Once your baby, or babies are born, your stomach will slowly settle back down over a period of time. Weight loss through healthy eating and exercising will help you, but often this can only do so much.
Every woman is different, and many factors play a role in how well our bodies bounce back following pregnancy. Age, lifestyle, and genetics, just to name a few!
There are different types of issues that can occur, and the severity will be different for each woman. The issue could be lots of small stretch marks, or few large and deep lines, uneven and bumpy fat that just won’t go, or saggy skin. The problem area can be a small circle in the centre of the stomach or it could be an issue across the entire abdomen, all the way to the sides and the back.
It can be hard to commit to exercise and diet regimes as you will likely have your hands full, and how your stomach looks may not be a priority for some time, but where it is or where it becomes an issue, treatments are available.
The downsides of cosmetic surgery
Of course there are the surgical interventions, such as liposuctions, tummy tucks and mummy makeovers. These are often very expensive and very invasive. You will likely be in hospital for a while for the actual surgery, before recovering at home for weeks or even months. Depending on what you do for a living you probably won’t be able to get much work done and you would need someone there to look after you for this period. Surgery comes with a long list of risks, and most those risks aren’t very rare. Things can go wrong and long term problems may occur following on from such surgery. With many surgeries you must book in months in advance and go through a number of pre-op and post-op appointments, so a lot of money and time must be invested for such a procedure. The good part about surgery is that is does often get the body back to its original shape. However, often with scarring.
Getting support
If you are planning at going at tackling your post-pregnancy stomach with exercise and dieting I recommend you find a good support network, as its not as easy to get back into shape as it was before your pregnancy. Your body has gone through a lot and it will respond differently now, and it will likely take you longer to get back at the level that you were.
Its not a bad idea to work with friends and family members together, or to find a exercise buddy. Find a sport or type of exercise that you genuinely enjoy doing, as it will help you to stay with it for longer.
If you have the ability to do so, a personal trainer can really help you to achieve miracles. Even if you go once a month and work out solo for the rest, they can really help you to shape up your routine, show you what exercise is best for you and how you can achieve your goals. They help you to do things the right way, with the right form and in a way that you truly get the most out of your workout. PTs go through a lot of training and a simple Google search every now and again won’t come close to what you will learn from such a session!
You can also find support from a nutritionist or dietitian, especially someone trained in post-pregnancy weight loss. Your body has gone through a very intense experience and you are now very busy, getting help in setting up food regimes isn’t a bad thing. Again, a Google every now and again, following some simple food plan from a social media post or some standard diet plan won’t get you anywhere near to where a specialist can get you.
These types of support aren’t as expensive as you might think. However, if this is not right for you a slimming club could offer you a similar level of support for less.
Whatever you do, be very wary of loose fat quick schemes. There are many out there peddling pills and shakes and other unhealthy methods to help you to lose weight quickly. If the advice is to eat less healthy things such as fruits and vegetables, you are probably not in the right place!