There are many things that we can prepare for with our first pregnancy, but the changes to our bodies – and, more importantly, how they make us feel – can often surprise us.
This was the case for Katherine Heigl, who welcomed her third child back in December. While the actress was already mum to two adopted daughters, son Joshua was the first child she carried herself.
Like so many other women, Katherine looked to her mother as an example of how her pregnancy would go. However, things didn’t work out exactly as she had expected – and her changing shape left her in moments of ‘sheer panic’.
Opening up on her blog, Those Heavenly Days, the 38-year-old got refreshingly candid about the 50 pounds of extra ‘baggage’ she gained with Baby Joshua.
“I had hoped to only gain 25 to 30 pounds like my mother during her pregnancies, but found that just wasn’t possible for me,” she said.
“Despite starting my gestation out on a pregnancy-friendly meal plan and hiking my butt off five days a week, my weight kept creeping up.”
As hard as she tried to fight the weight gain, Katherine knew it was a losing battle.
“At a certain point, probably around four months, I gave up the struggle and tried instead to respect my body’s needs and trust my instincts,” she admitted.
Like many other women, once she welcomed her little one into the world, Katherine started to work on losing her baby weight. And, like those other women, she realised that it was an uphill climb!
“I’m not going to lie – I had moments of sheer panic that I’d never be able to lose it all,” she revealed.
“We’ve all heard about the gals who tone up and get right back into their skinny jeans weeks after their babies’ birth, but this was not me – nor was I trying for it to be.”
It was at this point that the mum-of-three had a change of heart and mind when it came to losing weight. No longer would she put herself through ‘deprivation, counting every single calorie, eliminating major food groups and setting unreasonable weight goals’.
No; now older and wiser, the Grey’s Anatomy alum decided to listen to her body and, most importantly, be kind to it.
“There was something about my pregnancy and post-pregnancy body that instilled a sense of body pride in me, and a freedom from body-shaming that has been such a persistent part of my life for so long,” she explained.
“It was the most natural and healthy thing in the world to put on weight during my pregnancy; and allowing my body to shed it slowly, gracefully and healthily feels…good.”
Good on Katherine for taking such a positive attitude towards her body image and health – her daughters certainly have a great role model to look up to.
