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New mom enlists Jenna Wolfe's help to get pre-pregnancy body back

You see, I felt amazing being pregnant. I received compliments in direct proportion to my growing bump: the more I couldn’t see my feet, the more the world showered me with praise. “You’re glowing!” they’d say. I was that annoying (adorable) woman who only gained weight in the tummy and didn’t look pregnant from behind. That was me! I was that girl! Pregnancy just agreed with me, an

You see, I felt amazing being pregnant. I received compliments in direct proportion to my growing bump: the more I couldn’t see my feet, the more the world showered me with praise. “You’re glowing!” they’d say. I was that annoying (adorable) woman who only gained weight in the tummy and didn’t look pregnant from behind. That was me! I was that girl! Pregnancy just agreed with me, and I was more surprised than anyone.

So call me naive, call me misinformed—I just figured my body would snap right back into place. OK, maybe it would take a few weeks. After all, even Duchess Kate had a postpartum bump. But my first postnatal appointment last September confirmed my secret fears: my body at seven weeks postpartum was there to stay, unless I sprang into action. Like get-my-body-into-a-plank- position-immediately kind of action.

Why didn’t anyone tell me it was going to be like this? That those three months after giving birth I would still be no closer to properly buttoning my jeans than I was on the day after I delivered? The magazines always showed me a different reality for a post-partum body. I felt duped. For some reason, I thought I’d Heidi Klum it right back into my clothes. Yes, I know she’s a supermodel and has pressing deadlines, but I assumed because I took such good care of myself during pregnancy, I would be equally rewarded.

It has now been eight months since my son was born and I am definitely in a better state of mind and much nicer to myself than I was in those first few months. I’ve returned to work —as a producer at TODAY —and feel truly ready to commit to the hard work it takes to get into shape. For starters, I now go to the gym at work. That is huge, because I was always one of those people who didn’t like showering at work. It also helps that I recruited TODAY Weekend anchor Jenna Wolfe, to be my trainer. Talk about accountability! 

Tracking my food is another change I’ve recently made in my life, thanks to Jenna's advice. I have an app that simplifies the process and while I have (a lot of) bad days, it does keep me mindful of what I put in my mouth. I also share my food log with my co-workers. It makes me think twice before putting that second (third, fourth) slice of pizza in my mouth.

And while I’m definitely not back to my pre-baby weight, or shape for that matter, I feel good about the choices I am making and have a better appreciation of the amazing thing my body did.

And just like my life will certainly never go back to the way it was pre-pregnancy, my body might not either. But that, I realize, is OK.