Losing Weight After a C Section

I had 2 c-sections with both my kids.
The first being an emergency.

One thing, talking about myself, I did lose some weight.
But not all.
My stomach still looks poochie.
But my Doc, told me that I have what is called "Diastasis." (you can look it up online).
Which is a separation of the abdominal wall/muscles.
There are varying degrees of it.
But, due to this, my tummy still protrudes.

But per Diastasis, it is not good to do stomach crunches. You need to do stomach exercises that work the Obliques. ie: diagonal stomach exercises. ie: crossing one elbow to the opposite knee etc.
If you have Diastasis, and do traditional stomach crunches, it will actually make the tummy protrude more.

Anyway, just an aside bit of info.

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I am with you! Had my first son naturally, second via c section and definitely harder to get weight off second time. I waited until 8 weeks to start working out. With 2 now I find very little time to work out but eating right has been the key. I've dropped the 30 lbs but having lots of trouble with my tummy as well. I have a workout video I am going to try called "belly, butts and thighs" All my trouble spots! I think it has a lot of sit up and crunch type workouts for tummys.

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I don't see that this is a c-section issue. Most people say they did not bounce back as fast with second baby. If you are 6 months postpartum, you should be able to work out your core like any normal person. Soon enough you can focus on abbs. But fat is fat and if there is fat on your belly, its about loosing pounds, not doing crunches. I've had two C-sections.

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Sure... losing weight after a C-section is the same as at any other time. Fewer calories and more exercise! You probably aren't going to lose a ton of weight the first month or two but as soon as you're cleared to exercise there's no reason to wait.

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I had three c-sections and was able to lose all the weight all three times. It was hard to get started, because your tummy is sooooo delicate for such a long time. I mean, your stomach muscles were just severed! It's a routine surgery, yes, but very invasive.

So, start slowly. I started by laying on the floor and just flexing my toes. I did this from about 8 weeks post-op. Then, as my stomach strength increased, I started just barely lifting my head off the floor, then alternated by lifting my feet off the floor, just for a few seconds. This continued to build my strength.

I also walked on a treadmill with weights in my hands, lifting the weights over my head and walking like that for a while.

To keep the weight off, I work out three nights a week, 20 minutes on an elliptical, followed by a series of push-ups, sit ups and leg lifts. I also try to be active, shoveling snow, gardening, things like that. I still have some extra skin on my belly, but I'm okay with that. It's my badge of honor for giving birth to three kids!

Of course, you have to limit your food intake. If you are breast-feeding, you can't limit too much. But you can definitely limit your sugar intake. Watch out for sodas, energy drinks, and specialty coffees. They can have so many calories.

Even diet sodas are shown to not help with weight loss because they trick your body into thinking it's getting something sweet and it spikes your blood sugar anyway.

Hope this helps.

http://keystosimpleliving.com/health_exercise.php

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I also had two c-sections...both of my kids were over 10 pounds.
To lose the weight cut the calories and exercise. I would avoid the crunches as that may make your stomach protrude more rather than make it look better. Working on your core muscles should be your focus.
Even when you get to your ideal weight, though, you will most likely still have that extra skin at your belly area and won't have the flat belly you might wish for. You can also try one of the belly wraps (depending on how long it has been since your last c-section.) I think they have both a postpartum wrap and a workout wrap to help get the skin and your body around the belly area back to normal.

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