Mums reveal how having kids inspired them to get in the best shape of their lives
THINK becoming a mum means hanging up your bikini for ever? Think again.
A host of celebrity mummies are showing that your body can be at its best after having kids.
Reality star and presenter Ferne McCann, 28, is wowing us with her toned figure since having baby daughter Sunday just 18 months ago.
Topshop heiress Chloe Green also looks to have been hitting the gym since giving birth to son Jayden last May.
For everyday mums it is not as easy as splashing out on a personal trainer and chef.
Four hot mamas tell how having a baby spurred them on to shape up.
‘Dropped four dress sizes getting on bike’
WAITRESS Bethan Edwards, 30, got into shape after her fourth child. She’s mum to Seren, 12, Callum, ten, Awel, seven, and Tanwen, one. They live in Bala, Gwynedd, with Bethan’s partner, builder Liam Anderson, 25.
“I was a slim teen but ballooned. After my third pregnancy, I weighed 13st and wore a size 16.
“I hated my body but was in an unhappy relationship and bingeing on sweets.
“When I plucked up the courage to leave my partner of 11 years, my weight struggles continued.
“Then I met Liam and got pregnant with our child – my fourth – six months after meeting.
“I developed gestational diabetes due to my weight. I faced complications for myself and my baby so I ate healthily.
“Thankfully, beautiful Tanwen was born weighing a healthy 8lb 1oz on April 19 last year.
“After my six-week post-natal check, I signed up for a spinning class. Thanks also to circuit-training, the weight fell off.
“When I went back to work full-time, I incorporated long family walks into our routine, so we all feel the benefits.
“As a size 8 and weighing 8st, I love my body more than ever.”
‘Lost weight breast feeding’
CLEANER Megan Ruane, 27, has gone from size 18 to 12 since having son Logan, 18 months. She lives in Sittingbourne, Kent, with partner Dan and credits her weight loss with breastfeeding and vows to maintain her figure to be a healthy mum.
“Before having Logan, I was 14st, and I’m only 5ft tall. Every pound showed. I was wearing a size 18 and clothes felt snug. When I found out I was pregnant, I tried to eat well, so I managed to get through the nine months without putting on too much more weight.
“As soon as I had my baby, the weight just started falling off. A lot of the weight loss was down to breastfeeding.
“Professionals say it can burn between 200 and 500 calories a day. I was still snacking a bit but I didn’t have time to sit and eat big unhealthy meals like before.
“Now I always make sure I have a healthy dinner in the evening.
“I clean for my job, so that keeps me active and I do a lot of walking with the pushchair and running after a baby.
“I’m a healthy size 12 now and 10st and I’m very happy with my body. I’d never have gone swimming before, but now I take Logan all the time and don’t feel self-conscious. I’m still nervous posing in a bikini, but on the whole I am proud of what I’ve got.”
‘Ditched yo-yo dieting to be healthy role model’
DANI Lipman, 30, wanted to stop her weight yo-yoing so she could be an example to children Belle, five, and two-year-old Frank, who she has with husband Jamie, 30. Hairdresser Dani, from Basingstoke, Hants, now maintains her size 10, 10st figure.
“In my teens I was obsessed with staying thin and got down to 7st. I was self-conscious about how I looked and I counted every calorie. I got pregnant with Belle when I was 24 and that completely threw me, as my body changed so much.
“I went from being a slim size six to overweight. When I got pregnant with Frank I’d shot up to a size 14 and I felt enormous at 14st. During the pregnancy I put on more weight.
“After having him, I started a new way of eating. I didn’t want my children growing up with an unhealthy attitude to food. I wanted to stop the yo-yoing.
“I was on maternity leave so I had time to cook healthy food. I had three nutritious hot meals, like porridge with almond milk for breakfast, a vegetable omelette for lunch and salmon with homemade wedges for dinner. I still had chocolate, but I wouldn’t gorge.
“I’d go out walking with the pushchair a lot and slowly the weight started coming off. Now I’m a size 10 and 10st.
“After you have children, you appreciate your body a little more because of what it’s been through. I hated having my photo taken in a bikini before kids, but I’m much more confident in myself now.”
‘Shaping up helped fight postnatal depression’
JUST seven months after the birth of her second child, sales manager Bek McGarry, 25, from Swindon, says her body looks the best it ever has. The mum of two credits gym workouts with helping her to beat postnatal depression.
“Before I had my second baby, I was neglecting myself.
“My life revolved around going to work, being a mum and taking care of my seriously ill partner.
“In January last year, before I got pregnant for the second time, I was a size 14.
I was 10st 7lb, which was classed as overweight for my 5ft 4in frame.
“I had daughter Halle in September 2018, just after my son Blake, now five, started school and I soon realised I was suffering from postnatal depression.
“I would sit topless on the sofa, breastfeeding all day. My relationship with my partner broke down and I would sit in bed and cry.
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“I started counselling. I split with the children’s dad, so I asked my parents to babysit so I could have time to myself.
“I had become 11st 11lb. I started doing cardio and weights at the gym and walking my son to and from school.
“In three months I lost three stone, going down to a size eight and weighing 8st 7lb.
“I love my post-baby body because I worked damn hard for it.
“I’m doing this all on my own and am allowing myself time to find me again.”