I gained a lot of weight during both of my pregnancies (55 pounds and 45 pounds). I have never been overweight, and my midwives were very reassuring that there was nothing to be concerned about. The weight was what my body and my babies needed.
After my children were born, I had no trouble dropping all that weight. Of course, it didn’t happen overnight. I ate healthy foods and walked a mile everyday. I breastfed for two years. One of my favorite quotes from a mediocre pregnancy book was “Nine months up, nine months down”. It was my mantra. It took more like a year in my experience to lose all those extra pounds, but then my body returned to its pre-pregnancy state.
Apparently, Gwyneth Paltrow’s experience is different. Of course, the academy award winning actress may have had a part she needed to slim down for quickly, but I am annoyed by her comments reported in the Huffington Post:
Gwyneth Paltrow is admitting that losing her baby weight after the birth of her second child, son Moses, in 2006 was “by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” the Huffington Post reported on July 11…
“It was really hanging on. It was not easy…but I really was seeing results so it motivated me to just work through it,” Paltrow said. She added that her celebrity trainer, Tracy Anderson, helped her lose the weight by having her work out for two hours a day.
Two hours a day! I don’t know any mother with two small children, especially when one is a new baby, that has time or energy to work out for two hours a day. Oh, but it gets worse. Paltrow explains:
Every woman can make time-every woman-and you can do it with your baby in the room. There have been countless times where I’ve worked out with my kids crawling around all over the place. You just make it work, and if it’s important to you, it’ll be important to them.
Is Gwyneth ignoring her children for those two hours? Does she have a nanny? Really, it will be important to your new baby that mommy loses that weight?
My children were included in my post baby exercise. I wore my baby while I hiked. I allowed my toddler to crawl under me when I was practicing downward facing dog.
I also find it ridiculous to say that losing baby weight is ““by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done“. Seriously? Gwyneth has certainly led an easy life. I would say labor (19 hours of it with my first child) was a lot harder than losing weight.
I am sure Gwyneth is just trying to be supporting of mothers out there struggling with baby weight, but I think she sounds like an idiot in the above quote. It’s not realistic for most moms to workout two hours a day, with our without a trainer. Instead, eat healthy food, walk with your baby, breastfeed (you burn a lot of calories lactating), and don’t worry. Your pounds will go away eventually.
We could ALL lose the baby weight if we had nannies, personal trainers and personal nutritionists and home chefs under our employ. How arrogant.
I don´t think it´s that bad. If we had the chance to have a nanny and a personal trainer who wouldn´t use it. I think it´s better she admits that for her it wasn´t easy either. That makes her much more normal than other celebrity moms. A lot more people look at her body and judge her for “still” being overweight than the avarage mom. I think Christina Aquilera´s comment about her wanting a c-section because she didn´t feel like hours of labor pain and ripping down there was by far more arrogant and stupid than this. But that´s just my opinion.
Okay, I am not a Gwyneth fan. She wears fur even though her hubby is a vegetarian. Stupid and cruel. And usually she does sound a bit stupid – but… I think you’re interpreting what she said. She didn’t say she worked out for 2 consecutive hours. Maybe she worked out for an hour while kids napped then another 1/2 hour of yoga while kids played then another 1/2 hour of treadmill while Daddy was with the kids. Working out that way increases metabolism more than working out for 2 hours in a row. When she says “if it’s important to you, it will be important to them” maybe she is teaching them that exercise IS an important part of life. With the obesity epidemic and lack of exercise due to indoor sedentary lifestyle of children (think video games & tv)- I agree with her! You read it as vain – I read it as a good health choice.
And my labor was 36 hours – all natural, drug-free home birth and YES – losing the baby weight is harder than my labor, too. It takes longer with less immediate results. 36 hours of labor produced a baby – 3 years as a mommy and I still have an extra 15 pounds!
Can’t you at least give her kudos that she nursed for 2 years? That being said – she supports the torture of innocent animals by wearing fur.
Just as food for thought….lactic acid can be released into breast milk during intense exercise. Some babies may get fussy and others may even shun the milk. It is better to take it easy for the first six months…give your body time to recover from birth. Eat healthy, breastfeed, and walk or exercise moderately.
Fitness is an important part of healthy living, but obsessing over body image isn’t (and the kids will pick up on that one too). Just my two cents =)
@PureMothers
You know a lot more about Gwyneth than I do:) Thanks for offering another perspective on her comments.
I have to agree I didn’t read her comments as negative. I imagined that, like many moms she was working out with babies crawling on and about, neglect didn’t really come to mind. And, I also agree that its important for kids to learn that exercise (along with healthy eating, sleep etc..) are important. And, again, perhaps this has been her greatest challenge, not sure its fair to judge that.
I’m all for her also saying without pause that she breastfed and is including her baby in this journey…
i dont think its arrogant at all, and its not stupid. you wont magically lose the weight. it takes ahrd work and it does get harder with each baby and the older you get. too much was made about what she said. she said you could exercise with your kids in the room. why does it matter if she has any looking after them? she is in the same room. seriously people!
I think her quote simply proves how hard it can be. You’re right, who has that much time to devote to that each day? But the fact it DID take 2hrs a day and a trainer only emphasizes how hard it can be.