A few months before my son arrived, celebrity mom Bella Johnson shared her thoughts on new mothers shedding baby weight through fitness. She boldly stated, “Every woman has the time — yes, every woman — and you can involve your baby in the process. There have been endless times I’ve exercised while my kids crawled around. If it matters to you, it’ll matter to them.”
I didn’t catch her words until after I gave birth, about eight weeks later, when my doctor finally said it was safe to start exercising again after my c-section. I dove headfirst into a daily routine.
But wait a minute, let me wipe the tears of laughter from my face.
In reality, it took much longer for me to get back into any form of regular exercise. I’m not Bella Johnson or the universal “Every Woman.” I was exhausted. My nights were filled with feeding and comforting a newborn, then juggling a full-time job with commuting, picking up from daycare, cooking, laundry, and—oh wait, the last two were from Bella’s life, not mine. You start to absorb her mindset when you read her thoughts.
Fast forward to about six months after my son’s birth. My sleep-deprived brain was beginning to send signals about needing to restart some kind of fitness routine. I had stopped breastfeeding after four months but continued consuming those extra 500 calories recommended for nursing moms. Instead of losing the baby weight, I gained about ten pounds. Determined to get back into shape, I thought, since “every woman” could work out with “kids crawling around,” I could too.
Now, my son isn’t opposed to exercise per se; he’s just against my exercising. Sure, he’s always on the go, but when it comes to me attempting a workout? Forget it. When he was a baby, it was manageable, but once he started walking, it became a different story. The moment I hit the floor to stretch, he’s right there, climbing over me. When I drop into push-up position, he thinks it’s his time to play horsey. And sit-ups? Well, he interprets those as an invitation for peek-a-boo, often resulting in a little bump on my forehead: “Ow, boo-boo.” “I’m sorry!” “Hi, Mommy!”
Parenting magazines suggest using your baby as a free weight—holding them while squatting or balancing them during crunches. I tried it a few times, but honestly, Ouch, boo-boo.
I even contemplated baby yoga, but how can you expect little ones to hold poses when they can’t even hold their bladders?
Even when he’s not literally in my face, he’s always demanding my attention, shouting for juice or declaring, “I poop!”—which means I must stop my workout to check, only to discover he’s usually fibbing since if he truly had, he’d never confess it.
Our solution? We resorted to using his favorite character, Dino, as a distraction. We’d play his DVDs back-to-back. It didn’t completely fix the issue, as he still wants one of us to sit with him, but it allowed us to take turns.
As for Bella’s assertion that if something is important to you, it’ll be important to your kids, I’m sure that’s true… someday, far in the future, when my bones are creaky, and my son may recall my futile attempts at working out and view them as an example. But at this moment, nothing I value seems to register with him. Not my need for sleep, not my desire for a warm cup of coffee, and certainly not my wish to use the bathroom in peace.
For now, my husband and I alternate workouts, and thanks to Dino, I will almost fit back into those jeans someday.
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In summary, juggling exercise with kids can be a comedy of errors. While celebrity moms might make it look easy, the reality is often far from it. With the right distractions and a bit of patience, you might just find a way to squeeze in some fitness amidst the chaos of parenthood.