Parenting with the Stars
by celebrity_moms
Behind the scenes with celebrities who balance families and fame.
Parenting with the Stars
Behind the scenes with celebrities who balance families and fame.
Celebrimoms' Post-Pregnancy Fitness Secrets
1 |
Mom Heidi Klum says she lost baby weight through breastfeeding and working with a personal trainer.
Posted July 23, 2008 by Tommi Lewis Tilden with additional reporting by Audrey Turcot
How much time do we, at our most hyper-critical, afford celebrimoms to be red carpet ready after the birth of their celebribabies? Not much.
We envision that in the star’s delivery room are their trainer, nutritionist, hair stylist, makeup artist, and plastic surgeon on hand to assist in an immediate transformation. Maybe it's because stars seem to emerge from hospitals, with baby in tow, looking skinny and rested, while mere mortal mamas can barely manage a bi-weekly shampoo.
Here are some impressive post-natal rebounds…
Heidi Klum walked the Victoria’s Secrets ramp, in skimpy lingerie, fewer than two months after giving birth to her third child, son Henry. Klum credits breastfeeding -- and her trainer David Kirsch -- for getting her runway ready.
A mere five weeks after giving birth to Bluebell Madonna, Spice Girl Geri Halliwell went for a London jog wearing shorts and looking thinner than she did pre-pregnancy. Halliwell’s spice sister Victoria Beckham beat that record by bouncing back to stick-size three weeks after birthing third son Cruz.
Jennifer Lopez, who reportedly packed on 50 pounds carrying twins Max and Emme, "has hired a crack team of nutritionists and personal trainers, dubbed her '120 lb team,' which refers to her target weight," says London’s Daily Mail. FitCeleb magazine reports that the 38-year-old is training for a fall triathlon so she can "make her babies proud." Up at 4 a.m. each day, Lopez’s three-hour workouts includes Pilates, cardio and weight training. Tack on the fact that the former diva insists she’s yet to hire a nanny -- juggling two newborns is an unparalleled cardio tag team match.
It seems the public’s expectations compound the pressure stars feel to shed baby poundage. Post Ryder, Kate Hudson exercised for three hours daily. After Ava and Deacon, Reese Witherspoon became devoted to yoga.
Carrying Sam and Lola, coupled with loads o’ stress prompted Denise Richards to hit the gym at 5 a.m. "After my mom died last year, I gained at least 10 pounds," Richards told TV Guide. So the 37-year-old started doing Pilates four days a week. "Nothing has gotten my stomach back to where it was, prior to having kids, like Pilates."
Jamie Pressley told “Access Hollywood” she lost 42 pounds of baby weight with help from the cabbage soup diet. "It’s not the most amazing in terms of the kind of food you get to eat and the tastes," said Pressley, who last year gave birth to a baby boy, "but it did really well for me." The detox diet is basically a seven-day plan of cabbage, low cal veggies and boullion simmered in an onion soup mix.
Undoubtedly, celebrities’ unrealistic weight loss influences regular moms. At a time when they should be enjoying motherhood, they’re more concerned with how they look.
Jennifer Garner is one exception. "It took me a long, long, time [to lose weight after giving birth to Violet],” she told People. "I just wasn't that motivated. I wanted to play with her. Then I got on the treadmill, stopped stuffing my face and lost the weight. I cut out croissants, bagels and muffins -- all the good stuff. And went back to having a salad once a day and protein."
Former Playmate Jenny McCarthy reportedly gained a whopping 80 pounds during pregnancy before losing most of it while on Weight Watchers. McCarthy, author of Belly Laughs: The Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth took a un-Hollywood-like one year to lose her weight.
Our obsession with Hollywood’s baby boom led Australian academic Meredith Nash to study how average women feel about their pregnant bodies; she discovered that most did compare their weight gain and post-baby weight loss with celebrities. So Nash launched a website www.Babybumpproject.blogspot.com “to give women a space to evaluate the celebrity pregnancy as something that is completely unrealistic for the average woman.”
Meredith Michaels, co-author of The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How It Has Undermined All Women, told the Boston Globe that the pressure to slim down as fast as the celebrities do is "insidious." About this gold standard, she said, "You know that you can’t live your life that way, but the fact that somebody does creates this sense of envy and failure and resentment."
What to Expect When You’re Expecting author Heidi Murkoff insists, "It takes nine months to put it on, so if it takes nine months to take it off, that’s understandable." This may sound unbearable for Tinsletown mamas, but most experts advise not even embarking on a weight loss regimen 'til after your six-week checkup (or ten weeks with a C-section).
First photos of Halle Berry after giving birth to daughter Nahla found the public scrutinizing her post-baby shape. According to Us Weekly, the star’s fitness regimen included yoga, swimming and weight lifting. Although the pics did not show that Berry had snapped back to her tight, pre-baby bod, she still looked like a perfect 10 -- with bonus cleavage -- and healthy as a peach. Go (full) figure.
Member Comments On...
Celebrimoms' Post-Pregnancy Fitness Secrets
About Me
Doesn't matter who you are, where you live, or how many zeros are on your paycheck, being a parent is a profound thing that affects us all in ways we never imagined it could. "Parenting with the Stars" follows those who parent in the spotlight. From big-time moviemakers to sitcom stars and mega musicians, if they're a mom or a pop, we'll be talking about them... and their little ones.
My Blog Entries
Favorite Blogs
- On Family.com
- Mom and Pop Culture
Elsewhere on The Web- Celebrity Baby Blog
- Mommies with Style



