NEW SERIES: BODY AFTER BABY

Body after baby… what a topic. I am almost 15 months postpartum and let me tell you, it is amazing what our bodies can do. As exhausting and tough as pregnancy can be, it was without a doubt one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Our bodies go through so much to create these little miracle bundles of joy and for some reason some of us think our bodies need to bounce back to what they were immediately after we give birth.

Don’t get me wrong, in an ideal world we would pop a baby out and all of that extra weight would come out right along with it and it’d be like nothing happened (wouldn’t that be nice…), but that’s not how it works. You will gain weight throughout pregnancy and it will take time to lose it. Your body might not ever be the same as it was before, it might be better!

HOW MUCH I GAINED WHILE PREGNANT

I was a pretty decent size when I had Mila. I never talked about how much weight I gained when I’d blog about my pregnancy because I never wanted other women to look at the number and compare it to their own weight gain. Maybe it wouldn’t have been a big deal to share, but at the time I felt it was the right thing to do. I’m going to share it now though because I feel like it’s important for you to know where my starting point was if I’m going to share my body after baby journey with you so… I gained over 40 pounds. What’s funny is during my third trimester, when I was HUGE, I didn’t feel that huge. I knew I had gained a lot of weight but I still felt like I looked ok. When I look back at photos now I laugh and jokingly ask Ita why the heck he didn’t tell me I was so big! Smart guy I guess… and also, I was 9 months pregnant… I should be big! And I feel like that’s kind of the beauty of pregnancy. As achey and uncomfortable as you might be in that third trimester, carrying a child is such a beautiful gift and I felt like I was in my own little world where nothing could bring me down. All I could think about was the little girl that was about to come into our lives and doing everything I can to make sure I was going to provide her the best life possible.

WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT.

Please remember that every woman’s body is different. Some women bounce back faster than others but if it’s taking you longer than you hoped to lose baby weight do not feel bad about yourself! You grew a baby and GAVE BIRTH (still can’t get over how crazy having a baby is by the way… you can read Mila’s Birth Story HERE). Our bodies are incredible and capable of so much! If you work hard and watch what you eat you can lose the weight. Sometimes tweaking the smallest things throughout our day can help shed the pounds (I’ll share more of what I do soon). Just try not to beat yourself up about it if it doesn’t happen as quickly as you’d like it to.

IT TAKES TIME TO LOSE THE WEIGHT.

It seriously breaks my heart when I see girls feeling bad about themselves that they “haven’t lost all the baby weight” and their baby is only 3 months old… that is completely normal!! And just because someone else you know or maybe saw online lost their baby weight quickly, does not mean that’s the norm! I will never forget when a girl direct messaged me on Instagram panicking that her jeans didn’t button a few days after giving birth… a FEW DAYS! First, I couldn’t have even fathomed trying to put on jeans that early. Not only because they wouldn’t have fit but because I did not want anything remotely tight in that area (I had to get an episiotomy and had a pretty rough recovery). I lived in sweats and pajama pants for at least a month and pretty much only put on regular clothes when I absolutely had to the first few months.

DON’T OBSESS OVER NUMBERS.

A kind of scary moment for me was when we came home from the hospital after having Mila. I guess she was probably 2 or 3 days old and while I was in the bathroom (still in horrible pain and barely functioning from being so tired) I stepped on the scale only to realize I had only lost a few pounds… I HAD A 7 POUND BABY AND SOMEHOW I WAS ONLY A FEW POUNDS LIGHTER – LIKE WHAT. THIS IS NOT ADDING UP. It was a little overwhelming but not remotely as overwhelming as having a 3 day old baby at home. I was too exhausted to really give any thought to my weight or appearance and genuinely could not have cared less. I had this new beautiful bundle of joy in my life and nothing else mattered.

I kept that mentality for a while. I wasn’t neglecting my body. It was just my main mental focus was Mila and providing her the nourishment and care she needed. I stepped on the scale every now and then to see where I was at but I by no means obsessed over it nor did I do any sort of dieting (I’ll talk more about this in another post).

MY IDEAS FOR THE BODY AFTER BABY SERIES

Over the last year I have been asked quite a few times for tips on how to lose baby weight. As much as I wish there was a one size fits all kind of answer that I could give you in one sentence, that wouldn’t be true and it’s not realistic. While I strongly believe every woman’s journey is different and similar to our babies what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for all… I can share what I did and what I’m doing now to be healthier.

Because the road to losing the baby weight and getting in shape is a long one (that I am still very much on and struggle with every day…), I decided to create a new series here on the blog where I can share dedicated posts on everything to do with your body after baby and getting your body back (or better!) and leading an overall healthier lifestyle.

**If you have specific topics you want me to address or dedicate a post to, please leave them in the comments below!**

I have already started to write posts about what the first month was like for me after baby and when I started exercising, simple exercises you can do from home, stroller workouts and exercises you can do with your baby, changes I made in my diet to lose weight (this was once I stopped breastfeeding) and the top reasons I believe I was able to lose the baby weight (and more). Please let me know if there is a particular topic you want to see FIRST! My goal is to have one of these posts go up once a week for at least the next month or two!

Today’s post was mainly to introduce the Body After Baby series and let you know you’re not alone when it comes to struggling with your body after baby. I hope this series will inspire you to take better care of yourself and not be discouraged if you don’t see immediate results. Small changes over time can make a big impact and I know by sharing advice with each other we will all benefit!

I hope you’re as excited about this series as I am! I can’t wait to start sharing these posts with you and hope you’ll feel comfortable commenting with your own experiences to share with others! Keep an eye out for the first Body After Baby series post next week!

Thanks for reading!

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Photos by: Angie Garcia