“I’m two years postpartum, but I still look 4 months pregnant. What’s happened to my body? 

Do I have diastasis recti? Do I just need to lose weight to fix this?!”

This is one of the most common questions I hear and today, I’m coaching you through this on the latest To Birth and Beyond podcast episode.

Because if you have a postpartum body, you might feel this discomfort in your belly. 

In fact, it is the rule. Not the exception.

• Our culture does not celebrate the magic of postpartum bodies. 
  

You are living within a culture that shapes how we think about bodies. Oppressive systems that have created standards regarding for how women’s  bodies are to be. 

Your postpartum belly might be rounder, larger, and a deviation from the so-called “ideal” thin form. 

There are very real reasons why we might feel discomfort of living in a larger, rounder body: privileges from having a thinner body, a body that is closer to the peak of ‘socially acceptable and valued’, a non-white body. 

Our beliefs are the problem. NOT your body. 

• The fitness industry has f*cked this up for you.
  

We have made you believe that if you have a round belly, you automatically have a weak core or a large abdominal separation persisting from pregnancy. 

And, you might be experiencing some abdominal weakness postpartum. Many of us do. 

This is the work I’ve helped thousands of postpartum people with to regain their strength and core function post-pregnancy.

And? 

Even with more optimal core function, more exercise, a stronger core – your body might remain exactly as is.

Sit with that. 

• The bottom line is this…
  

Your postpartum belly might remain larger. Softer. Rounder. Simply from the physical changes your body has undergone. 

You might continue to have more fat on your body. 

You might have stretched abdominal muscles and connective tissues from pregnancies. 

For me, my body has remained larger after my second pregnancy than it did my first. In all body parts, and including my belly. And, that’s that.

I do continual self-talk reminding myself to allow it to be this way. 

Take the time to consider your beliefs of why you are feeling the discomfort in this version of your body. 

There is nothing wrong, bad, or that needs “fixing” with you. 

Always rooting for you, 

Jess

PS. For a gentle 8-week plan to relieve back pain, reduce leaking, and have greater strength in your postpartum core and pelvic floor, start here.