When fitness guru Alexa Jean Brown took to Instagram on Thursday, January 19, just four weeks after giving birth, it wasn’t to show off a photo of any post-baby six-pack abs — but rather her “squishy, droopy flub.”
“As much as it’s my job to motivate you, I also believe it’s my job to be relatable and honest,” began the 26-year-old, who boasts more than 2 million followers. “Our society has put this idea in our heads that women have to bounce right back after having a baby, but that’s typically just not realistic.”
In her now viral post, the mom of daughter, Logan, 3, and 5-week-old-week son Blake, based in Peoria, Arizona, went on to recall a photo of a woman who was just one day postpartum with a flat stomach. “I instantly felt the pressure to measure up,” she admitted. But things didn’t go according to plan — and Brown is okay with that.
“As bummed as I was that I didn’t just bounce right back to my pre-baby body,” she wrote, “I can’t help but feel so amazed that this body created two beautiful babies.”
Her inspiring post racked up more than 107,000 likes and 5,000 comments.
There has been increasing pressure for moms to snap back, with more and more fitness bloggers (not to mention celebrities) sharing pictures of their rock-hard abs just days after giving birth. “I think people are getting the idea that if they work out during their pregnancy, they’ll just walk out of the hospital looking like they didn’t have a baby — and that’s not always the case,” Brown tells Us Weekly. “I stayed very active and ate a balanced diet, and I still ended up with flabby skin and extra weight. It’s up to us women to come together and be more transparent with one another.”