I need to get rid of my baby belly! (hormone, pregnant, workout)

[dreameyes]

I have small baby belly from my second child. I'm not concerned about losing weight; I just wanna get rid of my little baby belly. Tone it up a bit. I go for a walk pretty much every weekday with a mother's group some of us have formed in the neighborhood. It's fun and a pretty good workout pushin that stroller! I wanna focus more on getting rid of this belly and toning it a bit. I'm not talkin like a six pack or anything here. Ya watch I'll just get it toned to the way I'd like just to get pregnant again....lol But I'd also like to be a bit better in shape too for my health. Everyday I look at it and think Man! I gotta get rid of this! I'm just lazy I guess. I could say I'm too busy with cleaning and taking care of my kids but nope....its just laziness and lack of motivation. I thought maybe if I had some encouragement and someone to be accountable to it would help. Anyways can someone tell me the best way to tone up my abs and reduce my baby belly. And I don't wanna do anything like go to a gym or buy elaborate equipment; I just want something quick and easy you know that I can do whenever. Any help would be appreciated.

[dennis s]

Pregnancy causes your abdominal muscles to stretch quite a bit. After child birth the abs can't "hold in" all of the intestines as well as they did before they where stretched. there may also be fat deposits over the muscle adding to the "baby belly" delima.

You can tighten up your abs with crunches or sit-ups 3 sets of ten to start and work up from there. At first you muscles may hurt the next day so skip the day when it hurts but keep on it and it will work. As for any fat you may have, this may go away because of the exercise but eat good foods and drink lots of water, especially if you are breast feeding.

[dreameyes]

Thanks dennis. I've been trying to do crunches everyday; just hasn't been going to well.

[dennis s]

Originally Posted by dreameyes

Thanks dennis. I've been trying to do crunches everyday; just hasn't been going to well.

It's hard for me too

signed, beer belly bob




P. S. don't stop though, it's the only way.

[luv80s]

Hi Dreameyes,
Someone posted a question similar to yours and I suggested the same thing walking, it seems to tone it up. After I had my son I bought a book from Amazon called "Lose Your Mummy Tummy" which is suppose to help you lose the baby belly. I didn't follow it through so I am not sure if it works good or not but it did get good reviews. Also, I used a video called "8 Minute Abs". Its really quick but works great! My husband did the exercises with me and we both would be sore the next day. The New York City Ballet exercise video is good too but long.

Anyhoo, good luck! I know I will be in the same boat in just a few months. We're pregnant with our second one also. I miss my old body

[dreameyes]

Congratulations luv80s! It's so exciting to have a new baby. I can't wait for my third (no I'm not pregnant ) Thanks for the advice.

[mrdude]

eat less, exercise more. simple as that

[Jago Holmes]

During pregnancy your body changes in all manner of ways. But it is also equipped with the ability to recover from such changes very quickly. You should be cautious about the type of exercises you do as some can actually make your stomch much worse and cause permanent long term damage. It all relates to a hormone called Relaxin which allows your body to change during pregnancy.

To read a free 10 point report you can visit www.greatshapeafterbaby.com] and click on the link under the photos on the home page to get the report totally free - Jago

[WhereTheSidewalkEnds]

You can't target getting rid of fat. Your body will lose it first where is chooses to. Doing sit ups, etc. will tone the muscles, but unless you loose the fat over them, you'll have tones muscles under the fat.
Really ramping up your cardio is probably what you need to do. Running doesn't cost anything and for me, is extremely effective. It can be really, really hard to get started and I think the key is not over doing it at first or you'll end up hating it and quitting. Even if you have to start out by running for a bit then walking, running, walking, you'll slowly build up your endurance.
Do something along those lines with the abs workout (I would really recommend getting a fitness ball - much more range of motion for working the abs) and you'll start to see a difference.
It takes a while to start a habit and until then it can be really hard to make yourself do it, but once you've got the routine and start seeing an improvement, you'll feel guilty when you DON'T exercise! Good luck!

[movingtohouston]

I found that pulling in your tummy muscles or "core" muscles helps a lot. I have a fitness ball workout program that tells you to pull them in and up. When you are walking with your stroller try it. Sounds silly but it helps.