Why “Getting Your Body Back” Isn’t the Health Advice New Moms Think It Is

If you’re a new mom, you’ve probably felt it already - that quiet but constant pressure to “get your body back.” Sometimes it comes in the form of compliments. Sometimes from curiosity about your postpartum recovery. And often, it shows up without a single word spoken, woven into the culture around you.

The pressure isn’t new, but lately it seems to have sharpened.
The rise of GLP-1 medications, the endless transformation posts, the idea that shrinking is the responsible thing to do… it all creates a subtle, exhausting expectation that mothers should not only care for a newborn but also contain, correct, or erase the evidence of that transition.

And yet, almost no one is talking about what that pressure actually costs new moms.

The Part We Don’t Talk About Enough

Becoming a parent is a physical, emotional, and hormonal upheaval. Your sleep is disrupted. Your identity shifts. You’re navigating recovery, mental load, new routines, and often very real anxiety. Layering weight-focused expectations on top of all of that isn’t neutral — it increases stress, disrupts eating patterns, and makes women feel like they’re failing at a job they never asked to have.

I know this intimately.
After my own pregnancy, I slipped into an eating disorder relapse I never saw coming. I was exhausted, anxious, and terrified of losing control. But the cultural pressure not to gain weight - even while caring for a newborn - played a bigger role than I was willing to admit. It didn’t help me feel healthy or grounded. It pulled me away from myself.

And I see that same pattern echoed in so many patients.
Not because they lack willpower or discipline, but because the expectations placed on new moms are simply too heavy to hold.

The Real Risks Behind “Bounce Back” Culture

Doctors, influencers, and wellness spaces often focus on the supposed benefits of postpartum weight loss. But they rarely mention the very real risks of the pressure behind that advice.

Here’s what we know:

• Weight stigma increases cortisol and disrupts blood sugar.

• Shame leads to healthcare avoidance, especially postpartum.

• Restriction increases the risk of binge eating and emotional eating.

• Weight cycling increases inflammation and harms cardiometabolic health.

• Self-blame erodes a mother’s ability to recognize their own needs.

None of this is the foundation for thriving, and yet this is what happens in a culture that urges mothers to shrink while they’re still healing.

Why Weight-Neutral Care Matters So Much for New Moms

Weight-neutral care doesn’t ignore health.
It simply shifts the focus to areas that actually support your wellbeing in postpartum life.

It asks gentler, more helpful questions:

• What helps your energy feel steadier?

• How does stress show up in your body right now?

• What kind of movement feels nourishing, not depleting?

• What does realistic self-care look like in this season, not an idealized one?

• How can we support your blood sugars, mood, and sleep without adding pressure?

This approach gives new moms something they rarely receive: permission to care for themselves without shame. Permission to honour the body they have today instead of chasing the body they had before pregnancy. Permission to make choices that serve their health now, in the life they’re actually living.

And permission, in early motherhood, is often more healing than any plan or program.

Timing Matters: Before the New Year Pressure Builds

As we move toward a season when so many women feel the urge to “buckle down” or “get back on track,” it becomes even more important to understand the full picture, including the risks that aren’t being talked about.

This January, I’m hosting Navigating the Weight of Assumptions, a webinar that explores how weight stigma and weight cycling impact health in ways most people were never taught. For new moms, this information matters long before they step into a gym, start a routine, or set a health goal for the new year.

If you’d like to join us for this free discussion on January 13th at 7 pm, use this link to register.( https://kerrifullerton.com/weight-neutral-webinars/)

Your Body Isn’t Gone. It’s Different And It’s Yours.

The idea of “getting your body back” assumes something was lost.
But your body didn’t leave you. It carried you into motherhood. It’s adapting, recovering, learning, stretching, reshaping itself around a completely new life.

It doesn’t need to be reclaimed.
It needs to be supported.

You deserve information that honours the whole of your health.
You deserve care that respects what you’ve been through.
And you deserve a relationship with your postpartum body that isn’t defined by urgency, pressure, or comparison.

Wherever you are in this season, I hope you feel a little more room to breathe and a little more space to choose care over correction.

Here for the mess and the magic,

Kerri

Dr. Kerri Fullerton ND

Naturopathic Doctor & Intuitive Eating Counsellor

www.kerrifullerton.com