Customer Reviews

From Baby to Bikini: Keep Your Midsection Toned SAFELY during Pregnancy and Flatten Your Abdominals FAST after You Have Your Baby

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I got this book when my second baby was about two months old, and my stomach looked like a bowl of jello. I had been discouraged by the way other exercise books seemed to make you feel instantly terrible about all the post-partum flab, but this book was so friendly and helpful, and so understanding of the delicate psychological needs of plump new mothers, that I felt I really could try the exercises. They were easy to follow, not overwhelmingly time-consuming, and I have to say that, five months later, I have seen my abs for the first time in my life. And I don't have to leave the top button of my pants undone anymore.

I was in my eighth month of pregnancy when I read Mr. Waggoner's book. By slowly and carefully following his suggestions with the permission of my Ob-Gyn, I started a routine of exercises that I continued after my son was born. Tony, the baby, and I do our exercises every day. First, I work with him, then he rests while I do mine. I think it's really working because my abdomin is really getting back into shape as well as my thighs and buttocks. I still have five more pounds to lose, but I feel confident that will come off if I continue the routine I learned in this book. Let me add, also, that the suggestions for diet have been really valuable. I have confidence in what I'm doing because of this book.

This book presents a straightforward and easy to follow plan for losing post pregnacy pounds - and we all know how depressing those can be. Personal trainer Greg Waggoner explains a step by step way to get your old body back - and its actually working! The authors write in a friendly tone, and include useful information about all aspects of pregnancy, addressing any health concerns you might have about exercising both before and after the birth. The workouts are time-efficient, well-illustrated, and there are some that include the baby. Also, a balanced diet is stressed as important part of breastfeeding, as well as losing pounds - there are fast, healthful and easy recipes at the back of the book.

I am walking down the street, pushing my beautiful three-month-old son in his stroller. Then I see her, the mother with the beautiful figure also pushing a stroller. And I am not even back to being able to wear my loose jeans! If you have had this or similar experiences, try this book. Greg Waggoner is a thoughtful and knowledgeable training expert who designed exercises specifically for new moms. They are not difficult and the directions are easy to follow. Follow his suggestions consistently and you may even go down a size!

I found the exercise plan to be a little too complicated and hard to stick with. I was constantly having to check the book for how many sets and reps I was supposed to do. If your as sleep deprived as I am you can understand it is difficult to remember when it changes on a weekly basis. I bought a pilates video and it was much easier to do and had faster overall results.

Also, if you have just had a baby, it is likely that you have some weight to shed in order to see these new and improved abs. His weight loss plan is sad, eat less and do some cardio. I didn't need a book to tell me that. He also doesn't really address breastfeeding other than saying you need more calories.

And is there anything more annoying than a man telling you how important Kegels are? If he hasn't experienced childbirth then he shouldn't be telling me how Kegels are a fix all for everything that changes after birth.

Despite the awful title, this is a pretty good book. I'm a very athletic woman who just gave birth to my first child. I know tons of different ab exercises, but most are too strenuous for immediate post-partum. I have found the book very useful in suggesting more controlled, safer exercises that are still challenging. The descriptions and photos are first-rate in showing you EXACTLY what to do to work your abs. The author is also good about emphasizing that every woman's recovery goes differently, and telling you how to customize the routine for your level of fitness.

Overall, the book text is somewhat repetitive and overly cheery, and I don't care about the sections on diet or aerobic exercise. I bought it just for the ab exercises, and I am satisfied I got my money's worth.

The moves in this book are great, but they are hard to do on a continual basis. Keeping up with it is hard. Not seeing progress is even the main reason I gave up. I did Denise Austin's bounce back after baby and it does what this book does 3x over. She knows what she is doing.

From what i have read of this book so far i really enjoy it and think it will do what it says. If you fallow the instructions. now if i could just find were i put it last

I wasn't impressed withthis book. For one thing, it appeared to be a bad photocopy of an original book! Very weird.
That strangeness aside, the book itself was not very helpful to a new mom. I didn't get the feeling that the author had any experience with what it is like to be post-partum and trying to get some exercise in around nursing, sleeping (hah) and all the other stuff rasising a newborn involves.
I would get a good postpartum DVD before ever using this book.

I bought this book after the birth of my second child. I had been working on toning up my midsection for four months, had lost all my baby weight and still looked about 5 months pregnant. After the first month of using this book, I started to see the difference.

I can't comment on the prenatal part of this program, but the postnatal program is broken down into months. Each month has "easy" and "more challenging" exercises so you can tailor it to your fitness level. Each exercise shown has detailed pictures and a full description so that you are using the correct form. The exercises don't take long if you are tight on free time.

At the end of the six month program he talks about personalizing you ab routine and about "trying to keep your muscles guessing". He has two sample ab programs to follow. I think that was the problem with my previous routine. My muscles were doing the same thing over and over and they stopped adapting.

The diet program is not a true diet program. It is more about making permanent lifestyle changes. His program of eating smaller meal and snack is sound advice but how many of us are going to give up dessert and alcohol completely. You can still loose weight with healthy eating and occasionally have dessert or a drink. His recommended foods are a good start if you are not used to a healthy diet of natural, whole foods but it certainly is nothing new. Buy this book for the variety and challenging ab exercise, not for weight loss or diet advice.