Starting with this spring, I started noticing quite a few news stories about new moms who are showing off their new bodies and how "perfect" they look and their baby is less than a year old. They talk about how they were able to exercise at least 3 times per week. Just last week I saw a news story about a mom of 3 boys, the youngest is 8 months. She was showing off her perfectly toned and the caption read "What's our Excuse?"
Good for those mom's who are able to take the time to workout and get that great looking post-pregnancy body. But what I want to know is how in the world do these mom's find time to exercise? I've been noticing that quite a few of these weight loss pressure come from famous stars who make millions, so they probably can afford a nanny to watch baby when they workout. I also question how many of these new mom's with the perfect post-pregnancy bodies are stay-at-home mom's or only work half-time. Where's the mom who works full-time, takes care of the house & meals and the only gets 10-15 mins to herself each day?
I try to find time to workout even 2 times per week, but it's really hard to find it right now. I work outside the house. I come home, feed my baby, make supper, play with my baby until it's time for bed. I don't bother cleaning up until after baby is sleeping. Sometimes I only get 10 mins per week of good exercise right now. And when I do get to actually workout I tend to get interrupted. Currently my exercise is now chasing and playing with baby. When it was warmer I would take baby out for a walk most evenings. Sure I don't have the time to do a lot of muscle toning exercises right now (except for daily "weightlifting"...I'm up to 17 lbs), but I also don't sit on my butt for 4 hours every night either. I'm down almost 10 lbs from my pre-pregnacy weight, but I'm not as toned as I once was. Yet, I feel like the media is saying that I'm not good enough.
I'm proud of what I've accomplished. Sure the weight didn't melt off of me like it does other people. But considering I gained 60 lbs during my pregnancy, mostly due to the extreme swelling I experienced, and I lost almost 70 lbs in 1 year. And I don't get the time to go to the gym to workout either. It takes a woman 9 months to gain the weight and she's carrying a 2nd person at the time. So, if it takes you 9 months to gain the weight, why is there so much pressure to loose all that weight and then some in 2-3 months? It's hard enough trying to sleep, eat, shower and clean the house in those first couple of months. Why do people feel like we all have all the time in the world to live the same way before we were pregnant?
I think the important this is that you are taking care of yourself and that you're staying active, whether that's going to the gym or going for a walk or getting down on all fours and chasing your baby around the room. Don't feel pressured to have the perfect body right after you have a baby. Love yourself and love your husband and love your children. Enjoy life!
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