Am I just stuck with the tummy pudge forever?

[sevenofnine]

I have been working out and "dieting" (not really dieting, but smaller portions and clean eating) for over a month now. I have seen some changes, but I have a feeling I am going to be stuck with the extra tummy pudge forever.

Does anyone have any experiences they can share? I know that weight loss in general is needed to combat pudge, and that you can't just work a certain area.

I just feel like I am going to look terrible forever. I never was super thin to begin with. But now I feel awful about how I look. My husband says I look great, but I hate what I see in pictures.

Before I got pregnant, I was about 130lbs. Now I am about 140lbs. I already felt too heavy pre-pregnancy (I am only 5ft 2in). I think my ideal weight is more like 120lbs, but I've never really been there. Maybe for like a minute when I was 13 or 14.

I am almost a year post-partum. The weight seems reluctant to come off, but then again, I am working out as well so it might be muscle building as well.

Any experiences to share?

 

[sevenofnine]

Oops, sorry, this probably should have been posted in dieting & fitness!

 

[mercedybear]

I am the same as you 5ft 2 inch and weighed 125 before LO. I gained 25 with pregnancy and lost 20, now left at 130 but my stomach is so pudgy and driving me nuts! I am on a 1200 calorie "diet" and try to exercise but LO will only give me the opportunity for 20 mins every 2nd day.......interested in the answers

 

[sevenofnine]

I am the same as you 5ft 2 inch and weighed 125 before LO. I gained 25 with pregnancy and lost 20, now left at 130 but my stomach is so pudgy and driving me nuts! I am on a 1200 calorie "diet" and try to exercise but LO will only give me the opportunity for 20 mins every 2nd day.......interested in the answers

Between my LO and just life, I fit in about 30 minutes every day now for high-intensity exercise. I look forward to summer when it'll be easier to be active!

The last 10lbs just doesn't want to go!!!!

 

[george83]

I really struggled after my first son was born and know how depressing it can be so massive hugs. After about 6 months I'd decided enough was enough do as well as going to the gym 3/4 times a week I brought Tracy anderson's post pregnancy DVD and did some of that 5 times a week which helped my stomach but I didn't really get anywhere until I went back to work and I think that changed my metabolism a bit

 

[roomaloo]

That last 10lbs is killer! I was really lucky and lost all my preg weight bar 10lbs about 2 weeks pp but can't shift the last bit. Grrrr.

 

[eew1471]

I am in same boat as u too left with about 10 lbs! I have just started the gym on my lunch break and will see how that goes! I have noticed that wearing spanx makes me feel sexy again and smooth! I just now this last ten is going to be a long battle. My husband says I look the same as the day we met but I look at myself and see a chubby belly! I guess I should be glad that my arms and face went back to normal so at least I have that! Good luck to us all it's tough getting back to a happy point but it will be worth it to be that sexy lil mama with her cute lil baby!

 

[mspotter]

Welllllll, i was 9st11 when i got pregnant with ds in 2011. I lost most of the 2st i put on pretty quickly doing not much to help it along. I ended up taking forever to lose the last half a stone. I seriously never thought i'd be under 10st ever again.
I got on the scales on 13/12/12 almost a year after he was born and i was 9st13 woooohoooo!! Later that day i pee'd on a couple of sticks and found i was pregnant with dd lol!
So here i am almost 5 months after i had dd weighing in at 10st8 and i reckon it'l take me until the summer to lose the 11lb i have left to get back to my pre both babies weight. I'l have to be pretty strict with the diet and excercise too as i'm def not one of those lucky people that can do it without.
Xx

 

[dancing P]

I know how you feel I had a c section and was soooo unhappy with the way I looked! 2 months ago I started doing insanity work out, it is so hard work but so worth it! My baby bulge at the bottom has almost gone! I have lost 13lb since I started the workout! I put 2stone on but now I only have 4lb to go its really worth doing xxx

 

[Pearls18]

I've never struggled to lose the weight, breastfeeding seems to zap the life out of me both times I have lost weight very quickly. However, as soon as I stopped last time it was very easy for me to put weight back on my stomach, it's the first place weight goes now,so while I have found the weight loss easy, unfortunately my tummy is much more susceptible to weight gain now.

 

[Smiler82]

My stomach is terrible!! I really think that pregnancy ruined my stomach muscles and am telling myself the bulge is just my internal organs sticking out more because the muscles can't hold them in and it's not really fat. HAHA.

Everywhere else is exactly the same as it was pre-pregnancy, but now when I look down, I look like I'm about 20 weeks pregnant or something. I am annoyed with myself but at the same time I just can't muster the motivation to do anything about it. I used to do Davina DVDs and they really work. It's just finding the time and space to do it...impossible at the moment.

I think you're prob right about the muscle gain adding to weight - which is why I never bother weighing myself, I just go by how I look and my jeans But joking aside I am sure that pregnancy ruins your abs so is prob worth focussing on the abs for a bit and see what happens. I know you need to strip the fat before you see any difference in that area, but I'm sure they need a bit of extra attention after carrying a baby.

 

[petite ping]

I would love to give you a positive story but nope. I still had a belly after 11 months despite hitting the gym 3 time a week. Most of my friends lost their belly years after their last child but only after going on extreme diets.

 

[jd83]

Haven't lost my belly pouch yet I'm back to prepregnancy weight, but the belly hasn't gone, and I honestly don't think its going to. From what I have seen with most friends who have kids, they all still have belly pudge going on too, unless they were very thin, gained next to no weight, and went right back to prepregnancy size a week later. In which case we all secretly hate them for that. LOL.

I have friends who go to the gym pretty regularly and still have a bit of belly they just can't seem to get rid of. I don't exercise much, just walking occasionally. Most of my weight loss has been portion control and eating better. I'd also love to lose more, but finding the time to fit it in after working all day, cooking dinner, playing with the kids for a bit, getting them ready for bed, etc....Just don't know how to do it. I already feel like there isn't enough time for what I already have to do all week.