In an attempt to lose some of my son's previous home I intended to sign myself up with a number of classes since being able to exercise as well as walking and trying to go swimming when I can. So far this has consisted of... one 10 week course of yoga.
I had looked at the summer programme of our local children's centre and seen "Buggy Fit" and thought, my sister in law did it, why shouldn't I give it a go too. Unfortunately what I had failed to do before one of the mum's I know signed us all up is ask my sister in law about it in detail.
Firstly, we turned up late due to teething issues where neither my son or I have been sleeping well so ended up sleeping in. Secondly, and this should have rung alarm bells, the woman taking the class was a slim, clearly very sporty mother of a child who I can only assume must be around the 12 month mark. This was a bad start. Needless to say the class started off relatively easy (a walk round a park with our pushchairs as a warm up)... then built up to slow torture in the name of cardio towards the end. It is the most exercise I have unfortunately done in a very very long time. I am a swimmer though, which I don't really even constitute as exercise as it is enjoyable. This was not enjoyable at all. Days later and my legs, namely my thighs are still burning. I had no idea when looking after my son I used my knees and thighs so much but it appears I do! This was class 1 of 5 and even though in part I hated it, my mind cannot help but think that I might be one step closer to no longer wobbling.
I know this is a big topic in the media at the moment. Articles and trends on twitter of mombods and women feeling under so much pressure to get back to being slim after having a baby. I haven't read a lot of the articles as I find the news biased but I think this gist is that women are feeling pressure from the media and not themselves, right? If so the real question is, if the women surveyed were so unhappy with their bodies after their baby and felt celebrities made it worse, how many of those women were comparing themselves to celebrities before they were pregnant and wishing they were slimmer? I think it is stereotyping all women to provide media coverage solely of those who are so susceptible to the celebrity image and saying all mothers feel this way. For me it's all about, if you have looked a certain way your entire life and you know what makes you comfortable then why shouldn't you lose weight to try to get back to what you feel comfortable in, provided it isn't making you physically unwell?
I love my son, I loved being pregnant and I accept my body shape will never again look the way it did pre-baby. What I don't love is the jiggling, the being two/three sizes bigger than I ever have been (and yes it is all fat) and feeling lethargic doing literally anything. I am proud of my tiger stripes and I am proud to say I carried a baby human into this world happy and healthy but I also want to feel beautiful when I parade my son around. I don't want to look like I am carrying his sibling. Personally I don't think I am under any external pressure to lose weight. My husband and friends all try to reassure me that I am still a very new mum (sweet but I'm not, it's been 7 months) and deep down I feel a satisfaction that all of the women I know who are "new" mums also feel the same way as me. I want to stress that I don't feel comfortable looking and feeling the way I do. I also should stress that I want to try and be as healthy as I can be to take care of my son as long as I can and advocate exercise to him as a means of maintaining weight and a healthy lifestyle. As I have mentioned before, my son seems to love the outdoors which I'm hoping in the future will mean he won't be a Vitamin D lacking teenage hermit who spends all day on social media/a console gaming.
I know this post may upset some people but this is just my opinion and I will repeat myself again, I do not feel under any pressure from the media to lose weight. I also may have mentioned I love Beyonce but I know and accept I am not her and her weight has no bearing on my life (just her being an awesome advocate of girl power has). BUT she has become more hourglass-y since having Blue Ivy and she's still hot. Just saying.
For those mums who want to know a bit more about the classes I have been attending, the post-natal yoga was taught through my local SureStart Centre (UK only) which wasn't free but was heavily subsidised. You can find your local centre here: http://childrenscentresfinder.direct.gov.uk/childrenscentresfinder
There is also a new initiative in London called "Our Parks" which holds free classes in local parks in every borough for everyone. They hold a couple of Buggy Fitness classes too but at the moment it appears they are only in East London. I understand this is a new type of class but the interest is getting stronger so it is likely this will expand and roll out pretty quickly. Here is the link to look at all of the classes they do and I will say again... for FREE, whether you are a parent or not: http://www.ourparks.org.uk/class-list. Spread the word about it and if you're feeling generous, please donate as it is an amazing thing they're doing for London.
Happy exercising and wish me luck on my weight loss and tone up!
~AB~
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