how do i get my stomach back after having a baby

[thoushallhustle]

i gave birth 3 weeks ago and im feeling ready to exercise. ive never had to work out before or diet so this is all new to me. my stomach isnt too flabby i would like to lose maybe 3 inches or so and define my abs. is there any way for me to tone up without having to cut out junk food i love sweets too much to give them up.

 

[stepbackj34spud]

@Rockstar Mom

 

[Rockstar Mom]

My stomach is eternally fukked up from giving birth

But its tight and not sagging anymore Cardio and weight.

 

[unit321]

i gave birth 3 weeks ago and im feeling ready to exercise. ive never had to work out before or diet so this is all new to me. my stomach isnt too flabby i would like to lose maybe 3 inches or so and define my abs. is there any way for me to tone up without having to cut out junk food i love sweets too much to give them up.

Eat healthy. Stay away from the "I'm eating for two" because you aren't anymore.
Also breast feed or at least pump it. Milk generation is a huge calorie burner. Once you stop the milk production, you stop burning extra calories.
Get to exercise. You don't have to go Ironman. Go for walks with the baby in the stroller. The stroller and baby are mild weight resistance.

 

[Rawtid]

From my understanding you can only see abs by losing the fat around your abdomen. You're not going to lose very much fat still eating junk food and sweets, but you can most certainly lose weight/tone up and keep them in your diet.

 

[Anothergirl]

Eat healthy. Stay away from the "I'm eating for two" because you aren't anymore.
Also breast feed or at least pump it. Milk generation is a huge calorie burner. Once you stop the milk production, you stop burning extra calories.
Get to exercise. You don't have to go Ironman. Go for walks with the baby in the stroller. The stroller and baby are mild weight resistance.

yeah i've also read this. breast feeding helps shrink the stomach and uterus back down to size more quickly. @thoushallhustle i wish you would have ask this question 9 to 11 months ago. the trick is to watch your weight WHILE you're pregnant. be dilligent and not let yourself ballon up to big from the jump. (try to gain only the recommended weight) makes it easier to shrink back down once you deliver from what i've seen with the homegirls. that's what's i'm doing.

 

[Adam3000]

You're not going to lose very much fat still eating junk food and sweets,.

That is 100% false, more of a correlation issue than a causation issue. Bro science, honestly.

It is certainly hard to lose fat if you are eating junk food and sweets because you are probably eating a shyt ton of calories, that is where the correlation comes into play.

However, if you are eating under your maintenance calorie level you will still burn fat, even if a chunk of those calories is coming from Sweet Tarts and Twinkies. So basically, if you are diligent about counting your calories and staying under your calorie maintenance level you will still continue to burn fat every day. Perhaps not to "fitness model" levels, but certainly low enough where your stomach can look pretty damn good.

All I would have to say to the OP though is....being a non-active femaile, good luck staying under maintenance while on a junk food diet. One of those little bags of Doritos and a can of soda is going to probably eat through 1/3rd of your daily calories, then a quarter pounder and fries from McDonald's is going to eat through the remainder and you won't be getting much protein to build that all important muscle. But if you take your time to map out your meals and you find yourself with a spare 200-300 calories to eat, feel free to grab a bag of Skittles its all good.

 

[Rawtid]

That is 100% false, more of a correlation issue than a causation issue. Bro science, honestly.

It is certainly hard to lose fat if you are eating junk food and sweets because you are probably eating a shyt ton of calories, that is where the correlation comes into play.

However, if you are eating under your maintenance calorie level you will still burn fat, even if a chunk of those calories is coming from Sweet Tarts and Twinkies. So basically, if you are diligent about counting your calories and staying under your calorie maintenance level you will still continue to burn fat every day. Perhaps not to "fitness model" levels, but certainly low enough where your stomach can look pretty damn good.

All I would have to say to the OP though is....being a non-active femaile, good luck staying under maintenance while on a junk food diet. One of those little bags of Doritos and a can of soda is going to probably eat through 1/3rd of your daily calories, then a quarter pounder and fries from McDonald's is going to eat through the remainder and you won't be getting much protein to build that all important muscle. But if you take your time to map out your meals and you find yourself with a spare 200-300 calories to eat, feel free to grab a bag of Skittles its all good.

Thanks for the clarification!! I was going to add something about calories and maintence but I didn't quite know how to word it. So basically as long as you stay under your calorie range, you'll burn fat. To follow up on that would a person with a junk food diet be hungrier? I was told that junk food is "empty" calories and doesn't do much for satiation or does it just depend on the person?

 

[Adam3000]

Junk food doesn't necessarily lack in terms of satiation, depending on what you mean by junk food. A big ass grease burger is certainly going to fill you up and might keep you full for quite a while, while a candy bar will not. Certain fats and sugar could both be looked at as junk food, but fat works pretty well for satiation and sugar does not. The problem is, fat has over twice as many calories per gram as protein/carbohydrates, so you will eat up your calorie limit far quicker if you turn to fat for satiation rather than protein or fiber.

The term "empty" calories in regards to junk food generally doesn't refer to satiation, it is more about their lack of nutritional density.. If I eat 100 calories of vegetables I am filling my body with vitamins and minerals and fiber and revving up my metabolism as my body digests the food. If I eat 100 calories of Skittles, I am adding nothing to my body but a quickly digesting source of energy (sugar), and when my body has no more use for that energy it is stored as fat. If you are on a calorie deficit that won't matter, because your body will just use that sugar for energy and then whatever energy it still needs will be burned mostly from your body's fat stores--so you will still burn fat, you just won't get the other nutritional benefits, thus "empty" calories.

The higher your maintenance calorie level, the greater the chance you will have to get a full days worth of nutrition while still being able to eat these empty calories and remain a fat burning machine. With my gender, height, weight, age, and activity level, my maintenance calorie level is about 2,650. I find it very easy to get a ton of protein, fiber, healthy fats, and slow digesting carbohydrates and still end my day with 400-500 calories to spare. I do whatever I want with those remaining calories and I am very lean, and even back while I was on my year long weight loss journey and wasn't already lean I was still doing whatever I wanted with those spare calories and I continued to drop fat. However, as a non active female, the OP probably has a maintenance level more around 1,800 so it will be hard to get muscle building, metabolism booting nutrition while still eating crap foods.

 

[Adam3000]

I suppose it is also important that I mention that you can also increase your maintenance calorie level based on the types of foods you eat

That is because your metabolic rate is partially influenced by the thermic effect of food. In other words, how many calories your body uses in order to process the food you eat. So techinically, 100 calories of sugar vs. 100 calories of protein is not equal in that regards, and eating protein instead of sugar will increase your metabolic rate and thus burn even more fat than had you ate the sugar. However, the grand scheme of weight loss, the thermic effect of food is not even in the same realm of importance as your resting metabolic rate or exercise.

Eating the correct food may help your body burn an extra few calories, but it will be not significant enough to justify depriving yourself of guilty pleasures. That is just a formula for long term failure.

Let's look at some math, although understand that these are just estimates:

Let's say you are 800 calories under maintenance and are aiming to be on a 500 calorie deficit. That means you have 300 calories to spare.

Now lets pretend you are eating a source of 100% protein vs. a source of 100% sugar for those last 300 calories.

Approximately 25% of those protein calories might be used to digest the protein
Approximate 5% of those sugar calories might be used to digest the sugar

At the end of the day 225 calories will be used for other fuel from the protein and 285 calories will be used for other fuel from the sugar. So by eating the protein, you have essentially "increased" your metabolism by 60 calories that day.

60 calories is a drop in the bucket, relatively meaningless compared to the mental benefit you may gain by satisfying your craving for a bag of Skittles instead of eating a dozen egg whites.

Now, if you are finding yourself fighting this battle multiple times daily, then the total effect over a long amount of time may be noticeable. Nothing that a little cardio can't make up for though.

 

[thoushallhustle]

My stomach is eternally fukked up from giving birth

But its tight and not sagging anymore Cardio and weight.

did you have a csection?

 

[thoushallhustle]

yeah i've also read this. breast feeding helps shrink the stomach and uterus back down to size more quickly. @thoushallhustle i wish you would have ask this question 9 to 11 months ago. the trick is to watch your weight WHILE you're pregnant. be dilligent and not let yourself ballon up to big from the jump. (try to gain only the recommended weight) makes it easier to shrink back down once you deliver from what i've seen with the homegirls. that's what's i'm doing.

well ii only gained 25 pounds while i was pregnant but I wasnt all belly. I am breastfeeding every hour so hopefully that helps. I just want my flat stomach back already

 

[Rockstar Mom]

did you have a csection?

Natural

 

[Elle Driver]

You should talk to your doctor, cause I think you're only allowed to work out about 4-6 weeks after giving birth so speak to your doctor first. You gotta strike a balance between working out and eating right. Allow yourself to have a break, you're a mom, you brought a life into this world that's a really big accomplishment. Anyway, if you're trying to lose the belly weight, it all comes down to calories in, calories out. There's no such thing as spot reduction, it might come off your belly first cause maybe that's where a lot of the fat is, so just focusing on being active.

 

[Raava]

^^ I think it is 6 weeks. This book I bought says focus on transverse abs. But first you have to start with over all weight. Then core exercises, it takes time. Give your body time to heal first.