“Body Back After Baby!” shouts one magazine cover.
“How I Regained My Body!” exclaims another.
“Back in a Bikini!”
Wait, what does it mean to “get your body back”? Was it taken? Did it run off like a mischievous pet? Did the celebrity check every inch to confirm it’s all accounted for? Maybe she thinks she’s got it back, but perhaps there’s a limb or a pinky toe still missing! Let’s be honest, those little toes are super easy to overlook!
The headlines should really read, “I’m on a Magazine Cover Because an Editor Supports an Unhealthy Obsession With Rapid Postnatal Weight Loss!” And we’re talking rapid weight loss. I mean, would I have even heard about model Sophia Ivanova in a tabloid if she hadn’t bounced back to her pre-baby weight at lightning speed?
“Most women prefer to take several months to get their post-baby bodies back in shape, but Russian supermodel Sophia Ivanova was determined to reclaim her figure in just two months!” gushed the magazine. “I started working out two weeks after my C-section,” Ivanova said. What new mom wouldn’t want to jump back into a workout routine just two weeks postpartum? Who cares about medical advice to wait six to eight weeks? What’s a few stitches anyway?
Then we have Hannah Collins, a perennial tabloid favorite. She’s shared bikini shots after all her pregnancies. In a 2013 issue, she even offered tips on how she shed the pounds after baby number four: “I wasn’t focused on getting my body back,” she claimed. “I never counted calories. I’m all about healthy eating.”
Except she later confessed to counting calories and admitted to following an extreme diet. “You see, my publicist told me how to talk about my weight loss,” she revealed. “So I said I was swimming… really, I can barely doggy paddle.”
Why is this a big deal? Why should I care? Because real women out there are influenced by this nonsense and feel pressured to lose weight too quickly when they should be prioritizing their own health and the care of their babies.
New moms face enough challenges without the added pressure of postpartum bikini body ideals. Studies show that 10 to 20 percent of new mothers experience postpartum depression or anxiety. I’ve been there with my three little ones. It’s a chaotic, overwhelming time. It’s downright ridiculous that we’re idolizing women solely for losing their baby weight fast.
Thanks to social media, we don’t just encounter these images at the grocery store anymore. Recently, model Kasey Johnson celebrated hitting 120 pounds post-baby on Instagram, and of course, the tabloids were all over it: “Kasey Johnson Celebrates Weight Loss – Check Out the Scale!”
Wow! Kasey hit a random number and flaunted it in record time! Just like her previous headline, “How I Got Thin Fast.” What are her secrets? Well, she once described her eating habits as: “I eat whatever I want. I never deprive myself. I indulge daily.” Cheeseburgers, fries, and double-stuffed Oreos are on the menu!
I bet plenty of people would love to eat whatever they want and still look like Kasey Johnson—including Kasey! I can only imagine she doesn’t strictly follow her own diet plan.
But the final straw for me? My social media blew up with a model flaunting her abs at eight-and-a-half months pregnant. I don’t know her story or health, but I was bothered by the fame she gained for not “looking” pregnant.
“This Pregnant Model Has Insane Abs!” was the headline that drew millions of views. Pregnancy abs? Seriously?! This sets a new standard that one day, we may long for the days when celebrities were just trying to regain their bodies AFTER childbirth. Pregnancy abs will become the next thing to chase, just like the Kardashians.
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In conclusion, it’s high time we stop glorifying rapid weight loss post-pregnancy and start focusing on the real struggles new mothers face.