Belly fat/c-section question...

shaindelr

Hi, All,

I have what might be a silly question. People talk about your body "holding on to" belly fat after pregnancy and especially after a c-section. Technically, though, if you lift weights to build muscle, do cardio and burn calories that way, shouldn't you lose fat everywhere, even if it's hardest to get it off your tummy?

I've been running fairly regularly since my LO turned four months old. (Before that, I was taking walks while babywearing and doing yoga.) And I've been watching my diet, working on high protein, low carb, etc.

I just keep hearing from people of the "that's just the way it is after you have kids" line of thought, but I don't want to get discouraged. I do feel like everything is toning up *much* faster than my stomach, though. I'm really afraid of getting back to my pre-pg weight and still having "jelly belly."

What has your experience been?

JG362009

I was below my pp weight after my c-section and in ridiculous shape -- I was stronger and faster (at running) then I'd ever been in my life.  Everything was super toned and strong, BUT I still had the weird c-section indent where from a profile view I still had a littler pucker.  It had improved from the "over-hang" I initially had, but I still had an ugly gross indent.  You can only see it when I'm naked though, so I suppose that's the upside.  I honestly think I would look 100% if I had delivered vaginally -- the only thing that looked different was my weird surgical indent.  Kind of sucks.  So, you will tone up, but things might not ever look exactly the same.  

shaindelr

JG362009:

I was below my pp weight after my c-section and in ridiculous shape -- I was stronger and faster (at running) then I'd ever been in my life.  Everything was super toned and strong, BUT I still had the weird c-section indent where from a profile view I still had a littler pucker.  It had improved from the "over-hang" I initially had, but I still had an ugly gross indent.  You can only see it when I'm naked though, so I suppose that's the upside.  I honestly think I would look 100% if I had delivered vaginally -- the only thing that looked different was my weird surgical indent.  Kind of sucks.  So, you will tone up, but things might not ever look exactly the same.  

Thank you so much... I wasn't perfect by any means before pregnancy, but I'm a petite, pretty in shape sort of person. I was 5'1" and 112 lbs before pregnancy. So I'm not used to having the muffin top and belly jiggle that I've got going on... I've definitely been losing weight steadily since running. I just wasn't prepared for my stomach to still be looking like this when my baby's almost 7 months old :-(

Thanks for the encouragement, though!

taurus5683

I have lost all but about 5 lbs and I do have a flat stomach but it is unfortunately flabby where as before it def was not I work out regularly (insanity, 30 DS, walk, and jog) watch what I eat but I dont know that it will ever get back to pre-preg status, however I do feel like little by little the flabbiness is going away and it doesnt jiggle like it was a few months ago but it is still soft

cs1007

I think it takes a little while...I also had a c-section and still have the 'indent' described above...I don't think that ever goes away. When I eat really clean and exercise, my abs do show again, but it took a while of consistently exercising. Also, are you mixing your workouts? I find that my stomach looks best and firms up most when I do Jillian Michaels or kickboxing, pilates, etc. Running is great at burning calories, but working all those muscles in different ways really helps it look/feel more toned.

I really should not even be (talking) typing right now since I just ate a big bowl of icecream...hahaha!

shaindelr

cs1007:

I think it takes a little while...I also had a c-section and still have the 'indent' described above...I don't think that ever goes away. When I eat really clean and exercise, my abs do show again, but it took a while of consistently exercising. Also, are you mixing your workouts? I find that my stomach looks best and firms up most when I do Jillian Michaels or kickboxing, pilates, etc. Running is great at burning calories, but working all those muscles in different ways really helps it look/feel more toned.

I really should not even be (talking) typing right now since I just ate a big bowl of icecream...hahaha!

I'm not mixing workouts right now... I was doing Nia twice a week really regularly (It's like pilates, martial arts, and modern dance fusion), but it's hard to make time for classes. Right now, I just head to the 24 hour gym when I can. It's no frills--cardio machines and weights.

Thanks for the suggestions, though. We have a bunch of workout DVDs. Just need to make time for them.