"I just want my pre-baby body back!"

When working with new Mums this is one of the most common answers to my question “how can I help you?”

I’d first like to say that your postnatal body is likely quite different to your pre-pregnancy body. There may be stretch marks, abdominal separation (diastatis recti), wider hips and wider ribs, bigger boobs – and then smaller boobs! – increased body fat and decreased muscle tone.  

All of this is perfectly normal and evidence of what your body has been through to grow and birth your little one(s). 

The crowd seems to be divided as to what comes after pregnancy. Whilst some advocate that you should be able to accept and love your new body for everything that it has given you, others are keen to get going and get their body back’.

I like to sit somewhere in the middle. I do think it’s important to work on your body after pregnancy but what’s paramount is how it feels. How strong are you? How fit, healthy and energised do you feel? Can you move and perform your daily tasks without discomfort, aches and pains?

If you want to work on how your body looks too then who am I to say that’s not important. How we view ourselves has much to do with our confidence and being fit and active is often part of our identity.

During pregnancy you have little control over what happens to your body. If working out, focusing on your nutrition and having body or fitness goals makes you feel more in control and more like you, then go for it. Who wouldn’t want to feel strong, confident, fit, firm and dare I say it, sexy?

Looking at it from another point of view, there’s nothing like having a baby to wake you up and make you appreciate how your body moves and functions. Perhaps you were active before; happy in your own skin and feeling fabulous but did you pay attention to how your body moved, whether it was balanced and strong at its core? Did you work on posture, alignment and mobility?

It’s not until you spend time sitting to nurse, rolling around on the floor playing or carrying around your little one in a sling that you notice the niggles and twinges you either ignored or didn’t have before. 

Once you’re ready to get back to it postnatally, you’re forced to start from scratch - or at least you should be if you’ve done your research and/or you’re working with a specialist trainer. 

Returning to exercise after having had a baby is all about rebuilding and re-strengthening, ensuring you’re strong at the core and re-establishing your fitness slowly having had a decent chunk of time out. If you get this bit right then I believe that you can absolutely get to where you were before. In fact, I think you could be even stronger and in a much better position than ever! 

Of course it’s only natural that your priorities shift once you’ve got a little one to look after, and the time you have available to focus on yourself is massively reduced. But, with a change in your mindset, effective and efficient workouts and a plan to that’s simple and realistic, then you’re on to a winning formula.

I don’t think it’s necessary to look at this as then-and-now, before and after, or pre- and post-baby. Health is a long term game and about so much more than the way you look! Perhaps instead of looking at what you’ve lost, look at what you’ve gained and then at what you have yet to achieve and build.

If you’re keen to make your way back into a fitness routine but you’re unsure where to start then download my NEW and UPDATED Postnatal Fitness eBook. From birth to 3 months this ebook offers a step-by-step guide. It also debunks some of the most common misconceptions about postnatal exercise, covers all manner or health and fitness-related topics - such as breastfeeding, posture and running - and highlights the importance of taking things at your own pace, listening to the feedback your body gives you.