The post-partum body is often branded as a body only a mother could love, but mothers rarely love it. Your abs are mush. There’s excess fat in places you didn’t know fat could hide. Just when you think you made it out of the pregnancy-induced stretch mark woods, they appear out of nowhere. Your boobs are huge, and not in the sexy, Victoria Secret push-up bra kind of way. It’s your body, but it’s not. And it’s really hard to play nice with it right now. But you should.
Your body survived an invasion, and it’s still standing, ready with that breastmilk. Your body is pretty f*#%ing awesome.
Blame the hormones, blame our image-obsessed society, but I was feeling pretty down about my post-partum body when I stepped on the scale 3 weeks after my second baby and I realized I hadn’t lost as much weight as I thought. Knowing that I had endured 9 months of pregnancy, a stomach bug at 38 weeks pregnant, diarrhea for days, and the pain that accompanies delivering an 8 lb baby, I thought it was extremely unfair for my body to not cooperate with my weight loss plans. I was doing what I was supposed to in terms of exercise rehabilitation and nutrition, and I was breastfeeding a very hungry little girl, yet I still had almost 30 lbs to lose?! Not cool, Mother Nature. Not cool at all. I had a good cry (and a glass of wine), and I reminded myself that my baby wasn’t built in a day, so I shouldn’t expect that kind of turnaround from my body, either. My body is doing exactly what it should be doing right now–healing.
You know what happened after I made peace with my post-partum body, acknowledging its badass-ness? I was more motivated for my workouts, more excited to eat that spinach smoothie. Positivity is a powerful drug! So, MamaLean mamas, accept, nourish, and love that post-partum body of yours while you take steps to make it stronger, leaner, and even more badass. I guarantee you’ll see your results sooner, and you’ll be a better, happier mama in the meantime.
For further reading, check out this article on the post-partum body and what to do to heal properly while establishing a strong foundation for future workouts. Then set up a training consultation with me!