I logged onto Perez (my guilty pleasure) and saw my girl, Kourtney on the top of the page.  I read the headline, and my face fell.

Let’s back it up.  I have never been pregnant.  I’m something of a late bloomer and kids are not yet on the horizon.  Maybe some day.  But my favorite friends are starting to have babies and from this, some issues have arisen.  Of course, the normal kid stuff (not sleeping, bickering with your spouse, adjusting to kid life), but the body confidence stuff that comes with a changing body seems to be a really prevalent one.

It’s already not easy being a girl.  Boys are allowed to be a lit bit chubby growing up and still get really pretty girls and have friends.  If you’re a chubby lady, people are absolutely ruthless.  And it doesn’t stop if you work in fitness, like I do.  I’m pretty fit and healthy, but I work around bunches of gorgeous and fit men and women.  It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to everyone around you, especially when, as a woman, the pressure to be thin (not too thin) yet muscular (but not too muscular), is huge.  And it seems to multiply 10-fold once you get pregnant.

So now that all the teen hearthrobs have grown up and are pregnant with families and kids, Hollywood has started to do this absolutely bizarre thing where they put this insurmountable pressure on new moms by publishing this…

Or this…

 

Or this…

::sigh:: She’s still holding like a newborn in this one.  That nugget looks like he was born 10 seconds ago.

I’m not saying that after a reasonable amount of time, a strong, healthy body isn’t attainable after kids.  (Look at P!nk, or Mel B!  They took some time, and they’re not stick thin, but they’re strong and healthy!)  But posting some of these pictures with these absolutely sensational headlines puts an unreal amount of pressure on new moms.  And it’s not fair.  Your confidence may already be a little thin as a new mom.  You’re not getting enough sleep, you may be nursing, you’re still incontinent, you feel like you don’t even have time to shower, and you’re expected to magically drop the baby weight before you’re even cleared to exercise?  That’s not right.

To all my pregs that read, or my new moms.  Chill.  You’re not getting any pressure from over here, in my corner. You work out when you can work out.  You eat as well as possible and you continue exercising during pregnancy.  And when you feel ready, and not a second before, is when you ease back into the groove.  You will wear those jeans. You will wear that suit.  But only when you’re ready to.  And one last words of advice, hot pregnant and recently post-pregnant mamas.  Don’t view your fitness progress (after you’ve been cleared of course) as getting your old body back.  Just look forward.  Keep looking forward, don’t look at those nasty magazines, and you will be feeling great in no time!