Cookbook author Katie Lee Biegel has recently talked about her postpartum journey, sharing that she was “not at all prepared” for the recovery, according to PEOPLE.
On Thursday, the 39-year-old food critic talked about getting back to feeling herself after welcoming her first child, Iris Marion, with husband Ryan Biegel last September.
She said on Instagram that she has been “thinking a lot about what it means to ‘get my body back’ after having a baby.” She said she “recently hit my pre-baby weight,” which “really isn’t about the number on the scale.”
“We spend 9 months growing, expanding, and having so many changes…then there’s childbirth…which for me, was the easier part. What I was not at all prepared for was the postpartum recovery,” the Food Network star continued.
“I was in quite a bit of pain for a solid 6 weeks and it took me a much longer time to heal physically than I ever expected,” she added. “I couldn’t exercise for a few months (not that I really had the time or energy for it anyway). I didn’t really care about eating my usual healthy foods, I would just grab something.”
The novelist said she started to get “into more of a groove” when her daughter got a little older – when her little girl “finally started napping.”
“I started to get back to myself,” she explained. “Exercise, my big salads, blow drying my hair! Now, I power walk every day with Iris in her stroller, I do postnatal and Pilates workouts on @obefitness, and I use my @ww app. I finally feel like my body is back…not only because of the number on the scale, but I feel like I am back to feeling strong and healthy.”
“It takes time mommas…it’s been 10 months for me,” Katie added. “I’m still not 100% where I was (my pants are 2 sizes bigger and they very well might stay that way, which is fine) and I want to continue to work on my overall wellness, but I’m headed in the right direction.”
In March, Katie told PEOPLE that the most surprising thing about motherhood is “all the aches and pains.”
At the time, she said, “I didn’t know that my body would hurt this much. I always have a backache. But it’s worth it!”
Despite those aches and pains, Katie said, “I just love being a mom. I knew that I was gonna enjoy it, but I had no idea that I would this much. My favorite thing is getting her up in the morning, going in there and seeing her little face smiling. That’s the very best.”
