Tips on How to Slim Belly After Having Baby!

Remember the Hula-Hoop? I just started doing it with my son, after 3 kids I am still only 108lbs but have the "baby belly" ( my kids are also spread out from 17 to 3yr, my youngest (the 3 year old) passed from SIDS at 75 days, but she is still one of my kids) my 5 year old and I started hula-hooping. Works WONDERS! Just start slow, the first week, I swore I gave myself a hernia:-) Plus it is a ton of fun!

People say that it doesn't, but I swear that cutting out all or most red meat helped me get rid of the bloated look. Also, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, suck it in and tighten those abs. I have defined abs that people ask what my workout entails, and that is all I do! But, I do it all...the...time, so they're constantly getting a workout.

I don't know if I can explain it, but someone told me when I was preg with #1 to do these after baby was born to get rid of 'baby belly.' lay down on your back with your arms to the sides for stability and put your legs straight up in the air, then just lift (using stomach muscles) your legs up off of the ground. this helps to tone those lower muscles tht situps don't touch. Something you should know is that it doesn't matter how toned you are if you have too much body fat, in women the muscles of the stomach are located behind the fat, which is why women are rarely seen with a '6 pack.' This exercise has helped quite a bit for me, but I have never had much body fat to contend with.
~good luck!

First off, if you really do still look pregnant than it might be a medical/physical problem. Often the muscles split and if they completely separate, crunches will make it worse - not better. Your doc should be able to tell if this happened to you. If it has (I forget the medical term for it) than there are specific exercises you can do to help.

If that's not the problem, all the crunches in the world won't really help. It's mostly fat and lose skin, not the muscles. On women, the fat covers the muscles so you can have really toned ab but still have a flabby belly. The best way to lose fat is, of course, healthy eating but do strength training to tone everywhere and lean muscle all over your body. The lean muscles burn way more energy (calories) than just doing aerobic exercises 30-60 minutes everyday. So cut back on cardio and focus on strength training. If you do it everyday you'll notice a difference within a couple weeks. Don't do every muscle group everyday, though. You get better results if they have time to rest and heal (because when you do that you technically 'rip' the muscle and it has to rebuild) for a day or two. So do back/abs one day and arms/legs the next day.

Good luck, I just snapped out of it and realized it's May already and just started to get serious about toning up for the summer. My 3rd kiddo is now 8 months old and I still look like I did right after she was born!

ARe you looking for EXERCISE tips or something in addition to that?

You HAVE to weight train! Cardio is fine, but it WONT tone your muscles NOR will it do for your metabolism what weight training does. Muscle burns more AT REST than fat, so you NEED to weight train......for the rest of your life.

Do exercises that are "full body exercises". i.e. A bent over row or back exercises in wall sit (airbench) position so that you utilize your abs, legs, etc. as well as your back & biceps.

Where are you located? I'm a certified personal trainer who's been in the biz for over 30 years.

Eat a healthy diet and include cardiovascular activity daily. Doing a gazillion sit ups will only tone the midsection, NOT burn fat from that area. Sure, everything will appear nice and toned but if you still have abdominal fat in that area, you won't have that 'whittled' look.

What kind of exercises are you doing for your lower back?! Most people don't understand how important your lower back is to your ab shape. Your abs and lower back work together to support and stabalize your entire body. If you are toning your abs and not your back, you are only doing 1/2 what is necessary. If you are going to a gym, the roman chair is an excellent way to do what I would call a back sit-up. You can also do a less intense version on the floor by laying on your stomach and doing small chest raises with you hands behind your head. Be sure not to come up too high. You could strain your back.

a juice fast and/or a colon cleanse can help a lot. don't do it if you might get pregnant though... and be sure to research it a bit so you know what you're doing.

I did a gym program with school. I needed extra classes to stay full time and my son was 18 months old so I figured it was about time. (I wish I would have stuck with it!) Anyways...I did a aerobic routine for 45 minutes---lots of legs and abs...then I did a strength training routine for 45 minutes. I didn't lose lbs but the inches fell off. (I would have lost lbs but I was starving by the end and would stop off and eat fast food afterwards for lunch cause home was 45 minutes away---should have packed!)
Anyways, the best exercises that I found were bicycle abs...move your legs like your peddling and upper body goes side to side always staying tight. Push ups and planks. Planks are like yoga I think. You put your toes on the ground and elbow to arms flat on the ground and hold everything else in a line off the ground. It works great, but it's hard and hurts. Always having someone to work out with helped me out too, and being "required" to be there.

When I was working out when younger, I would use this wrap that you put around your stomache (it velcroed so you could make it as tight as you felt comfortable) and it would make me sweat more in that area, thereby making my stomache leaner faster. I haven't worked out much since I was younger (before my two girls) and I'm not sure if they still have them available (though I think they do) but I did purchase it at Walmart and it worked really well!!!! Congrats on getting in shape and Good luck on everything! And the key thing is that you are living a healthier lifestyle. Whether you lose a bunch by the time of the wedding is not what's important, it's helping your body be at it's best. If it takes longer than the 8 weeks you have to get toned then just work with what you have. The "flowy" shirts are all the rage right now. Get a shirt that is really flowy and looks stylish while also hiding your (probably little) "pregnancy belly". Or I have a shirt that works great because it has a great neckline and accents my chest (without being revealing) but has a more relaxed kind of flowy stomache part with sequins where just below the chest and top of the stomache meet. I get compliments all the time on "how skinny I am" even though I still have a stomache pooch. Also, it helps if you have your arms toned too. And pushups are the best thing for that. I got my arms toned so quick just do like 15 or more pushups 1 or more times a day (how many ever times feels okay to you). And not drinking soda and staying away from salty foods that retain water) a few days prior to the wedding, if not longer.

I love this video:

http://www.amazon.com/Hilary-Burnetts-Pilates-Basics-Burn...

Have fun!

First of all lots of water this washes out all the bad stuff. Then eats lots of fiber this also cleans out the bad stuff. The thing about it is we as women retain alot of the stuff we do not want like salt, fat, ect. So if we can eat things that can help us flush all that out that is 75% our battle.
When it comes to being healthy 75-80% is diet, 15% is excercise, and 5% is mind set. So it is all about what we put in our mouths. If we can keep this in mind we would be more conscious about what we eat.
The last thing I know works is lay low on carbs for the next eight weeks. Keep your carbs sources limited to things like fruit, and veggies. Other then that no rice, pasta, or potatoe. Well have a great day.

Cardio is the only way to loose the layer on top of the whole body...in order to appreciate all of the hard work you have been doing underneath...(crunches, etc...)get jogging.....jumping rope, walking with the intent of cardio...tight tummy thighs butt, moving arms above heart, pushing off with heels and breathing in the nose and out the mouth in a good rhythem.....cardio is what you need right about now....assuming your diet is on track....

good luck

Try getting the book Lose Your Mummy Tummy by Julie Tupler, she has a technique that helps slim the belly fast. I'm doing her exercises and seeing very noticeable results!

I found that walking two to three miles, at a pretty fast speed, three to five days a week helps drop the weight and slim the belly pretty quick. Kick boxing also worked quite well for me. Before investing a lot of money in work out videos and classes you don't know will work for you, try checking out a few from the Library to see what you like.

Ok, there were lots of suggestions about good exercises/diets, etc. but here's my 2 cents...keep up with those programs, then a week or two before that big event, go shopping for a nice piece of "shapewear" that goes from thighs on up...some can really do a nice job slimming out that belly bump. That and a good bra can do wonders for making yourself feel more confident about going out. I know it sounds like a little bit of a cop out, but busy moms need all the help we can get. Also, accessorize with a wallet full of pictures of the source of your mommy belly...the little ones do a number on our bods, but they're worth it :-)

I have a book called "Mummy Tummy" on an excellent exercise program designed to bring your separated muscles in your abdomen together. It's called the Tupler technique. Most people do crunches wrong and the book says it can actually separate them farther. Just keep in mind that it may take up to 9 months to completely lose your pregnancy weight and pouch. Good luck.

It's not just about the exercise... You have to eat healthy, too. You need to limit your fat intake and calories. Don't starve yourself, though! Just make better food choices. The combination of the exercising and better eating will help you lose the baby weight! Good Luck! :-)