Unrealistic expectations of ‘hot’ mum bod..

Looking through a lot of Instagram mum blogs, you can come across a lot of fitness ones. Mums who have had children posting their post baby bodies and you’re just sitting there, a cold piece of toast in one hand and a luke warm cup of tea in the other just staring in awe. You just sit there thinking how do they do it? You see all their prepped meals looking delicious and nutritious, you see snaps in the gym and it looks like they never even had a baby. I’m like where the hell is your mum pouch? Where is your stretch marks? The cellulite? 

I had such high expectations before I gave birth. I thought the bounce back would be so easy and I’d be back in my size 10 jeans straight away and have the best gym bod within 6 months. Ha ha ha. I expected to be this super mum who prepared these extravagant meals and drank smoothies and protein shakes. Ha ha ha. I expected to go to the gym 5 times a week and get better at running straight away. Ha ha ha.

For a start, I had an emergency c-section so exercise was out of the question and recovery meant I was living off my parents and Mathews parents cooking and the odd takeaway as it was a lot more convenient. To be fair, I have lost most of my weight and I’m only about 7lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight. But I feel a lot different than before, that’s for sure. I’ve never really had a problem with stretch marks. I used to get the odd white one here and there which always managed to fade. I also didn’t have any during the first months of pregnancy..until the last 3 months where they decided to make an appearance. Now my belly resembles a deflated beach ball. The stretch marks are kinda fading, but won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. And my cellulite? Well, lets not go there. Talk about cottage cheese. They actually did disappear after giving birth..but that’s only because my body swelled three times the size so I looked like a hippo. Oh joy.

I started back exercising around 6 weeks after my c-section, not so wise I know. But I recovered pretty quick so felt fine in doing so. It’s sticking to it is the problem. I don’t know how people do it when they have babies. I am literally exhausted at the end of the day and the only thing I want to do is bicep curl chocolate bars and crisps into my mouth.

Don’t even get me started on meal prep. I’m lucky that I get to eat during the day sometimes. The last thing I want to do is batch cook a load of meals. I just kind of scoff a breakfast bar here and there. Healthy, right? And the less I eat during the day, the beast unleashes itself when Joseph goes to bed and I end up snacking on unhealthy things and the more I do that, the more healthy food looks unpleasing.

I had such high expectations and a lot of mums do. But lets be real, the majority of mums don’t have the time or energy to go to the gym or fixing up a nice healthy meal (also on maternity pay, the last thing you want to do is spend a fiver on a bunch of chicken breast which will last two days). Also, a lot of the time you don’t even care about your post mum bod. The only time I really care is when I do get the time to go and socialise and see my friends with their amazing bodies and I’m wearing good old spanx to keep my pouch at bay.

I used to be so self conscious of my body to the point where it made me very ill and I lost a lot of weight and become unhealthy and obsessed. I carried that with me for years and some days I do find it hard to shrug off. But why the rush to lose the weight? I need to enjoy the time with my baby whilst he’s still a baby not worry about my jiggly thighs or my bingo wings.

It also needs to be noted that a lot of these Instagram babes have a lot of help. And some are just badass and get shit done. However, I’m very lazy. And wonder why I never lose weight anymore. I think I used all my energy when I lost weight before and now I’m all run out.

So don’t have such high expectations and then wonder why you’re halfway down a tub of ben and jerrys wondering why you haven’t got a six pack yet. ESPECIALLY if you’ve had a c-section and left with that little numb pouch. I didn’t even KNOW that happens, haha. But it’s okay, it held your little bundle of joy and what a privilege that is. You’re human, enjoy and live a little. And if you have a shite metabolism like I do, then well, give up (just kidding, but I do feel like it sometimes).

I’ll eventually get around to losing weight and getting my fitness back again. As I want to look good for myself, and no one else. But for the mean time, the barbells and chicken breasts can sod off for a bit. I’ll try my best to eat wisely but I’m not going to obsess about it as much as I have been as I find it makes me binge even more.