5 reasons you still look pregnant (and what to do about it)
When I had my first baby I naively thought that the baby would pop out and I’d leave hospital looking like Kate Middleton, in my normal jeans, but a bit tired and emotional. I did NOT expect to be leaving in my maternity wear still looking 6 months pregnant.
(Obviously I hadn’t read enough, ignorance was bliss back then.)
But fast forward a few months or even years and lots of women still look a few months pregnant.
Have you been on the receiving end of those well meaning comments asking you when you’re due? Or the awkward ‘Congratulations!’, only to mutter something about how your kids are two now, thank you very much.
You’re not alone.
So why DO you still look pregnant months or even years after birth and what are the options?
There are a few causes of the forever pregnant look:
Your posture’s gone haywire.
When you carry the baby, the extra weight makes you curve your spine and stick your bum out. After you give birth, you might be hanging onto this negative alignment which not only gives you back pain and stops your core muscles from working properly, it also pushes your belly out.
Working on your alignment with daily posture checks and some corrective exercises is a great place to start.
Ask your physio, Pilates instructor or personal trainer for some tips and practice exercises. This is something we work on with all our postnatal personal training clients in our Bristol studio.
Diastasis Recti
This is a condition that makes your tummy muscles separate during pregnancy. If they haven’t joined up again, then they can have the effect of making you bulge even if the rest of you is slim. If you’ve not got a lot of body fat, but your belly still protrudes, this could be the cause.
Only a healthcare professional can diagnose DR, you can do a simple check at home to see if this is your problem. Check out my video HERE
If you do have DR, then you’ll need to go and see your physio for an assessment and most likely undertake a special exercise routine to try and retrain your abs.
It’s thought the majority of women experience some degree of diastasis ( I had it with both my pregnancies).
Which brings me on to……
Too many crunches!
Most women don’t realise that traditional ab exercises can cause their muscles to bulge outwards.
Even lifting up something heavy without properly engaging the core and cause pressure in your abdomen that pushes your tummy out. Not good.
So it’s a good idea if you’re postpartum to get a professional who specialises in postnatal exercise to train you, at least for a little bit, so that you don’t do more harm.
A lot of fitness professionals DON’T have specific training for postnatal exercise. Like many areas of womens health, our specific needs are overlooked in the general training for personal trainers, so just because someone is a personal trainer or fitness instructor doesn’t mean they’re trained to help you or have the know-how to safely work with you.
Make sure that you work with someone who has specific experience or qualification for postnatal training.
Tummy fat and diet
In some cases the extra tummy fat is simply down to diet.
If you’ve tried exercise and not seen the results you want, the chances are that you haven’t tried addressing the nutrition part of getting leaner.
Honestly, getting rid of the tummy is 80% nutrition when combined with exercise, so honestly addressing this is key.
Try cutting out processed foods, sugar and the junk. You can even do a 14 day elimination diet like my 14 Day Revive program, which will help you find out if a particular food is making you bloated. Ideally, you’ll want to take a good clear look at your diet, and if you’re not sure how you should be eating, consult a pro who can help you come up with a plan that’s going to work for your life.
EXTRA SKIN
Sometimes the issue isn’t fat, so much as skin. After I had my two children, I worked out hard and ate well, but the belly fat was the LAST area to go.
I still have a teeny bit of loose skin. No amount of diet or exercise is going to fix loose skin, so you’ve got a couple of options here.
You can embrace your gorgeous post-baby body or you can look into surgical options.
Bottom line….
Feeling unhappy with your body after a baby is common. I felt like I didn’t recognise mine and the mental acceptance of that transition was complex and took time. I also now know that there are so many things that happen to our bodies during pregnancy and birth that shouldn’t be ignored and you don’t have to live with something that’s making you unhappy or causing pain or health issues.
So if you feel lost and don’t know where to turn, start with a qualified professional opinion from a women’s health physio or a postnatal personal trainer.
Elle Kealy is a women’s fitness expert and personal trainer, founder of MOHIITO in Bristol and fitness coach.
MOHIITO offers free personal training consultation to new mums in our Clifton personal training studio in Bristol. Book a chat with us now about how we can help you.