Pregnancy. It comes with a myriad of emotions that are almost too burdensome to handle. Joy. Depression. Worry. Excitement. Apart from hoping and praying for a healthy and normal baby and having as painless a delivery as possible, there’s the anxiety of dealing with how you’re going to lose all that baby weight once you’ve given birth.
Yes, the inevitable post-baby weight and post-baby body. The struggle is real. Ask any woman who had a baby and she’ll tell you of that struggle, whether it was losing the weight or dealing with flabby abdominal skin or figuring out how to get rid of stretch marks, cellulite, and varicose veins. Some women are lucky enough to bounce back to their post-baby bodies sooner than others. They have lightning-speed metabolisms and are blessed with slim body structures that aren’t prone to much weight gain. So when they get pregnant, they can gain as much as 60 pounds, only to shed it all (and more!) in a few weeks.
Many celebs have this kind of luck because we see some of them being photographed mere weeks after giving birth looking like the baby and the weight just got suctioned out of them with no effort at all. What we sometimes fail to realize is that they have the luxury of time and money to be able to get back into tip-top shape, whether it’s hiring a personal chef to whip up healthy, organic dishes or calling on a personal trainer to lose the post-natal poundage or paying a visit to their plastic surgeon. Here are some celebrity mommas who didn’t look at all like they had just given birth.
18 Kerry Washington
She’s most known for her role as crisis management expert Olivia Pope in the hit TV drama Scandal, for which she has received several nominations. And while she has kept her private life has low-key as possible, she couldn’t very well hide her pregnant belly as she strutted the red carpet during the awards shows. Washington gave birth to her and NFL player Nnamdi Asomugha’s daughter Isabelle in April 2014, but it was no time at all when she was once again seen in public looking as slim as ever. When asked how she lost the weight so quickly, she kept it real, saying she’s always been into healthy food, she worked out, and she breastfed as much as she could, as stated in an ABC News article.
17 Miranda Kerr
Who in the world is lucky enough to be able to put on a revealing bikini three months after giving birth with nary a blemish or ounce of flab hanging out for all the world to see? Miranda Kerr, that’s who. The former Mrs. Orlando Bloom actually gained a whopping 40 pounds when she was pregnant with her son, but thanks to good genes and hard work, she was able to shed off those pounds in time to walk the runway, just two months after giving birth. Kerr told Health.com that it was a combination of yoga, breastfeeding, and a healthy diet that helped her slim down so quickly and effectively.
16 Zoe Saldana
Zoe Saldana shared the very real pitfalls of losing post-baby weight to her Facebook fans last April 2015, saying that her body has changed inside and out. And it’s no wonder, since she gave birth to twin boys last year. And despite the fact that the Guardians of the Galaxy star admitted to having always been naturally skinny, she also said that she peaked at 185 pounds at the height of her pregnancy. She shared to US Magazine that she started working with a personal trainer to strengthen her joints and has started eating healthier. Saldana is determined to get back into shape the natural way, without any help from plastic surgery.
15 Victoria Beckham
It’s hard to believe that super-skinny Victoria Beckham gave birth to four children. Blessed with a naturally-thin frame, Mrs. David Beckham claimed she had no problem slimming down again after giving birth to her three boys. But as she was older when she was pregnant with her fourth child, daughter Harper, she admitted that she had to put in triple the effort to lose weight after giving birth. According to Health.com, Beckham said she lost the weight by following the Five Hands Diet—eating only five handfuls of food daily—as well as running almost every day and following a strict workout with a personal trainer.
14 Beyonce
When Beyonce announced that she was pregnant, everyone just knew that her and husband Jay-Z’s bundle of joy would be one of the most famous celebrity babies in the world. If it’s possible to be famous even before being born, then Blue Ivy certainly fell into that category. And as much as the spotlight is constantly on the adorable little tot, she in no way has stolen it from her famous mom, especially when Beyonce emerged four months after giving birth, flaunting her curves and proudly saying she was back to her pre-baby weight. According to an article on Health.com, she said she lost the weight by breastfeeding, avoiding pasta and red meat, and constantly staying hydrated.
13 Reese Witherspoon
She had her first two children when she was in her twenties, so losing the baby weight may have not been as much of an issue as it was when she had her third child. In an article on Hollywood Take, Reese Witherspoon was candid enough to admit that her body didn’t bounce back after giving birth to her son Tennessee in 2012. She was determined to get her post-baby body back and she did so by signing up for fitness guru Teddi Bryant’s Bikini Bootcamp program. Coupled with cutting back on fatty food and wine, Witherspoon was in good form almost a year later.
12 Shakira
If you see Shakira on TV, it’s hard to believe that she’s actually quite petite. Her voluptuous curves and long legs say otherwise, but yes, the Latina bombshell only stands 5’2”. So you’d think someone that petite with full hips would have a hard time slimming down so soon after giving birth right? Not Shakira! Though she said it didn’t happen overnight, she managed to sport rock-hard abs just seven months after giving birth. According to Hollywood Life, she channelled her love for dancing by doing Zumba four to five days a week during and right after pregnancy. That way, she didn’t gain much when she was pregnant and she was able to shed the pounds quickly after giving birth.
11 Emily Blunt
Just three months after giving birth, Emily Blunt was back on her feet as slim as ever. And while it’s probably a given that she worked out and ate as healthy as she could, she claimed that the main factor in helping with her weight loss was breastfeeding. She’s indeed testament to the fact that pure breastfeeding greatly helps in shedding baby weight because of all the calories you lose when expressing milk. It didn’t hurt that Blunt had enough milk to feed 12 babies, as she amusingly claimed when she was interviewed by Ellen DeGeneres, as reported by ABC News.
10 Jennifer Garner
No doubt the world was hoping against hope that the rumors about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner were false, that they weren’t splitting up, and that maybe Garner would even have a fourth child. But alas, the gossip was true and the golden couple has parted ways. But whatever their marital status is, one thing will never change and it’s the fact that Garner will always be a mommy. A hot one, at that, but since she’s never been waif-like, she’s had to work doubly hard to lose the baby weight after all three of her pregnancies. After giving birth to her third child, she was determined to lose weight quickly so she could walk down the red carpet for an event two months later, according to Health.com. She employed the help of her long-time trainer and did rigorous exercises every day. And sure enough, she looked fabulous when she graced that red carpet.
9 Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba is one of those women who you know is naturally beautiful because even without an ounce of make-up on, she’s absolutely stunning. Even when she was pregnant both times, she was radiant. How unfair is that to us mere mortals? And though she has a naturally slim physique, even Alba is human like the rest of us, claiming her body will never be the same again after bearing children. She could have fooled us though, as she was photographed showing off her abs in a bikini four months after giving birth to her second baby. As reported by Health.com, she did it by working out with a personal trainer and get this—wearing a double corset 24/7 for three straight months.
8 Mila Kunis
Fans were thrilled when news came out that Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis had quietly married in a very private ceremony. After all, many fans felt that it’s been a long time coming, the couple having been engaged for a while and also having a daughter together. The brand-new Mrs. Kutcher was over the moon to be a mommy and what a hot one she is, having debuted her slim post-baby body a mere three months after giving birth. According to OK Magazine, the actress was lucky to have only gained 25 pounds when she was pregnant, so with proper diet and exercise, she was back to her svelte figure in no time.
7 Jennifer Lopez
Carrying and giving birth to twins is no mean feat and can really take its toll on your body. Jennifer Lopez was well aware of this, which is why she chose to take it easy for a few weeks after giving birth to her twins Max and Emme. The singer/actress told People magazine that she gave her body six weeks to recover before trying to get back into shape and even then, she didn’t push herself past her limits. It helped that Lopez was already fit to begin with, so even when she started off by doing thrice a week workouts, which included 20 to 30 minute walks, she got her sexy figure back quite quickly.
6 Gisele Bundchen
Gisele Bundchen has always rocked an amazing body and given her line of work on the catwalk, it was practically expected of her at all times. It came as no surprise to anyone that she was still as sexy as ever during and after her pregnancies with her and NFL player Tom Brady’s kids. Of her first child Benjamin, it was reported in PopSugar that Bundchen gained 30 pounds, but didn’t have any problem losing the weight because she maintained an active lifestyle all throughout her pregnancy. She was doing kung fu up until two weeks prior to her son’s birth and yoga three days a week.
5 Jessica Simpson
She has always been criticized for her fluctuating weight, sometimes flaunting a slim figure and other times looking like a duck waddling around. Jessica Simpson gained an insane amount of weight during her first pregnancy, but made sure to be more careful when carrying her second baby, as reported by ABC News. After giving birth, she was able to lose the weight by chasing after her older child, breastfeeding, exercising with a trainer four days a week, and taking long walks with husband Eric Johnson.
4 Blake Lively
Even as she walked the red carpets with her very distinct baby bump on display, Blake Lively still managed to look alluring in her figure-hugging gowns. It’s probably because she already had an amazing figure from the start. The happy mother was back to her pre-baby body just four months after giving birth, according to an article on US Weekly. Lively claimed that she got back to form through “gentle” exercising to offset the occasional indulgence in sweets. She also made it clear on her Instagram posts that she’s breastfeeding, which everyone knows helps almost any momma slim down quickly.
3 Kate Hudson
Kate Hudson was candid enough to admit that she had a really tough time losing the baby weight after giving birth to both of her sons. A news report on E! Online has Hudson admitting how discouraged she was every time she’d plateau in her attempts to lose weight, having gained 70 pounds with both pregnancies. She said it took a lot of hard work and dedication and she made sure to work out almost every day. The fact that she looks absolutely amazing today is proof that determination really does pay off.
2 Fergie
The Black-Eyed Peas singer and baby mama of Josh Duhamel has always had an amazing body, showing off those rock-hard abs during her concerts. It came as no surprise that Fergie was able to get back to her fit and fab self after giving birth to her son and her personal trainer even shared with Ok! Magazine how the singer got back into shape. According to her trainer, she worked out religiously six days a week and followed a diet of lean protein and small snacks, mostly comprised of salmon and egg whites.
1 Kate Middleton
Just hours after giving birth to Princess Charlotte, Kate Middleton stood at the hospital’s entrance so the public could ooh and aah over the adorable little girl. But women instead focused on the duchess, despairing over how unfair life was that she didn’t look a bit like she had just popped a baby out of her just hours prior to appearing in public. And six weeks later, she was slimmer than ever. According to an article on Hollywood Life, the Duchess of Cambridge has been eating healthy, drinking fresh juice straight from her juicer and doing yoga at home to get back her pre-baby body.
Sources: health.com, hollywoodlife.com, abcnews.go.com, usmagazine.com, hollywoodtake.com, abcnews.go.com, okmagazine.com, examiner.com, people.com, popsugar.com, abcnews.go.com, usmagazine.com, ca.eonline.com, okmagazine.com, hollywoodlife.com
