Part 2: Shrink the Belly Project

Read Part 1, HERE. 

5. Kat Power + Lemon Water. Before lemon water in the morning became a thing,  my fitspiration Kat Garcia, was convincing me to take lemon water early on, because it speeds up metabolism daw. 

This is Kat, she's a mom of two and has 6-pack abs

I didn't take it seriously then, but two months after I gave birth, I consulted with her and she said I had to do it as part of my fasting cardio routine, which was safe to do two months post-partum. 

 

Since there was no escaping it, I eventually did so and I saw for myself how fast I lost the extra weight! I am now a believer. She recommends mixing lemon water with some honey and cinnamon, which is actually quite yummy. I take it warm first thing in the morning.

via healthandlovepage.com

Which reminds me, I am actually due for toning sessions with @mamakat na! (She's @mamakat on Instagtram). I don't need to be super ripped, but it would be nice to get toned. If you want to consult with Kat, message her at +63917 620 6876.

6. Watch what you eat. This is going to be a downer, but nutrition plays a key role in losing unwanted weight. What worked for me in general:

- Ge Lai Herbs that my mother in law made me take as a tonic. She says it helps flush out toxins and dirty blood from the body

- NO junk food or salty food so you don't have to deal with water retention while pregnant (I eventually caved in after I gave birth and had my well-deserved share of chips and stuff, about once a week)

- Taking my Food Intolerance results seriously and avoiding gluten, dairy and eggs as much as possible

- Kat recommends avoiding salt and sugar in general, but allowing for weekend cheat days

- Do not deprive yourself, do it the French way and eat what you like, but always in moderation. I now give in to cornick, corn chips and cheeze curls once in a while

7. Clarins scrub down to fight cellulite.  Ladies, if you can have babies early on, do so na. Being pregnant and getting your body into shape in your late 30s is not as easy as when you're in your 20s to early 30s. 

Being an older mom, Clarins pre and pos-natal massages were part of my pregnancy indulgences.

I have to stress, I was more masipag going to the Clarins Spa in Rustan's Makati when I was pregnant with Xavi but was really delinquent when I was pregnant with Tepper and I could see the difference talaga. Cellulite was greeting me with wide dimpled smiles with Tepper.

8. BREASTFEED. It really helps the uterus shrink really fast, and allowed me to eat all I want without putting on the pounds.

9. NO Yaya. This I think is the real secret. If you have no yaya, or you have someone to assist you, but you do most of the work, especially the puyat at night, that's the highway to losing weight, coupled with breastfeeding. 

I figured this out when we were living in the US and most of the moms there were like me, puyat, babywearing and pushing strollers, probably lacking the right nutrition, but dressed in Alexander Wang and Isabel Marant. Eye bags covered by Tom Ford sunglasses. Happy na din. Hahaha.

When we moved back here, and became pregnant with the boys, I kept up with the habit of taking care of them at night, puyat and all. Effective with weight loss, promise.

So there, I won't expect you to do all I did, but this is what worked for me and my lifestyle. Maybe you can take bits and pieces of advice from here, and see what's effective for you!

Part 1: Shrink the Belly Project

"What!!! You have a four month old baby?!"
 

I get that a lot. But before you dismiss me as annoying, genetically lucky, a psychotic workout freak, or all of the above, hear me out. 

The truth is, there are a lot of things I did, and still doing, to get back into some semblance of my pre-pregnancy shape. It's not like I am blessed, crazy, or anything. To be honest, I need a lot of muscle toning work pa.

Case in point: This is me a week after I gave birth. On the surface, I may look good for a mom who just gave birth, but the reality here is, my thighs are cellulite-y, and I have on my husband's shirt and my maternity shorts. So of course they fit!

More importantly, I was wearing this inside: the Wink Ultimate Post Partum Ultra Bikini from Urban Essentials. This is what I wear when I am out and about.

It has 3 layers of hook and eye closures at the side to adjust for different waistlines and when I wore this, it was a struggle to wear at its widest layer.

It was depressing to put on at first because I could hardly close it. But surprisingly, they're quite comfortable, that they are so much better than wearing Spanx. 4 months later, I fit into the first layer of hook and eye closures, which means, yes, I've lost a few inches already.

Apart from artful concealment, and a seamless shapewear that holds everything in, here are all the things I did, and I hope it helps you, as it has helped me.

But before that, to see is to believe, so here's my baby belly 10 days after I popped. No bola, no photoshop, no sucking in tummy, no artful angling, no belly wrap to cover tummy. In short, no false claims. I'll be honest, if somebody is like "Oh look, this is all you need, it's so easy!", she's lying.

Ok game, are you ready for this? Here we go:

1. Train your core. It would be great to have a strong core to start with, but core training via belly breathing and abdominal bracing right after pregnancy is still safe to do. I stumbled upon this technique online when I first gave birth to Berry and I've done the same after popping out Xavi and Tepper. It's amazing how you can see results aka a flatter tummy in just a few days. Read it, HERE.

2. Magic Potions. Trust the French to come up with magic potions we need to tighten and firm up skin. I slather on Mustela Post-Partum Restructuring Gel (higly recommended by Sharleen Cu-Unjieng of Mustela Philippines) all over my tummy, around my waist, and all through the back. The same goes for my butt and thighs. If you want an organic option, try Marilou BIO Body Firming Gel from cutieverse.com.

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Skin Tightening Lotion works great too. I used that for Xavi and it helped tighten my floppy belly skin.

3. Binding. When Jessica Alba says wear two corsets and wear it 24/7 for two months, then you go and wear two belly wraps 24/7 for two months. Yes it gets sticky and sweaty, and the rubbery parts dig into the skin, but I think that sauna-like effect shrinks the fat cells or something. I also wear a hip wrap.

For binding at home, I use a Medela Belly Wrap which I bought in Amazon when I was pregnant with Berry. This worked fine on its own after I gave birth to Berry. The Cinch Wrap and Shrinx Hips Ultra I bought through Stemcord, but it's available in Rustan's. These two were all I used after I gave birth to Xavi. Now I use all three together with Tepper. If I give birth another time, I'd be wrapped like a mummy by then.

4. Cryo Baby. When it seemed that everything I did wasn't working fast enough given the time frame I set for myself (ehrm, two months post pregnancy), I went for a more drastic measure.

This is the cryo sculpt machine at Aesthetic Science Clinic in Makati.

It's from Korea, and uses a cool probe to apply serum onto skin. As part of my post-pregnancy beauty regimen, I'm doing the Cryo Sculpt with Vitaminc C serum to treat my freckles that multiplied and darkened when I was pregnant with Tepper, (it has anti-aging effects too). But this is also the same machine used for slimming and tightening skin on post-pregnancy bellies. While the probe is cold, when used on my tummy, it has a warming sensation inside, like my fats were getting cooked. Or melted. Heehee.

Results are expected to be seen in 6 weekly sessions, but in my case, there was a noticeable improvement by the 4th week. Skin was relatively tighter, although still loose given the stretch it has endured from 3 pregnancies. But at least it wasn't hanging or saggy.

If you think this is a lot to do just to get back into shape, there's more. As with all things that seem effortless, there's a lot of furious paddling underneath the surface. We'll get to that in the next installment of this post.

To be continued...

MFO's Verdict On: Palmer's Post Natal Firming Lotion

The Product: Palmer's Cocoa Buter Formula Post Natal Firming Lotion

The Promise: This unique formula is specifically designed to restore your body to its natural, original firmness, anytime, even after pregnancy or weight loss. The unique combination of Cocoa Butter, Collagen, Elastin and Shea Butter firms and tones while improving skin elasticity and texture. In addition, Ginseng and Vitamin E help nourish and rejuvenate tired skin. Co Enzyme Q10 is an antioxidant that stimulates sin cells to tone and smooth the skin.

Put to the Test: Meant to be "massaged all over the body twice daily - especially on thighs, legs, stomach and bust" I did as recommended. I especially made sure to focus on my belly, because the skin was wrinkly and so loose, over a month after giving birth. I could grab onto the skin and it would wave and say hello back to me.

Back when I had Berry, my skin was still elastic, so it simply just went back to how it was before I got pregnant. With Xavi, whoever said age ain't nothing but a number, must have been in denial. Because my age was definitely taunting me right on the face, specifically my belly!

Passing the Verdict: In less than two weeks, belly skin tightened considerably to a point that the wrinkles disappeared! I was amazed! While I would not call it taut, it was acceptable. I had to accept the fact that at 35, only exercise would flatten my belly. Fair enough. The flappy, wrinkly look was gone thanks to Palmer's and now it was all up to me to finish the job. I continued using Palmer's Post Natal Firming Lotion until it ran out, and by the time it did, I was pretty happy with the results. I'd call it a wonder product.

Practical Tip: Clinically proven to help increase skin’s firmness in 6 weeks. Patience is a virtue. I also recommend for this to be used immediately after giving birth, for better results. Don't forget that this works for tightening skin after weight loss too.

Price: Php495 for a 250 ml bottle

Point of Sale: Rustan's Department Stores