Thank you Jennifer Garner….

There is a clip rolling around of Jennifer Garner on the Ellen Degeneres Show talking about her “baby bump”. She laughs that yes, she has a little baby bump, and it is permanent. It is called Violet, Sera and Sam; her three children.

As a Mom, this is great! No celebrity has ever really said they have a permanent baby bump, but more along the lines they are working at ways for their body to be like it was before children. Guess what?

It never will be again and that is GOOD! It could be stronger and it also could be stronger while holding onto life marks from having children.

That means you created some incredible little miracles. Just like having any life changing physical shift, your body will change. Does it mean you’ll never be strong again- not at all. But it does mean you have done some bad ass feats with your body to create little people. That is much more challenging for some than running a marathon!

A woman’s body changing from having children isn’t a bad thing. We need to look at how we define our bodies. Such emphasis to be into Skinny Jeans again, to wear certain clothes, be rockin’ a bikini without any signs of having a child. How is that possible??? All of us have skin that changes a little bit and that is OK!

I know from being a trainer, I know from doing fitness tv work, I know from being a new Mom again. A memory that I have thought of regarding bodies shifting when having children happened two years ago. I was doing core work at the gym. A female trainer who does fitness physique competitions, was working with her client next to me. My headphones were on, but they were talking loud and I could hear everything. She said to her client, “Children are not for me. They are for women who don’t think about their bodies the same way I do. I could never have children. It would ruin my body and I can’t mess with it for competing.” She then shared she does competing for fun, not her livelihood.

I took 5 big breaths, hoping she couldn’t see my face expressions while doing speed burpees. To not have children for fear of what it could do to your body honestly saddens me. Because if that is the only reason, in my opinion, you miss out on one of life’s most incredible gifts.

More and more professional athletes I know are more competitive, stronger and perform a variety of sports better post kids. Look at Kara Goucher, Summer Sanders and Kerry Walsh to name a few. I think of my own boot campers over the years who never thought of themselves as athletes, were actually couch potatoes and believed they didn’t have to exercise because they were naturally lean. They had kids, learned about fitness and started tackling huge feats once deemed impossible by them. They gained biceps, triceps, delts, strong quads, hamstrings that could be seen a mile away. Their cores became stronger from the inside out…and still they had little baby bumps below their belly button. Why? Because when a body grows a child, sometimes it wants to keep mini souveniers of memory.

I asked via the Dig Deep. Play HARD! Facebook Page how women felt about their post baby bodies. Some responses from Wendy, Christina and Emily:

Wendy shared –

Having always been a tiny person, there has not been a lot to love about weight gain from two pregnancies and the permanent loss of my best feature – my curvy waist and naturally flat stomach. But one area I am proud of is my arms. As a petite woman I had great arms, not that muscular anymore though from desk sitting in my 20’s…then when my second was just a baby I took up with a women’s Dragonboat team, a long time goal of mine. Although my arms are now plumper from my baby weight (I am 15 lbs heavier overall, that’s a lot for my frame), I have over 3 years built killer biceps – also built up from all that hefting of small children. Thanks, kiddos! I feel so strong when I flex in the mirror!

Christina shared –

I’ve always admired women with strong defined arms. Despite my efforts to strength train, I never quite got them. Now, thanks to my 38lb weight and 19lb weight, I love my toned mommy arms.

Brand new Mama Emily shared -

One part? More like several parts are totally different! Boobs, tummy, butt…you name it! Granted, I’m only 2 1/2 months into mommy-hood and just started a real workout routine about 2 weeks ago. However, I know things will never quite be the same! I agree about the arms…they have been the first parts to get back into shape, thanks to constant lifting of my little boy! Now it’s time for an ab session…

Having recently given birth to my 3rd daughter, physically I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I am strong, I feel fit, I am doing great. Actually, I feel rather confident in my skin for many reasons, the biggest being what it has been capable of doing. In other words, it grew three little humans. I’ve been teaching boot camps since Finnie was 3 months, done some races and am having a blast being active with all three of my kids. However, my core is altered a bit, hips shifted wider, small boobies even smaller and the skin above my c-secton incision is a bit softer than it was last surgery 6 years ago.

Hmmm…..maybe because I had my 3rd daughter 9 months ago!

Yep, 3 kids do shift your body. Heck, one, two, three, four or more kids shift your body. They also give you MOJO to become the strongest, active, goofy, silly, loving, energetic and motivated Mom. Why….to keep up with and motivate them! I know that as coming post pregnant months continue to pass by, my body will evolve to get even stronger and leaner, especially as I race more and more. However I’ll probably have the little baby bump forever. And I will also evolve and get more smile lines and wrinkled skin. And that is ok by me. Because guess what?? Without that bump and wrinkles, there would be no laughter filled time with Makenzie, Emerson or Finley. If that was the case, my life wouldn’t know what vibrant motherhood love is!

Just sayin’…Embrace your permanent baby bump!!!

Dig Deep. Play HARD!

xoxox EKS