Life After Pregnancy: Getting Motivated
Wellness • 3rd Jun, 21 • Comment
By Danielle Underwood
I recently gave birth to a beautiful, 8 lb 1 oz baby boy. This was my first pregnancy so needless to say, everything that has and is happening to my body is completely new territory for me. While being novice to the whole motherhood thing I had kind of an interesting experience to say the least. I had my son via Cesarean (which spoiler alert – wasn’t planned – at all!). I was not prepared for this to happen nor had I researched any of the things that new moms want to know about prior to giving birth via C-section and the aftermath.
C-Sections Are a Major Surgery
I realized quickly when I was in the hospital that my recovery time was going to take longer than I had expected which makes total sense considering C-sections are a major surgery and well worth it to bring my son into this world. Recovery time has been one of the most frustrating parts about the whole thing because as much as I feel like I am doing what I can to get back to being fit I feel like I should be doing so much more. I can be pretty impatient when it comes to things that I cannot control.
I’m not the first to say it and I definitely won’t be the last but sometimes things just bear repeating – PREGNANCY IS HARD ON YOUR BODY. Some gain a lot during pregnancy and some gain next to nothing but either way, you’ve just spent the last 9 months of your life growing a person… Give yourself a break! Everything you’re feeling is completely normal. Not only is pregnancy hard on your body but so is birth. I know what you’re thinking, “Duh, Danielle.” But hear me out. I promise I actually have a point.
This Freaking Sucks!
Getting fit after pregnancy is possibly one of the most frustrating things I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. And by “pleasure” I mean “this freaking sucks”. I gained close to 50 pounds during my pregnancy which to me made me feel like a beached whale and I actually carried the weight nicely so I’m just being hard on myself. Any of that sound familiar?
I know most of you out there who have been pregnant or have just begun your fitness journey have experienced similar feelings so I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone. We all face challenges when it comes to our health and fitness. Some days are just harder than others to stay the course but take a deep breath and step back for a minute and just remind yourself that you didn’t gain the weight overnight, so you can’t expect to lose the weight overnight. There is so much wisdom in “take it slow and trust the process” even though sometimes when we hear it we want to throw out the book and tell the person who wrote it to stuff it!
Everyone is Different
Don’t compare yourself to your friend who just gave birth and looks better than she did before she ever even got pregnant (we all love to hate those women) but don’t. Everyone is DIFFERENT. Take it one day, one step at a time because trust me when I say this, you’ll look in the mirror after making those changes and you WILL see the progress. There are no magic pills or potions to give you the results you want in a hot minute but guess what? Each day is one step closer to feeling like YOU again. Didn’t like the way you felt before the pregnancy? That’s okay, too. Because now, you CAN feel better. You can become more fit. You can become the best version of you. You can do all of these things while handling day to day life. Is it hard? HELL YEAH! But you got this! Stay motivated. Stay the course. Take it one day at a time.