Pregnancy, Child Birth, and Fitness!

Now before you decide this blog isn’t for you, because you haven’t experienced pregnancy or childbirth – just wait. This blog is also about coming back into a sport (specifically speaking pole) after taking a hiatus, or even starting a fitness regime from the very beginning. Coming back into training on the pole after stopping at 6-months pregnant is not what I had expected – that’s forsure! Heck, pregnancy, and my post-partum body didn’t turn out as I had planned either – but life is always about learning, growing, and loving the journey along the way.

I expected my pregnancy to look like this:

But in reality, it looked like this: (Talk about carrying a bowling ball!)

What is the difference? Well, I can think of many – but here are a few to start.
1. Zoraya Judd is a pole star. Yep. Star. She gets PAID to perform, train, and be a pole goddess. Although you would assume it could be similar to me, because my job is also pole… mine is a bit different. It also includes spending endless hours behind a computer, working ON the business, instead of IN the business.

2. Zorya’s husband is a personal trainer. He assists her in what she eats, and how she trains at the gym. It’s their job together. My husband assists me by bringing me ice cream, because let’s face it, during pregnancy I would have traded in rock-hard abs for oreo ice cream anyday.

Regardless of how anybody trains, everybody is going to be different – and let’s celebrate that! Being blessed with a beautiful child is a constant reminder that the changes in my body needed to be welcomed and thanked – even though I may never look like my pre-baby self again.

It’s time to be thankful for our bodies, and the amazing things that it can do. For instance, I enjoy cookies and ice cream, and therefore my body properly works to create fat. Does it make sense for me to hate my body because it is literally doing what I’m telling it to? Absolutely not! When I workout and my muscle mass increases, in return I also gain strength. Our bodies are amazing things, and we have the ability to make daily choices in order to nourish and care for these temples of ours!

Here I am, six weeks postpartum. My belly is sagging, and I still have a finger width separation in my abs. I do not have the capability to complete the pole tricks that I did previous to my pregnancy, but it will come back slowly and surely. It is important for postpartum mommas to remember that their body went through some extreme changes in order to grow, protect, and house their child. Therefore, it should take at least that amount of time for their bodies to return to some form of normalcy. I won’t lie for one second, I was extremely frustrated with the inability to be able to do sit-ups immediately after birth. Even now, the strength still isn’t quite there – and I’ve always had optimal core strength!

But I’ll get there, and so will you! Whether you’re coming back to pole from an injury, pregnancy, or even an extended vacation – be patient with yourself! Remember the previous enjoyment you found in the sport. Go back into an easier level, work on your core strength, and maybe even train that other side that you’ve attempted to forget about as you eagerly wanted to try new tricks!

Thanks for reading! Now here’s a photo of the love of my life, whom I would welcome a thousand more stretch marks for.