Ok, so I had my 2nd child almost 4 months ago now. I have successfully made it back down to my pre-preg weight (118 lbs.) but my stomach has cellulite that doesn't seem to want to go away. I have a very healthy diet and exercise 4-5 times a week (pilates, elliptical, free weight etc.) With this not working I was wondering if any of you mammas had any suggestions for getting rid of those darn dimples.
Hi A.,
You are on the right track! Are you on an absorbable multivitamin/mineral complex? That will do wonders for cellulite. I also take a grapeskin extract supplement that restores the elasticity to not only my vascular system but to my skin as well.
Hope I helped!
M.
Give it time. It took about two years until my tummy straighten it's skin back out. I was also well exercised and back to pre-pregnancy weight very quickly but it just took time.
I agree with the other posters. I don't think its cellulite but stretched skin. Give it some time for your belly skin to go back to normal. Congrats on getting back to prepreg weight so guickly!
Good for you for getting back down so quickly! Remember that it took 9 months to put on, and it's okay to take that much time (and for some, longer!) to get it off. Your body stretched for that long, and with each progressive pregnancy your belly skin is less elastic and able to get back to it's prepregnancy shape. It sounds like you are doing what needs to be done; it probably will just take more time than it did the first time. Good luck, and hang in there! For me, post-3rd child, even though my weight is fine, my belly still shows that I have 3 children. . . I will probably always have the stretch marks, but I hope that one day I'll have time to focus on the "jelly belly" that still lingers! :-)
Just four months??? WOW! I have to say that getting back to pre-preg weight in less than 9 months is amazing!
Your muscles are still working on getting back to pre-pregnancy shape, so I'd suggest that the "dimples" are not necessarily cellulite.
Give it some more time. It took 9 months for your body to stretch and gain the weight, and it will take at least that amount of time for it to go back to "normal".
Welcome to the realm of "the second child flap". I'm afraid it sort of comes with the territory that it gets harder to lose after the first lol. My suggestion, and it has worked some for me is to simply change your posture when you are walking, carrying etc. Make sure your shoulders are back and your tummy tucked in to where you would like it it. My muscles in that area literally needed re-training. Over time I've lost a little of it, but all in all its been sort of my "badge of mothehood" lol.. I walk four miles a day and spend several minutes morning and evening stretching. Most of my stretching is for my legs, hips and lower back. Seems to help put things into place. Never gotten my hips back to where I wanted them..seems that my first one made sure that will never happen (she kicked one them completely out of the socket). But I've found that most things have gone back to where they were supposed to be simply by making sure I stand up straight when I am doing things like carrying a backpack..making sure I lift things correctly so as not to hurt my back etc. I still have dimples too..but they do fade if you keep at it.
You may never have your stomach look the same. It is probably not the cellulite, but the overstretched skin. It is very common for women to have saggy skin with stretch marks after carrying a pregnancy to full term, especially more than once. I love this website that normalizes the body changes that occur after pregnancy & birth: http://theshapeofamother.com/ Perhaps after seeing the photos of other women's bodies after birth, you won't be so hard on yourself.
