Will I Ever Get My Body Back Again like It Was Before, or Is It Hopeless??!

K., if you find anything that works to lose that tummy, let me know!! i've gone to many dr's, and theyve all told me the same thing... the only way img oing to fix it is if i get a tummy tuck. mine is all just ugly, loose skin and stretch marks, its disgusting! everything else on me is in perfect shape, except all this excess skin (gross!!) so if you find something that works, please pass it on! good luck sweetie, i know how you feel!! ~R.

My son will be one in 3 weeks, and I'm just starting to feel 'normal' again. I gained 52 pounds while pregnant and have only 5 more to go to get to my prepregnancy weight. All I did was make sure I didn't eat over 1700 caleries a day (to do this I just wrote down the caleries I hate for about 2 days, then just adjusted from there. I never actually counted caleries everyday. The 100 calerie packs of snacks made it easy to get a ball park, plus I eat the same foods so I could easily estimate how many caleries I was eating). I eat a lot of whole wheat to keep my fiber intake high. The other necessary component is working out. I work out at home while my son watches his Baby Einstein Video. I have a little step stool and some hand weights. I used to take step arobics (pre-baby) so I kind of just make up my own routine. If you don't know what to do you can just jump rope for 20 mins a day. Also, I found THE BEST thing to do for the tummy area is bicycles (go online to get a good description of the proper way to do them). Losing the weight was NOT easy for me, and I struggled daily. I always try to come up with an excuse as to why I can't work out, but ultimately I do because I am the only one who can get my body back. Good luck.

I want to encourage you to keep up the exercise, but please realize you can't spot lose. In other words, if there's fat on your body, you will have to actually eat healthy foods, consume less calories than you burn and keep exercising. Those situps will strengthen your abs, but it won't melt the fat away.

Stretch marks are scars. In time, they'll fade, but will never totally disappear. The peddlers of cocoa butter would love for you to believe that you can make them go away by slathering it on but in all actuality, what you end up with is a high moisturizer bill and a very soft belly.

All of those weight loss commericals are are just that, commercials. They're selling a product and are surely not going to tell you it's a struggle to lose weight and that those smiling "success stories" had to really work at getting their pre-baby body back. Hang in there! If you set your mind to it, you CAN make it work for you. It takes hard work, though.

Hello K.,

I hate to tell you but those stretch marks will never actually disappear but if you use a cream specially formulated for them they can get lighter over time. As for you tummy you cant think of only focusing on one area that you think that you need to change. Your body in a sence has a mind of its own those sit ups may have been burning fat but your body didn't think that you needed to loose the weight from that area at that time. Have you tried interval training? Its where you do cardio 3x a week for atleast 30 mins. and strength training like crunches, lifting weights,or anything that helps to bulid muscle 2x a week for atleast 30 mins. that way you working your whole body and true enough at fist you might not loose just your tummy area but in the long run you may end up with a better then you ever imagined.

Hope this helps

I was 110 before I got pregnant, I got back down to about 125. It is possible to lose the weight. The best way to lose weight is to watch what you eat. Try to burn more calories then you take in during the day. But other than that exercise helps. I was a waitress while I was pregnant and it helped get rid of some of the weight.I had a belly button piercing too but I left it in the whole time.... I never took it out.

Hi K.,
I can't comment on the flatter tummy because my "baby" is 16 and I still haven't reached that goal, lol. But I don't try as hard as I could either. As far as the stretch marks go I used Re-Fine Stretch Mark Smoother from Avon and loved it. It's not a miracle cure by any means but it certainly faded the obvious.
HTH~~~S.

I wasnt skinny before I got pregnant, but i was in decent shape, during my pregnancy i gained 60lbs,and my whole stomach is covered with stretch marks! I have been battling the buldge for over 2yrs now! My stomach is also like jello, i dont feel like it will ever go back to normal. I was so fed up I talked to my Dr. Who said because i got so big so fast in pregnancy, the muscles and subqutaneous skin under my belly got ripped and torn. The muscles will never repair them selves correctly. I then went to talk to a plasic surgeon, after i saw some tummy tucks on TV. He too agreed that the stomach muscles had been torn, and in a tummy tuck they could A.) cut off most of my stretch marks and loose hanging skin and B.) sew and tighten stomach muscles. It will never look like before pregnancy but it will be 85% better than what i have now! I dont know how serious your condition is compared to mine.....but i seem to not have any other option. You need to be done having kids before a tummy tuck though. My sister also had a lot of stretch marks, and while she was able to get off the weight, her stomach is still covered with stretch marks and jello feeling.....Just a thought!