio, light lifting, maybe some bodyweighted excersizes (squats lunges, etc.) The most important thing is to focus on that sweet baby. I, too, worried about my bodyshape too much, and now my daughter is a year and a half, I should've spent less time worrying about me, and more time gazing in her perfect blue eyes.....

 

[foreigngirl]

I had a c-section with my daughter, Emily, in december of 2003. I have a three year old, rock solid, destroyer of a son, so as soon as I came home from the hospital, 3 days later, I had to pick him up (all 36 pounds of him) and hold him and give him some attention ( he missed mommy). It hurt, yes, but I'm stubborn and stupid. I also started working out again right away, and didn't follow my doctor's advice. Because of the heavy lifting, the skin healed fine, but the underlying muscle have more scare tissue and didn't heal properly. My doctor had told me to only lift my baby for at least six weeks, and no heavy lifting or abdominal exc. for at least six months, maybe even a year. Now, in order to fix it, I will have to have surgery (cosmetic, of course, it doesn't physically bother me). My advise is to listen to your doctor. Take it easy for a while, after six weeks you can start some light cardio, light lifting, maybe some bodyweighted excersizes (squats lunges, etc.) The most important thing is to focus on that sweet baby. I, too, worried about my bodyshape too much, and now my daughter is a year and a half, I should've spent less time worrying about me, and more time gazing in her perfect blue eyes.....

Oh my God, you scared me so much right now. But its good, you just opened my eyes. I'll have to do some light weights then, I guess, and more reps...
Thanks girls...

 

[texaschick]

I had a c-section with my daughter, and I swear by pilates for getting my tummy back into shape. I stayed out of the weight room and only did light cardio and pilates for 2 1/2 months and then very slowly got myself back into working out with the weights.

As everyone else has said it is sooo important to plan your meals...and no skipping. Are you nursing? As I am sure you know that will help TONS!!! Eating good food + nursing + light cardio will almost guarantee quick fat loss.

Hope this helps!!!

 

[Sassy69]

TC makes an excellent point-- one of the best things you can do (and I learned this at the cost of a rotated pelvis and 3 months of chiropractor visits and some very HUMBLING re-training) is keep your core strong. Pilates is great for that. Not to mention just the overall stretching and associated "relaxation" aspect. Going straight to heavy resistance training is sort of the mainstream approach, but in doing so, its easy to skip the really simple things associated with your core strength.

This might be a way for you to get back into things and establish a hella strong base to start back into the heavier stuff later. Still no reason to rush into things. Everythign with your body should be set around shorter steps to a longer term goal. That keeps you focused as you attain your goals, you have the next one to move to as well as setting realistic expectations that you can get some fairly immediate satisfaction from.

 

[foreigngirl]

I had a c-section with my daughter, and I swear by pilates for getting my tummy back into shape. I stayed out of the weight room and only did light cardio and pilates for 2 1/2 months and then very slowly got myself back into working out with the weights.

As everyone else has said it is sooo important to plan your meals...and no skipping. Are you nursing? As I am sure you know that will help TONS!!! Eating good food + nursing + light cardio will almost guarantee quick fat loss.

Hope this helps!!!

No, I'm not nursing. I am sticking to the basic plan: eat small meals every 2-3 hours. My mistake is not getting enough cals: only 955 per regular day. I have to get my diet better...
Thank you on the info, thats why I joined this forum, I just had to hear from GIRLS with experience (not only listening to what my husband thinks I'm ready for)