How To Lose Your Baby Weight… | HerCanberra

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How To Lose Your Baby Weight…

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This is not an article about losing my baby weight, although there are probably some people who think I really should, I am carrying an extra 15kgs as I write this.

This is not an article about the weight because seriously, that’s really not the important bit. This is about regaining fitness and self after baby.

Pregnancy is hard. If you’ve had a baby you may or may not agree with that comment. If you were one of the lucky ones who sailed through, then I’m happy for you *smiles through gritted teeth* but if you had a normal pregnancy then chances are you suffered a bit.

Personally I had a terrible pregnancy – IVF hormones, Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome, pelvic girdle pain and followed up with pre-eclampsia and an induced birth. Labour was nine hours and relatively uncomplicated, but sometimes I feel that giving birth is a truly awful experience only made ‘okay’ by the rather fantastic outcome.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have done a study comparing pregnancy and expectation upon the recovery of women post pregnancy, with injuries sustained by athletes and the expectations placed upon them. It makes interesting reading and was a bit of a hallelujah moment for me.

Expectations for losing baby weight are at an all time extreme with the introduction of the celebrity post-baby-body selfie that suggests that it’s perfectly normal to lose the 5, 10, 15, 20 kilos of weight gained through pregnancy within months, if not weeks of giving birth.

We expect women to go through nine months of surging hormones that create changes within the body, not to mention quite extreme visible physical changes, along with any potential complications and morning sickness, combined with hours of extreme physical effort and/or major surgery and minimal recovery due to immediately having to take care of a baby with minimal complaint. But now we also expect them to take on a fitness regime on top of this.

If new mum breast feeds then the drain on her resources also continues. Throw in some sleep deprivation and possibly having to go back to work and how on earth can a woman possibly justify not immediately losing their baby weight?

So this article is not about losing the weight, because it’s not important. But it kind of is. Because there is simply incredible pressure to ‘suck it up’ and ‘get on with it’, to be physically what you were before. If you do not ‘bounce back’ immediately, or by your first public outing at least, then you are somehow lazy or letting yourself go.

I have tried, and  continue to try to resist this pressure. But it’s hard…really hard. Because I am a product of my upbringing, of the constant media focus on the currency of women’s bodies, of the throwaway comments from almost every woman who was present during my childhood that feed on the commodity of conceptual beauty, of the ‘go hard or go home’ attitude of the fitness industry in which I have worked for many years and of my own internal voice that repeats and reinforces all of this messaging despite my attempts at resistance.

I did my first Zumba class in 18 months two days ago. I love Zumba, I teach it and have seen it bring joy to people who really needed it, I have seen people regain health and wellness as well as losing weight through attending my classes and it has brought me joy during years of painful fertility treatment.

During this class, all I could see was those extra 15kgs. It was very confronting being surrounded by mirrors and by people who were all fitter than me – especially when I’m used to being one of the fittest.

I walked home feeling like my feet were made of lead and beating myself up from not having started back sooner. So what if my back is so painful I can’t sleep? Who cares if I just moved house and am trying to get the baby to just sleep for more than 32 minutes at a time? I should have just got on with it.

I posted some of my misery on Facebook as I have many friends who I know would get it and maybe I was seeking a bit of validation to help me through the insecurities. I received some beautiful responses, including this from someone who has been through the same.

Me: Just did my first Zumba class in about 18 months, as a participant. Seeing the person in the mirror was very confronting. Having all of the emotions.

Them: Feel them darl but just don’t stay too long there. Everything is temporary… this includes that amazing body of yours that has felt the sand under your feet, taken you around the world and most amazingly has brought the love of your life into the world. These are the achievements. X

Another Hallelujah moment.

So this isn’t a post about weight loss post pregnancy. This is a pledge to myself, to my people, and to my daughter. I won’t focus on the weight, what I really want is to feel fit again and able to fully enjoy the life I have. For me that means being able to run, dance and lift weights, to finally regain control of my body after the lack of control felt during pregnancy and since.

Perhaps the weight we want to lose isn’t just physical, we should also lose the weight of society’s expectations.

I know that physical activity makes me happy and I want to be a good role model for my daughter. I will show her that weight is not what defines her, that we will not talk about ‘fat’ in our house, we will only ever focus on feeling fit and healthy through things that bring us joy. Because weight really isn’t what’s important.

I invite you to join me and put aside any expectations around your weight and instead focus on how your body moves and ways you can feel good within your skin. I shall be undertaking my journey with the help of an incredible online community designed for the mums of Canberra – Canberra Mums Exercise Group – and maybe I’ll see you at some of the events.

Image of ‘pathway perspective…‘ via Shutterstock

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