Saggy Middle – Part 2

You might remember the first time I wrote about my saggy middle…

If not, you can catch that post (along with a really flattering prego picture of me) HERE.

Here’s Part 2…Doing Damage.

Two pregnancies have made a doughy mess of my midsection. Well, especially since the second pregnancy yielded a set of (adorable) twins.

Since my twins will celebrate their fifth birthday this June, I thought it was about time for me to start working on that tummy a little. And I mean REALLY tighten up the middle. I’m talking “feel the burn” type exercises. The kind that doubled me over in pain.

After a few weeks, I noticed that my stomach was getting BIGGER.

“The muscle develops, pushing the…ahem…fat further out. Eventually, the muscle will burn the…ahem…fat away.”

Thank you, oh wise internet.

So. I kept going. And my stomach kept getting bigger. I got more frustrated.

Then Pinterest revealed the issue.

Muscle separation. Common among moms. Especially moms of multiples.

And most abdominal toning exercises cause the muscles to spread even more. And that causes the tummy to pooch. Even. More.

All of my work made my saggy middle even saggier.

I’m sure you can imagine how frustrating that was. Learning that, while trying to do something good, I had been doing damage. And I’d even worked up a sweat doing those work outs. Ugh!

Has this kind of thing ever happened to you?

You’re trying to improve something. You do what, to you, seems the BEST thing to do. Then, sadly and with much frustration, you realize that you’ve been messing yourself up?

When you make your saggy middle saggier, it is SO EASY to give up. To decide that the effort just isn’t worth the outcome.

But this is precisely the time to keep going. To figure out what is needed to fix the problem. And to ask for help.

I need to talk to {gasp} a doctor to make sure I’m doing the very best thing for my body. To make sure I’m strengthening my core to benefit my health.

In my writing life, sometimes I need to ask the opinion of a friend/editor that I can trust to help me see the right and very best thing for my project.

How about you? Have you ever been in this situation? Who do you turn to for help?