Post-Baby Body (It Is What You Make It!)

I've seen too many articles circulating around the Internet lately stating the following message: "Your body will never be the same after you've had babies!" I've even heard women, sometimes thirty years postpartum, saying things like this. (At that point, it ain't your baby's fault, yo.)

Then, they show us photos of overweight women and tell us we're supposed to appreciate what our babies did to our bodies.

These articles say things like: "Not only is the way your body looks irrevocably changed, but the way it works is too. I probably won't ever be able to run five miles again without feeling that painful tweak in my right hip. A totally flat belly may be a thing of the past, no matter how many reverse curls I do in a day. I can't do jumping jacks without squirting pee. Your body has changed. Forever. Even if you get back to your pre-baby weight, those pounds will be in all kinds of different places. The terrain has shifted and stretched, drooped in the most inconvenient spots and plumped up in others. For me, some bits feel worse than others: the way the bottom of my bum hangs out of my bathing suit; the new fold of skin at my knees from carrying all that extra weight for nine months (times three); my sagging belly button." - See more drama at: http://www.scarymommy.com/post-baby-bodies/#sthash.7dJDmTR3.dpuf

I kinda-sorta appreciate the effort that's made in articles like the one above to get women to embrace their lives - now - by expressing the blessings that come along with children. That's a message I can get behind. But it's saturated with a tone that says: "you won't be able to help it; your body will never be as awesome as it once was, but you're supposed to be okay with that."

How is any women supposed to get excited about living well, when that's the message we're being fed? It's disempowering to women; many of us give up before we even try, and before we even have children.

"Your body will never be the same again" does not have to be true. We all have different experiences. But a 7-lb baby does not equate to a 70-lb weight gain. That was the cheesecake, ladies. If anything, babies can make you skinny. They drink 500 calories a day from your breasts, which in turn causes your body to release hormones to tighten up your tummy at the same time. Not to mention, you lose 10 lb in one day when you give birth!

Again, I know we all have different experiences, but my intention in writing this is simple:

I want to encourage women not to give up having a great body post-baby. A body that not only feels good, but looks good, too.

Don't be scared of what childbearing will do to your body - pay attention to what YOU do to your body.

For me, it came down to 3 simple things:

1. Mindset! MINDSET. If you don't believe it's possible to "recover" and achieve the same or even better levels of fitness post baby as what you had before, you won't achieve it. I chose not to believe anything I heard from the naysayers, unfollowing them on Facebook and hiding any articles that produced hopelessness for me, and decided I would absolutely bounce back, possibly even compete again - but I wouldn't lose sight of balance and what really mattered either.

If you know what lifestyle you feel good in, and you know what you feel good eating, then do those things, eat those things and don't slide into "can't help it; I just had a baby" mode. Just see where you're going and don't let anyone tell you that you can't get there. You can get there. It's about your lifestyle, not your pregnancy. Mindset will help you eat well, and it will get you exercising. If you've already resigned, nothing will make you do those things - except for YOU changing your mindset. Progress, not perfection. Appreciate the amazing thing your body has done, love your body, see all the good things in your body - then give it the gifts of healthy diet and movement.

2. BREASTFEEDING. Keep in mind that milk supply is an issue for very few, considering that babies come out of the womb with the stomach the size of a marble! This is the single greatest caloric draw you'll ever get on an ongoing basis - and it happens by just sitting around! 500 free calories burned for you every day! And your appetite doesn't even increase like it would if you were exercising away 500 cals (which, incidentally, would be a crapload of exercise that I would have no interest in doing). You've all read about the health benefits and the magic of breastfeeding, I'm sure, so I'm just here to point out the benefit of doing it for your esthetics, since we as women find that very important to our self-image, energy levels and overall optimism.

3. Deadlifts Et Cetera

Getting back into weight training, slowly and safely, fixed a whole lot of everything. My metabolism, sense of self, strength, joint imbalances, and...... all that drama about peeing yourself when you jump rope? Weight training re-strengthened my pelvic floor and pulled the lower abdominals back to where they were supposed to be, as well as strengthening everything overall. I credit my excellent bladder control (4 babies in 6 years) to deadlifts. The pelvic floor is a muscle just like everything else. When everything else gets strong, it will too, if you make sure to be activating it.

Ladies, we all have our daily struggles, believe me. I'm just here to tell you that you can do it - you can achieve your goals. Don't let these resignation-disguised-as-gratitude internet articles (or whiny friends) get you down.

Continually learn and experiment, press forward, and cut out any negativity in your life, your mind, and your newsfeed.

Be grateful for your journey that brought you here. You have a unique opportunity that no one else does because of your unique journey.

Your body is designed to bear children, and have the strength and fit-ness to take care of them well afterward!

It's just not designed to eat pizza and cheesecake all week and then sit around complaining about the children it worked to bear for you.These little pumpkins are the greatest blessing imaginable, if we choose to see them (and the pregnancies that brought them here) that way, and resist the temptation to do anything but that.

Winning my comp after 2 babies:

Last month, after 4 babies: