The Postpartum Experience for New Moms
with Jessica Joy
Are you having a postpartum experience or learning how to be a mom? Feeling challenged by being a new mom? In today’s SSFmommyseries girl talks, Jessica Joy shares her experience with postpartum diastasis recti, juggling fitness, 2 kids and a busy schedule, and more. Stay tuned!
The biggest change actually happened after giving birth to her daughter, her second child, 6 years ago. After that her body changed significantly, her body was different and she even struggled looking in the mirror. At that point, she was really negative to herself and can’t imagine being that shameful to herself now. She was committed to losing baby weight and that’s what got her into fitness. It forced her to develop a habit of being active to be able to lose the baby weight. But then she got to her same weight and her tummy was still puffy so she decided to get leaner believing that her tummy will get flatter. She kept going, which she ended up creating like a binge-cycle for herself. She wasn’t eating that much in order to get that flat tummy but then she found out about 6 months after giving birth, that it was a condition called Diastasis Recti, where your ab muscles separates and make your tummy bloated. She was not aware of this at first and realized that there are so many exercises that you need to avoid, otherwise you’re going to make it worst. She was so committed in doing abs everyday thinking she’s doing the right thing, but she had no idea that she’s making it worst the entire time.
Note: If you have just had a baby, alway check with your doctor and make sure that you’re safe for exercise and you can also work with physical therapist or specialist that can help you understand what is safe for you and put together a safe workout program.
So, how did she fell in love with fitness? Now that she’s a trainer and a fitness instructor, what can she advice for the women out there who are going through a transition?
First, talk to your doctor about it and research resources. Before you jump in to anything, educate yourself. Don’t stress about it and it will all happen for you! She loves the change in energy that fitness gives her. You can be learning about it while you’re nursing your baby. Don’t let it stress you out, you can absolutely heal it or you can at least make it so much smaller. PATIENCE!
Just enjoy the journey of it, you’ll get there and it’s worth the wait.
For the transition, psychologically, what’s that 1 tip she can give for moms to keep their routine going to help them be sustainable with their health and fitness? Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to do so much in the world for awhile. Putting yourself and your health first and then your child/children, because if we’re not a 100% in ourselves we can’t come from a place of overflow. Just worry about yourself and your children.
Taking ownership of where you are & embrace it! Drop the comparisons.
What does ‘sisterhood’ mean to her? IT’S SEEING A PERSON AS A SISTER. Seeing the genuine heart of somebody. Everybody’s human, we messed up and have flaws, but it’s normal! It’s like you support each other. You look into her eyes and just see her heart.
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