{"id":14113,"date":"2025-05-05T16:12:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T09:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=14113"},"modified":"2025-05-05T16:12:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T09:12:40","slug":"the-postpartum-bounce-back-lie-why-you-dont-owe-anyone-your-pre-baby-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=14113","title":{"rendered":"The Postpartum Bounce Back Lie: Why You Don\u2019t Owe Anyone Your Pre-Baby Body"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p data-start=\"368\" data-end=\"418\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-316748 aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/sp-ao.shortpixel.ai\/client\/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_584,h_421\/https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2461244717-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"584\" height=\"421\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-316748 aligncenter lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2461244717-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"584\" height=\"421\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2461244717-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2461244717-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2461244717-1024x738.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2461244717-768x554.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2461244717-1536x1107.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2461244717-2048x1477.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2461244717-150x108.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"368\" data-end=\"418\">The pressure to <a href=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/2025\/02\/episode-155-breaking-free-from-postpartum-body-pressure-with-marlene-andersson\/\">\u201cbounce back\u201d<\/a> after having a baby is intense. And your ability to bounce back to your old body after giving birth is often graded and used to determine your \u201cgoodness\u201d as a woman and mother.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"368\" data-end=\"418\">Yep, <a href=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/2025\/03\/diet-culture-lies-truth-about-health-fitness\/\">diet culture<\/a> is E V E R Y W H E R E \u2026 even for new moms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"420\" data-end=\"653\">When I was pregnant for the first time, bouncing back postpartum wasn\u2019t something I thought much about. In fact, being pregnant felt like I was finally healing a decades-long, tortured relationship with my body and <a href=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/2019\/02\/9-myths-about-eating-disorders\/\">disordered eating<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"655\" data-end=\"828\">As my belly grew to make space for the ever-expanding cluster of cells in my uterus, I finally felt the freedom to eat when I was hungry\u2014and to actually satisfy that hunger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"830\" data-end=\"848\">It was liberating.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"850\" data-end=\"1238\">And because I felt so great about my growing body, I wasn\u2019t really worried about my body postpartum. I sort of assumed that once I gave birth, my body would shrink right down with my uterus. That was the expectation, anyway. It\u2019s what women\u2019s magazines told me would happen. It\u2019s what I saw in movies and on TV after a character gave birth. I mean, just look at Rachel Green on <em data-start=\"1228\" data-end=\"1237\">Friends<\/em>!<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1240\" data-end=\"1396\">Deep down, I knew it was fiction. But I still filed that \u201cproblem\u201d under <em data-start=\"1313\" data-end=\"1325\">future me.<\/em> It wasn\u2019t something I was willing to worry about while I was pregnant.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"\" data-start=\"1398\" data-end=\"1459\"><strong data-start=\"1401\" data-end=\"1459\">How Media and Culture Distort What Postpartum Recovery Looks Like<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1461\" data-end=\"1673\">When I gave birth in 2013, <a href=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/2024\/12\/episode-149-scrolling-self-esteem-body-image-in-a-digital-age-with-dr-charlotte-markey\/\">Instagram<\/a> was still in its infancy. There weren\u2019t many\u2014if any\u2014momfluencers showing off their real postpartum bodies the way so many do now. If they were, I certainly wasn\u2019t seeing them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1675\" data-end=\"1826\">Instead, I watched <em data-start=\"1694\" data-end=\"1720\">America\u2019s Next Top Model<\/em> reruns while I nursed my newborn on the couch\u2014which, in hindsight, was not the world\u2019s healthiest choice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1828\" data-end=\"1960\">And unsurprisingly, my body did not \u201cbounce back.\u201d Sure, my belly got smaller as my uterus contracted, but that only took me so far.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"\" data-start=\"1962\" data-end=\"2015\"><strong data-start=\"1965\" data-end=\"2015\">The Fantasy of Shrinking Instantly After Birth<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"2017\" data-end=\"2083\">Women get wildly conflicting messages about the postpartum period.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"2085\" data-end=\"2260\">I was told by my midwife to go easy on my body for the first 40 days. At minimum, no strenuous exercise until I\u2019d stopped bleeding. \u201cGive your body time to heal,\u201d she told me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"2262\" data-end=\"2407\">But the culture? The culture trains us to believe our bodies should immediately return to their pre-pregnancy state. As if nothing ever happened.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"2409\" data-end=\"2553\">How is that even supposed to work without strenuous exercise and serious calorie deprivation? And more importantly: <em data-start=\"2522\" data-end=\"2530\">Should<\/em> that even be the goal?<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"\" data-start=\"2555\" data-end=\"2606\"><strong data-start=\"2558\" data-end=\"2606\">What Really Happens to Your Body After Birth<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"2608\" data-end=\"2882\">I tried to be patient and gentle with my postpartum body. But it was hard when my body didn\u2019t look the same\u2014not at 1 month, not at 6 months, not even a year postpartum.<br data-start=\"2776\" data-end=\"2779\"\/>Even when I got back to my yoga mat.<br data-start=\"2815\" data-end=\"2818\"\/>Even when I started running again.<br data-start=\"2852\" data-end=\"2855\"\/>Even when I lifted weights.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"2884\" data-end=\"2920\">And here\u2019s the thing: that\u2019s normal. It\u2019s the expectation of instant weight loss that\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"\" data-start=\"2922\" data-end=\"2969\"><strong data-start=\"2926\" data-end=\"2969\">The Physical Changes No One Talks About<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"2971\" data-end=\"3027\">Pregnancy changes your body. So does labor and delivery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3029\" data-end=\"3455\">Your hips widen to make room for a baby, your breasts enlarge in preparation for nursing (whether you end up breastfeeding or not), and your internal organs shift to accommodate a growing uterus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3029\" data-end=\"3455\">Ligaments all over your body stretch, your feet may grow a size, and many women experience whole-body swelling thanks to increased blood and fluid volume.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3029\" data-end=\"3455\">Your hair might get thicker and shinier during pregnancy\u2014only to fall out in clumps in the shower 3\u20136 months postpartum thanks to hormonal shifts.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3029\" data-end=\"3455\">These are the changes that naturally occur for mothers in order to create another life\u2014an incredible expression of what our bodies are able to do.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3029\" data-end=\"3455\">So how is it okay that those same changes are what \u201cdevalue\u201d our bodies once the embryo becomes a baby?<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"\" data-start=\"3457\" data-end=\"3524\"><strong data-start=\"3461\" data-end=\"3524\">From Diastasis to Pelvic Floor: This Is Normal, Not Failure<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3526\" data-end=\"3564\">Then there are the postpartum changes:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"3566\" data-end=\"3827\">\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"3566\" data-end=\"3627\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3568\" data-end=\"3627\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/2017\/04\/diastasis-recti-how-to-identify-abdominal-separation-after-pregnancy\/\"><strong data-start=\"3568\" data-end=\"3587\">Diastasis recti<\/strong><\/a>, where your abdominal muscles separate.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"3628\" data-end=\"3699\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3630\" data-end=\"3699\"><strong data-start=\"3630\" data-end=\"3653\">Pelvic floor trauma<\/strong>, including torn or weakened muscles.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"3700\" data-end=\"3761\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3702\" data-end=\"3761\"><strong data-start=\"3702\" data-end=\"3718\">Incontinence<\/strong>, when running or jumping triggers <a href=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/2024\/10\/podcast-episode-140-dispelling-myths-about-pelvic-floor-dysfunction-with-dr-melissa-oleson\/\">urine leakage<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"3762\" data-end=\"3827\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3764\" data-end=\"3827\"><strong data-start=\"3764\" data-end=\"3776\">Prolapse<\/strong>, which is every bit as uncomfortable as it sounds.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3829\" data-end=\"3970\">You\u2019ve probably experienced some of these if you\u2019ve given birth. And yet, we\u2019re still expected to snap back into shape like nothing happened.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3829\" data-end=\"3970\">It\u2019s a race to see who can be the most unaffected by pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum healing. We\u2019re being assessed to see how quickly we\u2019re able to return to pre-pregnancy factory settings once we\u2019re no longer pregnant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3972\" data-end=\"4054\">It\u2019s absurd.<br data-start=\"3984\" data-end=\"3987\"\/>It\u2019s unrealistic.<br data-start=\"4004\" data-end=\"4007\"\/>And from a physical standpoint, it\u2019s dangerous.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3972\" data-end=\"4054\">Because it very often leads women to feeling like they need to just suck it up and deal with the pelvic floor pain, occasional leakage, swollen boobs, hypersensitive body, and just lose the baby weight already. Instead of taking the time to heal, they feel pressured to get everything back to the way it was as fast as possible \u2026 or at least make it look that way.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3972\" data-end=\"4054\">But having a baby is no small thing. Why shouldn\u2019t it have changed us? Who says we have to \u201cgo back\u201d to being who we were before this life-changing experience? Why should that be the goal?<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"\" data-start=\"4056\" data-end=\"4110\"><strong data-start=\"4059\" data-end=\"4110\">Who Does the Bounce Back Serve? (Hint: Not You)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"\" data-start=\"4112\" data-end=\"4143\"><strong data-start=\"4116\" data-end=\"4143\">Shrinking Isn\u2019t Healing<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Treating the postpartum period as a weight loss competition can complicate and prolong healing.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ve got far more important things to focus on during this period than how your body looks to other people.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re probably navigating long days and longer nights, trying to figure out how to comfort and care for this tiny human that was not so long ago, inside of your body and now relies on your for everything.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re also dealing with never ending dirty diapers and laundry.<\/p>\n<p>You might be pumping through the night, like I was, to try and increase your milk supply. And then also waking up to nurse a hungry baby.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re likely struggling to do basic things like taking a shower and feeding yourself because your baby only sleeps when they\u2019re in your arms.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re navigating what it means to parent and raise a child with another human being if your partner is with you. There\u2019s the ongoing, daily challenge of figuring out \u201chow we are now as parents\u201d vs how we were as partners before we had kids.<\/p>\n<p>You might also be adjusting to what it means to be a mom who goes back to work faster than you want to, particularly in the US where it\u2019s highly unlikely that you\u2019ve got paid maternity leave and no subsidized, affordable childcare.<\/p>\n<p>And in the middle of that storm, we\u2019re told we should \u201cget our bodies back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When are you supposed to work out? Or is the idea to just starve your body into submission wile it\u2019s vulnerable and healing?<\/p>\n<p>All of these other things you\u2019re dealing with are more urgent and important to figure out than fitting into your pre-pregnancy jeans.<\/p>\n<h2 data-start=\"5768\" data-end=\"5835\"><strong data-start=\"5772\" data-end=\"5835\">Your World Got Bigger\u2014Your Body Doesn\u2019t Have to Get Smaller<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Bouncing back should not be a fitness goal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"5439\" data-end=\"5537\">This isn\u2019t to say movement isn\u2019t valuable postpartum\u2014it absolutely is. But let\u2019s reframe the goal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\" data-start=\"5539\" data-end=\"5710\">Maybe you move to reconnect to your body.<br data-start=\"5580\" data-end=\"5583\"\/>To heal and strengthen your core or pelvic floor.<br data-start=\"5620\" data-end=\"5623\"\/>To rebuild your strength and perhaps feel even stronger than you did pre-pregnancy.<br data-start=\"5667\" data-end=\"5670\"\/>To have something that\u2019s\u00a0<em data-start=\"5695\" data-end=\"5710\">just for you.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"5712\" data-end=\"5766\">Not because you\u2019re feeling the pressure of diet culture to get your old pre-baby body back and show the world how little pregnancy, delivery, and motherhood have affected you.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t have to \u201cgo back\u201d to an old healthy version of you.<\/p>\n<p>You can create a new one.<\/p>\n<h2 data-start=\"4711\" data-end=\"4769\"><strong data-start=\"4715\" data-end=\"4769\">Diet Culture Preys on Postpartum Vulnerability<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"4771\" data-end=\"4841\">Let\u2019s be real: chasing a pre-pregnancy body as soon as possible is not for our health. It\u2019s to appease diet culture and earn our value back by reclaiming some more ideal aesthetic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"4843\" data-end=\"4918\">But starving yourself and overexercising while recovering and\/or breastfeeding isn\u2019t how we heal. In fact, it can:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"4920\" data-end=\"5053\">\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"4920\" data-end=\"4951\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"4922\" data-end=\"4951\">Can\u00a0<em data-start=\"4926\" data-end=\"4933\">wreck<\/em> your milk supply<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"4952\" data-end=\"4979\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"4954\" data-end=\"4979\">Make you more exhausted<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"4980\" data-end=\"5019\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"4982\" data-end=\"5019\">Increase your injury risk<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"5020\" data-end=\"5053\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"5022\" data-end=\"5053\">Leave you feeling weaker, not stronger<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"4843\" data-end=\"4918\">We\u2019re talking about a time in our lives when we need\u00a0more nourishment, not less. We need support, not stress. We need to feel stronger, not just smaller.<\/p>\n<p>So who benefits when you deprive and exhaust yourself? Not your baby. Not your family. And definitely not <em data-start=\"5307\" data-end=\"5313\">you.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"\" data-start=\"5315\" data-end=\"5383\"><strong data-start=\"5318\" data-end=\"5383\">What If We Stopped Going Back\u2014and Flourished Forward Instead?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"5837\" data-end=\"5992\">The very idea of \u201cbouncing back\u201d is flawed. You\u2019re not a rubber band. You\u2019re a human. One who has stretched and grown\u2014in body and in life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"5994\" data-end=\"6193\">Pregnancy and postpartum aren\u2019t about shrinking. They\u2019re about expansion. Your heart expands. Your responsibilities expand. Your capacity for love and exhaustion expands. Your whole life expands. So should your expectations.<\/p>\n<p>There is no bouncing back\u2014there\u2019s a reorganizing. A restructuring.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"\" data-start=\"6195\" data-end=\"6241\"><strong data-start=\"6199\" data-end=\"6241\">Motherhood is an Expansion<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>When you become a mother, your attention has to expand. Your responsibilities increase.<\/p>\n<p>Your community needs to broaden to include more people you can ask for help when you need it and can lean on for support to preserve your mental health.<\/p>\n<p>And your life will continue to widen outward as your child gets older and moves within the world.<\/p>\n<p>Motherhood is the experience of expanding.<\/p>\n<p>To me that suggests we need to get a little stronger, so we can withstand the challenges of parenting\u2014internally and externally.<\/p>\n<p>We need to learn to go with the flow, knowing that when it comes to kids, it\u2019s best to expect the unexpected.<\/p>\n<p>We need to be more agile, moving through the minefield of modern motherhood.<\/p>\n<p>And we need endurance, because postpartum is actually forever. Being a parent doesn\u2019t suddenly end when your kid turns 18.<\/p>\n<p>You can\u2019t go back. You\u2019ve got to grow forward.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"\" data-start=\"6492\" data-end=\"6532\"><strong data-start=\"6495\" data-end=\"6532\">The Bottom Line: Flourish Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"6534\" data-end=\"6738\">\u201cBouncing back\u201d is a concept sold to women by diet culture and patriarchal systems that profit from our insecurity. It\u2019s a lie designed to keep us chasing smallness when what we\u00a0<em data-start=\"6712\" data-end=\"6720\">really<\/em> need is strength and support.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"6740\" data-end=\"6770\">So let\u2019s retire the narrative of bouncing back.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"6740\" data-end=\"6770\">I propose we aim to <strong>flourish forward<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"6740\" data-end=\"6770\">It might not have the same ring as \u201cbouncing back\u201d or \u201cgetting your body back,\u201d but it\u2019s more true to what your body needs after giving birth\u2014physically, mentally, and emotionally.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"6740\" data-end=\"6770\">Once you have a baby, there will be no going back. Life changes shape\u2014expanding to make space for another human being. You can only go forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"6772\" data-end=\"6931\">So let\u2019s keep moving forward in bodies that are wiser, stronger, and far more powerful than they\u2019re ever given credit for.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"6933\" data-end=\"6994\"><strong data-start=\"6933\" data-end=\"6994\">Flourish forward. That\u2019s the only direction that matters. <\/strong><em>\u2014Naomi<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/2025\/05\/the-postpartum-bounce-back-lie\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The pressure to \u201cbounce back\u201d after having a baby is intense. And your ability to bounce back to your old body after giving birth is often graded and used to determine your \u201cgoodness\u201d as a woman and mother. Yep, diet culture is E V E R Y W H E R E \u2026 even for &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fitness"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14113\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}