I read a great blog recently about getting your pre pregnancy body back and how, really, that's not ever going to happen. I wanted to put my own take on it. Listen to this and try to take it in. It will save you a lot of angst and anxiety.
You will never have your pre pregnancy body back. Yep. I said it. After training many mums (and myself!), I'm here to tell you that what you CAN have is a wonderful body following children. You can have a strong, healthy, well functioning body, but it won't be the body you had before. Our bodies change irrepairably during pregnancy, with good reason. We are growing a baby, a little human being!
The trick is to accept this and start working on your body as it is NOW. Once you get over the obsession with your body as it was before, you can focus on your body now. Yes you may have some extra weight you don't feel comfortable with, you might have a few stretch marks, looser skin and maybe even boobs that don't look like they did! Be calm. It will come together with some love and attention and care for yourself. First things first, don't be afraid to cocoon with your baby in the first few weeks and months. It makes sense to take it easy in those early months. By all means exercise gently but safely and effectively, not jumping around like a mad person! This is turn will cause more stress and anxiety, making it even harder to get healthy!
I know what it feels like to struggle to lose any excess baby weight, I put on 4 stone with my first son and 2 with my second. However, everything sorted itself out and I am happy with myself now. We really need to give ourselves a break. Sleepless nights, new feeding routines, unknown baby territory......let's get those sorted first! Then we can tackle nutrition and exercise.
Stop running yourself ragged trying to achieve the impossible celebrity 'back to a size 6 in 8 weeks!'. It can never be a good thing to push the body that hard post natally and it isn't something that I would advocate. Breathing techniques, improving posture and eating as well as you can will do wonders for your health. Leave the harder stuff for a while.
Yours in health,
Sam
PS I'll be running a post natal workshop in Weymouth soon. Everything you've ever wanted to know about being post natal, safe fat loss, exercise and tips on eating well as a family.
