Where did I go so wrong??

[Lind]

Hiya LR,

Apparently, your stomach muscles can seperate during pregnancy and if you have a big baby, or a bug tummy then they might not go back. I was huge when I was pregnant and I had a C section, I got an infection in my scar and I couldn't exercise for a long time. My GP thinks maybe the muscles have stayed seperated and will not go back, if that is the case then I will have to have a tummy tuck to remove the skinand repair the muscle. I have had a look around the internet and it is really common to have to have your muscles fixed while having a tumy tuck.

Like you, I really don't want it. I can pick up great big hanfulls of it. I will be doing something about it and if I have to have surgery then I will because I don't want to be looking at it for the rest of my life.

 

[LightRaven]

Hey Lind,

I did a little more research on the subject... and I wanted to share this with you:

HowStuffWorks "Diagnosing Diastasis"

Basically it is a way of self diagnosing if the muscles have separated (interestingly enough, I didn't find any information saying that carrying too much weight can affect the muscles this way, but obviously I could have missed it)

I did try it, and from what I could feel (through the fat LOL! :8855: ) the space that I have inbetween those two muscles is good. I could be wrong because of all the fat I had to feel through.. I will continue to check as I continue to loose more weight. But I thought you might like to read what I found.. the site also has specific exercises to correct the separation, and exercises to avoid if you do have it.

I hope you find those mucsles nice and in place!

Does health insurance cover a tummy tuck? I think I'll be pretty annoyed to shell out $6000 for one (average cost here... ) Heres to hoping all this skin goes away and my muscles stay or are in place!!!

LR

 

[nexangelus]

If I hadn't of lost the weight I wouldn't have the tummy.

There are a few of us with the 'baby pouch'...blugh! I don't want to give into the tummy tuck option just yet (have only been doing the gym for a year) and mine isn't THAT bad, but when I bend over, oh my gosh, it is HORRIBLE (embarrassing and weird all at once), all this soft, saggy, stretch-marked stuff that just doesn't seem to happen to others! My beau has this too (he used to be 19 stone before I met him) and he is around 11 and a half stone now...

 

[Lind]

LR!!! Thank you so much for that. i went to the link and followed what they say about checking and I really could feel my muscles!!! I was so amazed that I made my husband and my mother in law feel them. :8855:But, it turns out that my tummy muscles are fine. I could get one finger between them and they felt quite hard and flat and not bulging. Those crunches have paid off, even if you can't see too much from the outside!!!! :8855:
Thanks again, you sending me that link has made me feel loads better about it. :flowers::thankyou:

 

[Lind]

There are a few of us with the 'baby pouch'...blugh! I don't want to give into the tummy tuck option just yet (have only been doing the gym for a year) and mine isn't THAT bad, but when I bend over, oh my gosh, it is HORRIBLE (embarrassing and weird all at once), all this soft, saggy, stretch-marked stuff that just doesn't seem to happen to others! My beau has this too (he used to be 19 stone before I met him) and he is around 11 and a half stone now...

i am going to give it at least a year too before I decide for definate whether I will have to do something about it. I didn't realise men can get it too. I don't want to look like a super model or anything but I just want a tummy I can be proud of and show off. A friend told me it sounds vain to say that but I don't care. !!

 

[Lili]

Hey Lind, congrats on ur loss! you're doing so well and not very far to go at all. i was thinking about the whole CD thing and trying to get rid of the rest by doing CD but thinking i'll do slimfast all the way.

ur pics are brilliant! i was contemplating putting some pics on but am worried someone might recognise me how silly. anyhoo good on u for the pics, u can really notice the difference!!

 

[sparkelwings]

i am going to give it at least a year too before I decide for definate whether I will have to do something about it. I didn't realise men can get it too. I don't want to look like a super model or anything but I just want a tummy I can be proud of and show off. A friend told me it sounds vain to say that but I don't care. !!

sounds like your friends got sour grapes lind. not vain at all, we all want to be proud of our bods!

 

[LightRaven]

LR!!! Thank you so much for that. i went to the link and followed what they say about checking and I really could feel my muscles!!! I was so amazed that I made my husband and my mother in law feel them. :8855:But, it turns out that my tummy muscles are fine. I could get one finger between them and they felt quite hard and flat and not bulging. Those crunches have paid off, even if you can't see too much from the outside!!!! :8855:
Thanks again, you sending me that link has made me feel loads better about it. :flowers::thankyou:

I'm glad I could help. I could only get one finger in there as well. Also, when I was telling my mom about the whole diastasis thing it got me thinking: From what I understand about anatomy... it wouldn't make sense for excess or even excessive weight to cause this problem. Diastasis is when the muscles are pushed out and separated... well.. fat is on top muscles. Which is why it can be caused by pregnancy.. and probably why I didn't see anything about excessive weight causing it. But both you and I had baby-zillas as well as c sections... so I wanted to share with you anyway.

I'm gald you found only one finger could fit! :8855:

And I don't think it's vain to have a tummy tuck as an option if your body's skin doesn't bounce back. How many years have we sat here trying to hide our weight... even hide behind our weight, while our thinner friends bounced around freely wearing all the latest clothing. It doesn't necessarily have to be revealing clothing either... The fashion industry has completely abandoned plus size women and has basically said we get to look frumpy. As if that is all we "deserve" because of what we did to our bodies.

So when it comes time that we have slimmed down... yes, we want to look good and not be self conscious about the after effects of loosing weight.

Next time your friend mentions that you are being vain, ask her if she thinks women who have breat augementation vain? It's important that we feel comfortable in our own skins. That's the bottom line.

(Also, your friend might be a little jealous. I've seen and read about many a friend who goes haywire when their other friend.. the "fat friend"... looses weight.)

Anyways!

LR

 

[Lind]

Hi LR, your right about the friend thing. She is bigger than me and I think she is prehaps feeling that if I am doing something about my weight then she should too. But at the end of the day i choose to do this and i also choose to try and look as good as I can. I consider myself a "work in progress" at the moment and loosing the weight is only part of it.

And, you are also right about the fashion industry. Now I can go into any shop and buy anuthing I have realised that there are so many wonderful clothes out there for me to wear. All I have to do now is work out what suits me so I don't end up looking like I should be arrested by the fashion police!! :8855:

 

[LightRaven]

Thankfully we have Lane Bryant in the States... its a more fashion forward retail store for sizes 14w-32w.... but other stores that are for plus sizes... it's like.. yea. My grandmother might wear that. That's about it! :8855:

As for your friend.. its amazing how we try to sabotage our friends when they are doing better than us.. in any area.. doesn't even have to be about weight. Girls are catty... I don't talk to them much :8855: except for you guys on here! I don't think its necessarily on purpose, but I think it's our ego's way of protecting it's self. Our Subconscious.. the super ego...is all about self preservation. Often, especially with women, seeing another women doing well for herself makes us analyze where we are at.. and if we don't measure up... we often find some type of flaw that we can sneer about. Just to make ourselves feel better. Human nature. But you aren't supposed to do that to your friends and family. Survival of the fittest is supposed to include your family... blood or not. Poo on her! :8855:

And besides... she'll never loose weight if she just sees you doing it. She's gotta want it herself. And if she doesn't just yet.. that's fine... but don't let her rain on your parade!

LR

 

[nexangelus]

And I don't think it's vain to have a tummy tuck as an option if your body's skin doesn't bounce back.

Neither do I...there are two ladies in the gym (older than me, so in their late 40s I guess) who never were able to move the baby pouch, even though they are slimmer than most (never were very heavy except at pregnany perhaps) who have both had tummy tucks to get their bellies in shape with their arms and legs, etc...if nothing else works and you have tried all conventional methods, then why not? Vanity and wanting to feel comfy are two different things...

 

[Smiley Bon]

Hello Lind I hope that you had a good weekend? Did you get up to much? the weather is glorious today! i wish i wasn't stuck in doors Hope you're managing to enjoy the sunshine with your son

 

[Lind]

Hello Lind I hope that you had a good weekend? Did you get up to much? the weather is glorious today! i wish i wasn't stuck in doors Hope you're managing to enjoy the sunshine with your son

Hey, yes thank you I had a lovely weekend. went out for luch on Saturday and it was lovely to sit in the sunshine and enjoy the warm weather. Took Eddie to the beach today! Was great to sit on the sand and play with the buckets and spades.


As far as my tummy love/hate is going, today I am hating it again. I am pretty much happy with the size of the rest of me, but my tummy is still big. I am worried that all that will happen is I will carry on getting smaller but I will stay the same shape and my tummy will still be big compared to the rest of me. I do lots of different crunches and I can feel the muscles are there but all this flabby loose skin is there and I just want it not to be. I have to learn to be patient and give it time, I know it will shrink to some degree eventually and I'm not planning on entering Britians Next Top Model so I should just let it be and see what happens.

 

[LightRaven]

Hey Lind, can I ask you a favor? Could you tell me what kind of crunches you are doing? In detail so I can do them? Or atleast where to find instructions of the ones you are doing?

Also, do you think it would be ok if I did them on my bed as oppsed to the floor? We have hardwood floors in my house, and even when I had carpeting in my old house, even attempting to do a crunch or a situp would be painful. It absolutely kills my back. I was wondering if crunches would still work if I did them on my bed.

I could get a yoga mat or something, but the floor is still too hard. Wonder if when I get thinner it won't hurt so much?

LR

 

[Lind]

LR, the crunches I do are;

1. legs bent hands supporting head but not holding the weight of the head. I started off just raising my head and neck off the floor. I started off 1 lot of 20 reps.

2. legs on floor straight out in front, hands in same position as before and same amount of reps.

3. legs straight out and apart about shoulder width, hands same as before and same amount of reps.

4. legs straight up in the air, so at 90 degree angle with hips. lift head and shoulders up and try and touch each ankle with opposite hand. Again 1 lot of 20 reps to start.

I started off doing these very slowly and only one lot of 20 per set. I build it up by increasing another lot of reps to one set of crunches per week.

I now do 5 lots of 20 reps for all the 4 different crunches and I will keep trying to increase it. It takes me about 20 minutes to do them all and if I don't have much time then I do half in the morning and half in the evening.

As for doing it on the bed, if it was me I wouldn't. Beds are soft and won't support the small of your back, and I don't know how effective it would make the exercises.

It used to hurt my back on the floor too. I bought a yoga mat and put it on a thick rug and that was good. But it does get lots better. Now the weather is good I do mine on a rug in the garden. (It's not over looked. lol) My back doesn't hurt anymore but to be honest I don't know if it's the weight loss or my back getting stronger. Probably a bit of both.

I took some of the crunches from Madonna's personal trainer and some from an exercise dvd and the one with my legs in the air I got from the physio department at the hospital.

I hope that is all ok for you and let me know if I haven't explained it well enough.

 

[LightRaven]

Thanks Lind! I'll try these tonight. Hopefully Ayleigh wont view me laying on the floor as an invitation to use me as a jungle gym... :8855:

LR

 

[Lind]

LR, Eddie uses me a a climbing frame every time I do them around him! :8855:


I am needing to get back into my diet. Totm and all that and haven't really bothered that much since Easter. I have still been doing my exercises but I have been pretty much eating what I want.

I think I am going to carry on the wayI have been until Monday and re-start then. I'm just getting a bit bored of it all now and I know this is the most important time when I need to be a bit firmer. I am so near goal now that I really don't want to be messing it up by thinking everything is ok and I can just go back to eating what I want.
My friends husband has made me this fantastic programmer for the computer. It's a bit like the Weight Loss Resources web site where you put in your weight and measurements and how much a week you want to loose and it will work out you calorie allowance that will allow you to loose up to 2lb per week or stay the same. I'm going to get started with that on Monday and I am hoping it will help me because I am only going to have one SF meal bar for brekkie now and try having normal lunches to see how I can manage once I reach target weight.

 

[LightRaven]

Hey Lind.. got questions about the crunches.

I did them tonight. I pulled out some rubber play mats that I used to put down on the floor when Ayleigh was an infant so she didn't crack her head on the hardwood if she fell...So I did all of them except the last one. Well.. I got three in before my neck and shoulders were like "ENOUGH!" :8855:

So I have no idea if I was doing them right. I only did one set of each. And I really didn't "feel" anything happening in my abs. The only muscle I could really feel being engaged was the top set of muscles in the abs. Nothing in the middle.. nothing in the bottom.... which I would say is my biggest problem area... the area which I believe is "shot" due to the pregnancy/c-section/carrying too much weight in general.

Also, my neck was really straining... so I really tried to support it.. because my understand (limited may it be) is that the object is to lift or crunch with the stomach muscles, and not with your neck, shoulders, back, or with your arms pulling on your neck. I guess my head is heavy :8855: So I was really holding my neck/head up...

Little help here? lol! Thanks!

LR

 

[Lind]

LR, I look at the ceiling when I do them, it stops the neck straining. But I have to say when I first started doing them it took me a while to to feel it further down than the the top of my abs. I was told that it was "normal" for that to happen, and muscles need to get "used" to working again.
Also, breath out when crunching, so when you lift your head and shoulders for the crunch breath out at the same time.

I hope you have better luck today!!

I just need someone with some ideas for flabby inner thighs now!! :8855:

 

[LightRaven]

LR, I look at the ceiling when I do them, it stops the neck straining. But I have to say when I first started doing them it took me a while to to feel it further down than the the top of my abs. I was told that it was "normal" for that to happen, and muscles need to get "used" to working again.
Also, breath out when crunching, so when you lift your head and shoulders for the crunch breath out at the same time.

I hope you have better luck today!!

I just need someone with some ideas for flabby inner thighs now!! :8855:

:8855: I was looking at the ceiling!

Ooo you should try resistance bands. expecially the ones that are looped (a complete circle)... or that have two velcro attachemnts so you can attach them to the ankles.. or wrists. It makes it really easy just to sick your ankles in there and do leg exercises. For the inner thigh area, one exercise that I know of is to stand, hold on to a chair for balance, and do leg lifts out to the side... and then another one is to cross one leg over the other. (Like, bring your right leg across your left).

They sell the bands for cheap on Amazon. And you can easily look up resistance bands instructions on the net. They also have DVDs... I have one from Amazon... made by the 10 minute solution line... there are 5 different works outs.. all 10 mins each. Makes it easy when I only have 10 mins. Which... I usually don't have that! :8855:

LR