Everybody’s postpartum journey is different, especially when it comes to losing weight.
Katrina Scott, who frequently uses her social media platform to post empowering messages about how much time it can take to bounce back, shared that it’s important to focus on self-love, instead of obsessively comparing yourself to others.
“Officially 9 months postpartum,” the fitness blogger, 35, wrote on Instagram earlier this week, alongside side-by-side shots of herself holding daughter Isabelle Margaret. One of the sweet mother-daughter snaps was taken recently, while the other was taken 3 months after her daughter’s arrival.
“Instead of posting a pic at 9 months pregnant, I chose a pic at 3 months postpartum because 3 months is where everyone kept telling me I’d be ‘back’ to where I was. I’d have the fitness SnapBack. That wasn’t my journey,” she explained.
Although Scott may not have lost as much weight as she had initially expected once she hit the three month marker, she didn’t feel “disappointed” about her body.
“On the left, I was not disappointed…nor was I sad that I didn’t live up to the expectation a lot of people had on me. In fact, I was the opposite,” she wrote. “I was happy, proud & body positive. And my mind was healthy…I mean, I made it through the 4th trimester! Woohoo 🤣🙌 .”
The Tone It Up co-founder went on to share that she’s “equally happy, proud & body positive” today.
“I feel healthy & strong for my daughter. I truly believe that giving yourself patience, grace, & kindness each day leads to progress & strength,” she wrote, adding that she probably wouldn’t be in the same positive head space if she had gotten wrapped up in confirming to unrealistic expectations about postpartum weight loss.
“Imagine if I was hard on myself, ate my emotions, hated the body that gave me a beautiful daughter, or if I tried to live up to what I thought everyone expected of me? I don’t think I would be where I am today. It would have led to me feeling like I failed myself & everyone who followed me. It would have led to self-sabotage & maybe i’d be stuck bc I wouldn’t think I deserved self-love,” she explained.
Continuing, the proud mama shared that at the end of the day, what matters most isn’t what a scale says, but “the way we speak to ourselves.”
“I want u to know that ur postpartum body is remarkable. For me, I appreciate my tiger marks, my dimples that stayed on my booty cheeks, my tummy that expands more than ever when I eat & the new skin I’m in,” she wrote. “I also love that I can do yoga. I can do our @ToneItUp postnatal workouts & I can carry Bella around for 12 hours a day!”
“Everyone’s journey looks different & every mom has her own unique path ~ so let’s not compare our chapter 1 or 3 to someone else’s chapter 30,” she added. “If ur feeling down or defeated, I want u to know it’s ok. Start with this 1 thing — kindness. Everything u say to ur body is important bc it’s listening. And somebody that baby of yours will hear u too. Do it for her (or him!).”
Wrapping up the powerful post, Scott outlined a simple way people can start their practice of self-love.
“So start now. Start with ‘I am beautiful. I am capable. I am worthy of my goals & dreams. I am exactly where I need to be today. I can do this. I am loved. And I am so grateful for this body, my beating heart & my beautiful mind.’ Every decision u make, make it with self-love and because you deserve it,” she wrote, before sending all of her love to her followers.
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