H
TRAINING
B ��NCIN�
BACK
“ You will bounce back ” is a phrase uttered amongst soon to be mothers to provide encouragement for the postpartum body j ourney . B ut what is it to bounce back ? Is it a month postpartum ? Several months ? A year or more ? F or me , personally , it was damn near a year and a half , before I started to truly feel and look like myself again . There were several struggles along the way , but I always had the drive to make sure I would reach my goal no matter what . A nd today , I am going to give you my top four pieces of advice for your j ourney .
By Rose Boatner ( new mommy )
Take the damn photo . When I first saw my post pregnancy body , I was overcome with emotions . I was so used to being physically fit , that I didn ’ t it was hard for me to see the beauty that was a woman who j ust gave birth to a beautiful little girl . I pushed life out of my body gosh darn it ! A nd I was so caught up in the softness of my appearance that I became self-conscious and allowed doubt to creep into my mind for the first several weeks . F inally , one day , I had an epiphany . I decided that I needed to take a photo to remember what I looked like on that day , because a month or a year down the road , I would want to remember how I felt and I knew I would be proud of how far I had come . So , I did it … I went to the gym and took that first of many progress photos . I swallowed my pride and really began my j ourney back to myself . Looking back , I am so glad I took progress photos . A lthough , at times , they were hard to look at , sometimes we can see through a week to week or month to month progress photo , what the scale is neglecting to tell us . A nd if I like what I see in the mirror … I don ’ t care about the scale . So whether you gained 15 , 20 , 30 , or ( in my case ) 8 0 lbs ., I implore you� Take the damn photo . �ne day , you ’ ll be glad you did .
Plan as best you can , and for what you can ’ t possibly plan for … adapt . Yes , I have heard the saying , “ F ailing to plan is planning to fail ” … B ut let ’ s be real� Sometimes shit happens �both figuratively and literally� , when you ’ re a mother . It ’ s possible that you can be on point all day and then your child gets a fever or gets diarrhea . It ’ s possible ! A nd 4 4 Natural Muscle Magazine March 2017
your goals for that day must take a backseat to your most important j ob ... B eing a good mother . Trust me . B een there many times . A ll you can do in these situations , is adapt . You planned , something uncontrollable happened , and now you must adapt . My most recent situation was when my daughter had diarrhea about � months ago . �bviously , I was not going to take her to the daycare at our gym and risk others getting sick or her condition worsening . So , after my husband got home from work and we had dinner , I put her to bed , and quietly slipped out of the house to get a late night workout in and stay on track . Where “ failing to plan is planning to fail ” is a very common moto , as a mother we plan as best we can , and for what we can ’ t possibly plan for … we adapt .
Finally … Accept that your “ bounce back ” may be slower than others . It ’ s healthy to set smart goals and realistic timeframes for which to achieve them . owever , it ’ s a mental fuck to literally open social media and see constant news articles of “ check out this celebrity body j ust 1 week post baby !” and compare ourselves to other people who have nothing to do with us . If you are constantly comparing your j ourney to someone else ’ s you are wasting valuable time and energy on something that is potentially self-destructive . Your j ourney doesn ’ t negate someone else ’ s and someone else ’ s j ourney should not define yours .
H ealth is not a race . It is a continuous j ourney , and motherhood is j ust a new chapter in that j ourney . We are all j ust women trying to be amazing mothers and be happy in our own skin . So whether this takes a month or two , or it takes a year or more , don ’ t be discouraged . Stay consistent , trust the process , and above all take time for you so you stay happy ! Your bounce back will happen� �ou just have to define it for yourself . �on ’ t let society or anyone else define it for you .