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03.23.2018

MY POSTPARTUM FITNESS SECRET

When I say secret, I’m not talking about a secret that will help you instantly lose all the baby weight. I’m referring to a secret that I am confident sharing but one that others in my shoes may feel “embarrassed” to tell. What is it?? I didn’t workout until 2 months postpartum. And, if I’m being totally honest… it wasn’t until 3-4 months postpartum that I actually began getting into my workouts and feeling like myself in the gym. Between 4-6 months after baby, I was totally in my groove!

SECRET: I DIDN’T HAVE THE PERFECT FIT CHICK POSTPARTUM FITNESS STORY

It seems that the general recommendation OBs give is to wait about 6 weeks after a vaginal, uncomplicated delivery to get back to normal exercise. At my 6 week check up, my doctor gave me the green light to workout.
So, why didn’t I??
Well, my post-baby body journey was far from what I expected. I knew the general fitness advice was 6 weeks after delivery but I somehow thought I would defy all of that and be working out a few short weeks after having Leo.
Physically, I probably could have worked out prior to that 6 week mark. My body recovered very quickly and I felt great.
But, mentally, it was so hard to care about working out and the few times I did desire to go to the gym, I struggled to find the time to do so.
It’s important to me to share this “secret” because I know many people who followed my pregnancy journey saw me working out very regularly while pregnant and one would have likely expected that my postpartum fitness was a smooth transition. But, it wasn’t.
I also feel this is important to share because I know how much pressure we as women (especially fitness-loving women!) put on ourselves to bounce back after the baby. Hopefully in sharing that I didn’t rush back into fitness, it may help someone else not feel guilty about their decision to take it slow as well.
Now… strangely enough, I don’t regret any of this for a second.
The newborn phase is precious and it goes too fast. Becoming a mom or having another child brings even more perspective.
Plus, there are a lot of ways to support your healthy lifestyle without jumping back into fitness.
As you may already know, I actually lost all the weight I gained while pregnant within 2 weeks of having Leo. A lot of that was a result of my prenatal workouts and how I ate while pregnant.
It was also supported by breastfeeding and how I ate after giving birth. My point is that you don’t have to rush to workouts to lose the baby weight. The biggest impact for me, without a doubt, was nutrition.
The body composition (losing fat, putting on muscle and sculpting) came when I got back to the gym and into my postpartum workouts.
With my next baby, maybe I’ll get back to the gym sooner. Maybe not?! Either way, I think it’s really important for new moms to remember that the gym is always there and weight can always be lost. We can’t, however, rewind time.
So, enjoy those first weeks or months with your baby and when you’re ready, hit the gym!

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