Hi Moms -
I'm an average height, low-side of average weight woman. My body is generally slender, except in one place - my belly. I look like I'm four or five months pregnant, without the benefit of actually being so. My abdomen is not flabby - it's pretty solid if you touch it when I'm standing - but looks suboptimal. Any ideas of why this may be? I eat in moderation and am relatively active (though I only started regular exercise recently). Will ab exercises help, or make it worse (i.e, more prominent)? I would love some educated/experienced thoughts as to the cause and the cure. Thanks!
Moms, thanks so much for the answers and for demonstrating that I'm not alone! I do have partially separated ab muscles as a result of my pregnancy, so that may be the culprit (although I think it has become more prominent in the past six months or so). I will reevaluate my diet (but won't be cutting out sugars - my sweet tooth is stronger than my narcissism), add fiber, drink more water, and may even try a cleanse that one poster suggested. I'll also do some appropriate ab work, including Pilates. If all else fails, a trip to a plastic surgeon may be in order after I'm done having kids (obviously, the option of last resort). Thanks again!
Do you have problems with wheat and gluten? I have celiac and until I was diagnosed, I always had a belly. I weigh 100 pounds and am active, and I still had a belly. It was not flabby, either. In fact, my son is two and I now have a flat stomach. I was diagnosed right before his birth.
Me too, I've even had people ask me when I'm due as they see my "baby bump"....so embarrassing. After tons of research I found that I had a diastasis recti problem (muscles in your core split) which I found some excercises made it worse (yoga) and some made it better (pilates). I stumbled upon http://www.lindsaybrin.com/ who focuses so much on this muscle issue, she has tons of great workouts, some are free on YouTube. After doing those exercises along with lots of extra planks I went through my pantry and ditched sugar/carbs etc.... I eat lots of fruits/veggies/Salmon and lean turkey. I also take extra fish oil and Vitamin D (both proven to help shrink tummy) as well as drink a psyllium husk fiber drink 2x's a day. I also found www.greensmoothiegirl.com and started down a path of green smoothies with added Hemp Fiber and all though I have flabby skin (I can tuck it into my pants, lol!!) all my belly fat is gone. Eventually I'll have a mini tummy tuck to take off the excess skin;)
you are so cute! i loved your question - good vocab and witty - funny girl! i know i'm not helpful, sorry, but it was cute & i had to tell you! :)
i have no advice. i was asked on monday if i was 5 months pregnant...yeah, i'm not. :)
lol, i'm used to it, but hate it.
anyway, good luck mama :)
A friend of mine had this happen after she had her daughter. She's totally itty bitty everywhere else too; it seemed very strange! She worked out on a very regular basis. A few things she found to work: no alcohol, no sugar - other than fruit, but she even limited that. She cut out all soda, juice, anything with extra sugar. Initially she cut out pasta and cheese and limited bread (but she's back to eating more of that). She did a lot of cardio and Pilates... I guess crunches/sit ups made it much worse, she said. Her tummy looked SO much smaller in a month, maybe even less. It was nearly flat... It was so strange! She is convinced that it was cutting out sugar and doing Pilates. Good luck!
By the way, to S H. Your husband asks you that!? Do you kick him!? I think I would if it were my husband!
Hi HappyMama,
No one has mentioned a build up of toxicity in your digestive system. Can I be gross for a minute :)....do you evacuate an hour after EVERY meal? If you don't there is a build up in your system that is distending your stomach area. (I dont care what anyone says about going once a day is fine.) It can also be the cause of a lack of nutrition that can break down your immune system. I use a fiber product that can cleanse over the course of a week or two or you can go to the health store and ask one of the reps there. If it isnt a toxicity buildup, a cleanse will not hurt you. If it is, it will definitely help....
God bless!
M.
PS If you do decide to cleanse you will probably have a low grade headache through it....As the toxicity exits the body, some tends to get reabsorbed into the blood stream....After the cleanse is over, you will feel great!
It could be that your ab muscles have separated during pregnancy and not gone back together.To my knowledge only surgery can fix that. HTH
So I assume in the past you were pregnant and had kids.
If so, then, like myself, some women get "Diastasis" from pregnancy.
This means, that the abdominal wall muscles, separates. Thus, you look 'pregnant' still.
For this situation, do stomach exercises that work the Obliques.
ie: crossing your elbow to the opposite knee, when doing stomach exercises. DO NOT DO traditional stomach 'crunches.' This will make the stomach protrude more.
That is per my Doctor.
My Doctor is the one that told me I have Diastasis.
And yes, I do. I have an abdominal wall separation.
So, when my Hubby tells me how come your stomach still protrudes, I tell him IT IS CALLED "Diastasis." PER my Doctor.
IF you have Diastasis, look it up online.
You also have to do cardio exercises, to burn more calories and up your metabolism... and burn more 'fat.'
Mine is like that too sometimes....and directly proportionate to the amount of fiber that I eat.....or don't eat. Lots of fiber = flatter belly! It's easy to get to over 30 grams of fiber a day if you add a little to water, have some double fiber toast, fiber yogurt and some fruit for a snack. Good luck!
I feel your pain. I've been asked twice this month if I was expecting! Talk about motivation to exercise! I'm also very average in size. I'm 5'-4" 139 lbs and a 29 " waiste. But below the belly botton, things need help. Excersie will NOT make your tummy bigger. working out your core is like builing and internal girddle to hold it all in. Even if you don't loose a ton of fat, good core exersie helps you have better posture, and to suck it naturally without thinking about it. You and me both sister. Best of luck.
I have the same problem! And I've tried all kinds of exercises and workouts, and the belly remains. I just have to ask though...do you drink alot of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, etc? My dr. asked me how much I drink & I had to admit that I on average I have about three 24 oz Diet Pepsi's every day. She said if I would cut out Diet Pepsi and drink water instead by belly would go down. Well, as much as I'd love that to happen, I know it won't because I love my Diet Pepsi :) Please send me a message & if we both have this problem due to this, I'd be willing to try to cut-down. But to be honest I really don't believe it could be the reason...what do you think?
Aspartame and all other fake sugars can do that -including sorbitol which is in all gum. Try cutting all of this out and see if it works. There are other diet factors that it could be-without knowing how you eat it will be hard to help. Do a google search on this though for more info.
You described me, especially after I eat a big meal! Obliques excersizes, cardio, weight lifting and eating healthy will help a lot! I've lost about 3 inches in about 4 months.
However, during pregnancy, the ab muscles often seperate and protrude, so that could also be a part of the problem. The only way to help with that to get it totally flat again is surgery.
I agree with Susan, and you probably have diastasis recti. This is where your ab muscles pulled off/apart while pregnant and will always protrude. Exercise will help make it better, but it won't ever go away unless you have plastic surgery. I plan on seeing a surgeon around Christmas (a few months after my next delivery) to find out more...
How old are you? I'm concerned that you say your belly is firm and bloated. Especially since you said it has increased over the past 6 months. A number of serious health issues have subtle clues like bloating. Do you feel pressure? Any change in bowel habits? Fatigue? No need to answer on the forum, but it will give you an idea if there might be a problem. It is likely nothing more than the other problems listed however your symptoms warrant a trip to your primary care doctor.
