I can’t go to the grocery store without passing at least four magazines with some postpartum celebrity mom either
a) cradling her newborn and calling motherhood “the greatest thing that has ever happened” to them or
b) showing off her new post-baby body in a bikini saying how easy it was to lose the weight. Or, like Kendra Wilkinson, they can do both:
So Kendra felt confident enough to be on a magazine cover 8 weeks after giving birth, but on her show, she complained of not losing any weight at one month postpartum:
And at the actual photo shoot for the cover, she admitted she was trying to suck her belly in, but since her UTERUS was still shrinking, there was only so much she could do.
So all this transformation happened in four weeks? If that’s the case, what the hell am I doing wrong?
Nothing. I’m not doing anything wrong.
I’ve beaten myself up numerous times over the past two years, since giving birth to my son, my last child. Why haven’t I lost the baby weight yet? Shoot, at two years postpartum, can I even call it baby weight?
I’m still on my fitness kick and working out as much as I can, roughly 3-4 times a week. Still, there is no magic eight-week transformation going on at the Young Mommy household. More like slow and steady wins the race.
But if I allow myself to internalize any of these messages – “Get your pre-baby body back fast or else you’ll be unf#&*#ble” – I’ll be setting myself up for failure for sure.
There’s so much pressure for women to do it all – be healthy and conscious of what we put in our bodies during pregnancy, become breastfeeding champs, manage to adjust to the most stressful time in our lives during what is most likely an inadequate maternity leave, and THEN be sexy and irresistible within minutes of giving birth.
I’m doing things on my own timetable. Working out, getting in my cardio, eating a clean diet, and most importantly, loving my body for what it has been able to do, not only for what I wish it looked like.
I want to be able to do 100 push-ups, 500 crunches, run a marathon, carry my two kids up the stairs without getting winded. THESE are the goals that mean something to me. Escaping the diabetes diagnosis that plagues many of my family members, having a resting heart rate in the 50s, having thigh muscles that enable me to squat, run, walk well into my later years. Being able to age gracefully without a drug cocktail keeping me alive.
So I’ll keep on with my slow and steady and ignore society’s push to have me look “hot” for the sake of looking hot. I want to be healthy, and that is more than an eight-week resolution.
Great post!!! I constantly feel so insignificant when I look at magazine covers like that. Or the “articles” about “insert celeb name here” who MUST be pregnant because they gained a little weight. When did gaining weight become so wrong? Why can’t the media focus on healthy as beautiful?
Arg! When commenting from my phone it automatically lists my old blog. I forgot to check! Sorry. That blog is no longer in use lol.
Media makes it seem sooooo simple to get your pre- baby body back..WRONG! we must remember that these celebrities have $$$$ to get more help than the average mother. So there’s the answer to that question Hun. Keep up the good work !
Plus I wonder how easy it would be for these celebrities to lose all of that weight if they had to actually take care of their baby
THANK YOU!!! I was blog hopping and found yours and boy am I happy I did! I so agree with you on the weight loss thing! I know a few mom’s (and loads of blogs)that seem to be obsessed with getting back to their “pre-baby” clothes or even back to their high school weight after having their children and to me this is just crazy! I have had three babies and I’m glad that it has changed my body! Sure I’m trying to get into better shape but I’m doing that so I can be the best me and mommy I can be. I don’t care about what size I’m wearing or if I am the size I was before I had my children. I want my children to have me as an example that the best thing is to be happy and healthy and how that doesn’t always mean skinny… In fact one of the most unhealthy people I know is a size 2! Thank you for showing a better side to the “body after the baby” then just the size and number!
I couldn’t agree more! At about a month post-birth, I tried on my pre-pregnancy pants. Whoa. That was a mistake. My babe is now 5 1/2 months and I’m still not in some of those clothes. And you know what? That’s OK! As they say, nine months up, nine months down. I have embraced a realistic approach, which includes eating a plentiful, healthy diet to ensure that make nutritious breast milk for my baby, and exercise when possible to stay in optimal shape to care for my son as he grows. I’m trying my best to be proud of my body and what it has accomplished over the past year+. Thanks so much for writing this great post! We all need this kind of reality check once and a while!