The Postpartum Fitness Journey to a Better You

The Postpartum Reality No One Prepared Me For

This is my postpartum fitness journey, what recovery really looked like after having a baby, how I started working out again, and what actually helped me stay consistent without burning out. Postpartum body changes can feel overwhelming, especially when your body doesn’t bounce back the way you expected.

Postpartum body changes affect almost every new mom, and many women start their postpartum fitness journey feeling overwhelmed by how quickly their bodies transform. Giving birth to a brand new human being is beautiful and should be celebrated, but it also comes with lots of changes.

Some women don’t get to meet their little ones after childbirth due to unfortunate circumstances, so I’m grateful that I didn’t have any complications and had a smooth delivery. While in the hospital, I cried tears of joy because, coming from a girlie with a very low pain tolerance, I was pretty proud of myself for what I’d done.

When the Joy Turned Into Something Else

Many moms don’t expect how deeply postpartum body image can affect their mental health, especially when physical changes happen fast and without warning. Getting home after that is where the tears quickly turned into something else, something more negative. Not only was it hard waking up every 2 hours in the middle of the night, but I also used to be a size 2; now I’m a size 6.

My Athletic Background (And Why the Changes Hit Harder)

For women who had athletic or active lifestyles before pregnancy, postpartum fitness setbacks can feel even more dramatic and discouraging. I’ve been athletic for most of my life. I was always the fastest in elementary, the most competitive also, at a very young age. I got my feet wet in track and field in middle school, where I was just a long and triple jumper; but then my career in running began when one of my teammates was out sick, and I had to fill in for her on the relay. That’s when my coach, my teammates, and even I realized that I was actually pretty fast.

Fast forward to my high school years, and I actually didn’t join the team my freshman year; I joined the dance team instead. It’s funny because I had zero rhythm back then, and I still don’t have any now, haha, so I’m not sure how I made the dance team, but it was a fun era.

Sophomore year, I finally got the courage to try out for the track team and made the varsity team on the spot. I just had a natural talent for speed running. I later on got a scholarship at a Division I university to compete on the collegiate level. So, as I said, I’ve been athletic for the majority of my life.

When Pregnancy Changed Everything

Pregnancy changes your body in ways you can’t control, and many women struggle with the loss of their pre-pregnancy identity as much as the physical changes themselves. When I got pregnant, everything changed. It was hard seeing the six-pack that I had for as long as I could remember slowly fade.

I wasn’t discouraged at first, but after about 3 months postpartum, I wasn’t snapping back, so I started to get a little worried and insecure. I felt that my arms were huge, my bra size went up a cup, not complaining about that one ;), my shoe size went up a size, and I had dark stretch marks everywhere.

Can you imagine what I saw in the mirror? I’ll tell you, an ogre. I absolutely hated all the changes; I couldn’t believe that I had to live with this new body and image. I’ve never had to diet or go hard in the gym ever in my life; everything was just natural. My mental state was at an all-time low, but I’ll tell you how I changed it all around.

Trying YouTube Workouts (And Giving Up Quickly)

Like many new moms, I started my postpartum workout routine with quick at-home ab videos, hoping they would help me get my abs back fast. I started with YouTube ab videos at home, searching up 10-15 minute videos that I could do every day for a month that’ll “shrink my mom pooch” (YouTube ab video). This was done for about a week, and I wrapped it up, haha. I felt like it wasn’t doing much for me and was a waste of time.

Discovering Diastasis Recti and Real Postpartum Fitness Journey Workouts

So many moms don’t know they have diastasis recti, which makes traditional ab workouts less effective and often frustrating. Then I learned, via TikTok, that I may have diastasis recti from some of the physical descriptions the video described (diastasis recti article). With this information, I searched for post-partum at-home workouts and short ab circuits that were specific to postpartum moms. I learned quite a few things, and I stuck to this routine for quite a bit.

I thought to myself, if I can just be consistent for a few weeks, I’ll have my six-pack back in no time. To my surprise, that didn’t happen. I was confused and annoyed because, as I said, I’ve never had to work for my abs, so I didn’t know how people get them from scratch.

Going Down the Fitness Rabbit Hole

Eventually, I realized that getting back in shape after pregnancy wasn’t just about workouts; it was nutrition and strength training that mattered way more than people think. I then went down a rabbit hole of how nutrition plays a major role in body recomposition paired with strength training.

According to the TikTok gym girlies, a calorie deficit that is rich in protein and progressive overload in the gym is the key to a snatched waist and toned body. After extensive research, I started my fitness journey.

My Full Postpartum Fitness Workout Routine (The One That Worked)

A structured workout split is one of the most effective ways for moms to rebuild strength, lose fat, and get consistent postpartum fitness results. I was a stay-at-home mom at this time, so I thought transforming into a gym girlie would be a great way to occupy my time, and it was. I committed to working out 5 days/week and eating in a ~1,600 calorie deficit.

Monday: Cardio

Cardio is key for fat loss, especially when paired with strength training. Per my research, an inclined treadmill was the quickest way to burn calories, but I hated it. Walking on a treadmill is the most boring thing ever, in my opinion, so my alternative was the stair master. I know, everyone dreads the stairmaster, haha, but I loved it. It wasn’t boring, and I was able to grow my quads and glutes very quickly.

Tuesday & Thursday: Leg Days

Progressive overload is one of the most powerful tools for body recomposition and toning. I consistently did barbell back squats, hip thrusts, the leg press machine, and dumbbell RDLs for several weeks while increasing the weight by 5 lbs per week. These workouts lasted about 2 hours per session because I focused on quality over quantity reps with enough recovery time between sets, and of course, my cardio after.

Wednesday: Arms & Back

I didn’t use heavy weights for arms because I didn’t want to have manly arms, although according to the men who posted gym content on TikTok assured viewers that this was impossible for women. I still didn’t trust him; I wanted pilates arms, not overly swollen gym arms.

Friday: Active Recovery

Fridays were my active recovery days. I would go to a pilates class in the morning to relieve some tension in my muscles and then go on a walk in the park after.

This workout split worked wonders for me. I was finally rewarded for my consistency and was able to start seeing results.

The Hardest Part: Nutrition

For most moms, nutrition is the hardest part of any postpartum fitness journey, especially when cravings kick in. One of my guilty pleasures is any fruity candy. I love gushers, I love Skittles, I love Starburst, especially the sours. I thought I would never be able to give this up, but surprisingly, I did.

I’m not sure where the fire in me came from that forced me to be the most disciplined I’ve ever been, but I like it.

My Daily Eating Routine

I fasted every morning until 12. I had a proportionate breakfast that was either protein oatmeal with Greek yogurt, spinach, egg, and cheese, toasted bagel thins, or protein pancakes with berries. All of these options were under 500 calories, which was perfect for my deficit.

Lunch time almost always consisted of a variation of eggs, scrambled, omelet, or on a sandwich. This way, I was able to get my protein intake for the day and also stay within the deficit.

Dinner was always hard because, for some reason, I’m always the hungriest at the end of the day, but I remained disciplined and was also able to find good substitutes for late-night snacks.

When Discipline Became My Superpower in My Postpartum Fitness Journey

Postpartum confidence grows the moment you prove to yourself that you can stay consistent, even on hard days. I was very impressed with myself and surprised that I was able to keep this up for so long. Even on the days of my cycle when all I wanted to do was bed-rot and eat chocolate, I stuck to my healthy snacks and forced myself to go to the gym anyway.

My body 100% reflected my discipline, and my confidence skyrocketed.

If You’re a Mom Struggling With Confidence — Try This

Every postpartum fitness journey starts with one small habit, and consistency matters more than intensity. If you’ve struggled with your confidence after becoming a mom, I would absolutely recommend stealing this routine. Although everyone’s body is different, I believe consistency in any task creates results.

If you don’t know where to start, that’s fine, start with my 10-minute Ab Finisher. Everyone has to start somewhere, and I believe if you prove to yourself that you can be disciplined enough to spend only 10 minutes of your day every day, you’ll bloom into your own fitness journey.