For many new moms, there is an immediate postpartum struggle to lose the baby weight. With societal pressures all across the internet, it's hard to not compare yourself to beautifully filtered photos of women, but one fitness blogger is speaking out to make sure all of her followers and new moms see through that. Meet Alexa Jean Brown, a fitness blogger [1] who's dealing with the pressures of accepting her postpartum body.
For someone whose professional life revolves around fitness, it's so interesting to hear Alexa's perspective on getting her prebaby body back, and it's totally honest. On one hand, we're surrounded by celebrity moms shedding pregnancy pounds so quickly [2], but on the other hand, we have this woman who wants everyone to be practical and not hold ourselves to these unrealistic standards.
Alexa recently took to Instagram [3], where she shared side-by-side photos of herself four weeks after giving birth, with a message that can speak to all the moms out there — this is "NORMAL."
"This is me 4 weeks post birth," she captioned the Instagram photo [4].
"As much as its my job to motivate you I also believe it's my job to be relatable and honest. Our society has put this idea in our heads that women have to bounce right back after having a baby, but that's typically just not realistic. This is not the truth for most of us. I have more stretch marks and belly rolls and that's perfectly NORMAL and OKAY. I remember being part way through this pregnancy seeing this woman online 1-day postpartum with a flat tummy and abs thinking to myself, 'wowie, I hope I can pull that off'. I instantly felt the pressure to measure up. Then fast forward to my 1-day postpartum body and it was more of the squishy, droopy flub that I remember after my first baby. As bummed as I was that I didn't just bounce right back to my pre-baby body, I can't help but feel so amazed that this body created two beautiful babies."
She continues her post with some advice for her followers and fellow moms out there who may feel intimidated by the postbaby standards we see all across social media. Alexa urges everyone to love their bodies and to stop comparing ourselves to others.
"If you're finding yourself obsessing about, feeling ashamed of or apologizing for the appearance of your body, even if you haven't just had a child, STOP. Our bodies are incredible and amazing and we need to love every inch of it. Lots of love to all of the other amazing mommies out there!" she wrote.
For a mom in the public eye and deep in the fitness world, it's incredible that Alexa's taking down the filtered expectations and making sure her followers know that this is the real her, and that it's a realistic struggle even for someone with over 2 million Instagram followers.
Alexa told POPSUGAR Moms that she felt the same pressure to instantly shed those pregnancy pounds after her first child because she had no idea what to expect, but it was different the second time around. Being around her children served as a reminder to love her body and appreciate it for producing such adorable girls. "Spending time with my babies really makes the whole journey worth it. I'd do it all over again," she said. "I think knowing that if I work hard I can have my body back and recognizing that it's just part of creating life."
Keep reading to see some of Alexa's adorable family photos and see how she keeps it real as a mom in the fitness world.
