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    Postpartum Fitness – Why You Shouldn’t Compare Yourself to what You See on Instagram

    For many women, pregnancy is a beautiful, and for the most part easy, time in their lives. There are pictures all over the Internet of women who are glowing, beaming, and floating around as if they somehow weigh less at six months pregnant than they did before growing a human being. There are images of women in the hospital, holding their tiny miracles, with perfectly applied makeup and hair styled for the Oscars. Countless photos are posted to Instagram of women holding two month old babies in front of their toned, two-piece worthy, rock hard abs.

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    I was not that woman.

    As a trainer, I naively assumed when I got pregnant that since I was fit and healthy pre-pregnancy, I would gain approximately fifteen pounds. I thought I would be one of the women who floated through pregnancy, perhaps still wearing my pre-pregnancy clothes, and completing my workouts as if nothing had changed.

    During my pregnancy I never felt well, I threw up incessantly for the first few months, and after being pregnant for only a few weeks my body refused to accept the workouts I was used to. Suddenly I couldn’t keep up with my clients (even pregnant ones), and I felt nauseous or light-headed every time my heart rate would increase. Fifty-five pounds later, I had gained half of my original body weight, and more than once I was asked if I was having twins.

    I wondered what was going on with me. After all, my profession was being able to control my body, and teaching others to do the same. I felt depressed, and frankly pissed off that I looked so different from the women I followed on social media. I kept getting emails from diaper companies with skinny, fit, smiling moms at the top that I would delete before reading because I did not look like them. I felt trapped in a body that was so different than what I was used to. I waited so impatiently to have the baby, to get my body back, and to be able to get back in shape. I made a plan for after the baby was born, writing out a workout program and planning healthy meals. And since I was going to try breastfeeding, I figured it wouldn’t be that hard to lose weight anyway.

    Those of you who have had babies before know where I’m going with this… I am now four months postpartum and still 25 pounds heavier than I was a year ago. I look absolutely nothing like other moms I have seen who bounce back at a crazy fast speed, and nothing like I thought I would at this point. My body didn’t bounce back quickly, and didn’t look like pictures I had seen of other moms. And I am finally okay with it because I have learned that at least for me, this is normal. I sacrificed my fit body to become a mama. Then once the baby was born, I had to completely change my postpartum plan because the calorie deficit affected how much milk my body would create. My clothes still don’t fit, and my stretch mark covered belly is still squishy, and that’s okay. I am still working towards getting back in shape four months later, and still will be for a while, and that is okay.

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    As a professional personal trainer I’m telling you that it’s okay to have a different body after baby, and it’s okay to make some sacrifices for your baby. Every journey is different, every body is different, and every experience is different. So let me save you a little heartache along the way and tell you that even though you’ll want to compare, it is okay to not look like the moms you see on Instagram.

    Columbus Underground is celebrating healthy living habits to help you kick off the new year right! Check out all of our Health & Wellness 2016 articles by CLICKING HERE.

     

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    Katie Grace Kissel
    Katie Grace Kisselhttps://columbusunderground.com
    Katie Grace is a NASM certified personal trainer at Sweat Box Fitness in Grandview, specializing in women’s fitness, weight loss, HIIT training, and online training. She is also a former collegiate rower, wife to Jason and new mom to Luna.
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