

While snapping back quickly after having a baby has become something celebrated in pop culture, many celebrities are beginning to speak out against it. Celebs like Beyoncé, Tia Mowry and more have opened up about the pressure to shed their baby weight fast and get back to their pre-baby body.
While there is nothing wrong with having that goal, it could be dangerous if you do it too quickly. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) lists when you can exercise after giving birth.
For example, if you had a C-section, you should wait at least six weeks before exercising again and if you had complications with your pregnancy, you should also hold off on exercising until your doctor gives you the green light.
However, societal pressures and social media can make one feel like they have to lose the baby weight ASAP and while there have been women, celebs and non-celebs alike, that fell victim to that way of thinking, here are four women who simply said nah.
Tia Mowry
Tia Mowry has spoken about feeling pressured to snap back after giving birth to her two kids, 10-year-old son Cree and 3-year-old daughter Cairo, on more than one occasion, but more recently she shared an Instagram post where she called out "snapback culture" and celebrated her body before and after birth.
"Pregnancy was such a special time in my life and I loved it and my bump! I also loved my body before pregnancy," she said.
"We're led to believe we should love one over the other. But it was important for me to be super proud of BOTH bodies instead of feeling pressured to be a part of the snapback culture."
"I think instead we can look at our bodies and love and acknowledge them for keeping us alive and keeping our babies alive! Mamas, we can allow our bodies to just BE while we nourish them (and our little ones!) with good things, instead of buying into the snapback culture.💗"
The Sister, Sister star has also detailed her weight loss journey on Instagram.
Beyoncé
In 2018, Beyoncé wrote a piece in Vogue about how she approached getting her waist snatched with each pregnancy. In the essay, the "XO" singer revealed that after she gave birth to her first child Blue Ivy, she actually pressured herself to lose the baby weight in three months, but when she had her twins Rumi and Sir, she put her health first.
During her pregnancy with Rumi and Sir, the singer had toxemia, which causes high blood pressure and can be dangerous for the mother and the baby, and she had to get an emergency C-section.
After that traumatic experience, the Grammy award-winner decided to sit still and enjoy motherhood while also embracing her fuller frame.
"After the C-section, my core felt different. It had been major surgery. Some of your organs are shifted temporarily, and in rare cases, removed temporarily during delivery. I am not sure everyone understands that. I needed time to heal, to recover. During my recovery, I gave myself self-love and self-care, and I embraced being curvier. I accepted what my body wanted to be."
Kelly Rowland
While Kelly Rowland's body has been looked at as "motivation" for many women to hit the gym, the mother of two shared a real look into the body post-pregnancy.
After giving birth to her second son Noah at the beginning of the year, Kelly revealed that she had diastasis recti, which is a separation of the abs that meet down the middle. She also opened up to Billboard about being a mother of two boys and not putting pressure on herself.
"I still don't know how to be a mother of two, exactly, but I'm figuring it out. It's going to be a unique experience -- Titan's not like anyone else's on this planet, Noah's not like anyone else on this planet. I'm still navigating myself through motherhood."
"So the less pressure I put on myself and allow myself grace -- because I'm not going to get it right every single time – I think it's only fair to just breathe and use your instincts to navigate your way through. But I've learned not to put so much pressure on myself and to let my creativity flow."
Kerry Washington
Kerry Washington was very adamant about having downtime after giving birth. When speaking to People, the Scandal actress recalled an upsetting rumor about her working out a week or two after the birth of her son Caleb.
"It was rumored somewhere that I was working out a week or two after he was born and it really upset me, actually. I never talk about rumors in the media, but I was really sad that somebody printed that because I felt like, 'Oh, that makes women feel like they have to start working out' — like, 'Oh celebrities work out right away.' And I was like, 'No way!' "
The Emmy-nominated actress said that her doctor required that she not partake in any physical activity for six weeks and she followed the doctor's orders.
"It was really important to me to have that downtime and then start working out slowly, which I'm still doing, I am still slowly getting back into it."
Featured image by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Variety
Eva Marcille On Starring In 'Jason’s Lyric Live' & Being An Audacious Black Woman
Eva Marcille has taken her talents to the stage. The model-turned-actress is starring in her first play, Jason’s Lyric Live alongside Allen Payne, K. Michelle, Treach, and others.
The play, produced by Je’Caryous Johnson, is an adaptation of the film, which starred Allen Payne as Jason and Jada Pinkett Smith as Lyric. Allen reprised his role as Jason for the play and Eva plays Lyric.
While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Tracee Ellis Ross Is Still Living A 'Robust' Life Despite Sometimes Grieving Not Being Partnered
Tracee Ellis Ross sat down with former first lady Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson for their IMO podcast to have a candid discussion about dating, marriage, and family. At 52, the beloved actress is single, but is still open to finding her person. However, she realizes that she has to navigate dating differently, describing herself as a "unicorn."
“I’m a very unique sort of unicorn of a woman, so it's gonna take a unique person,” she explained. "And in the meantime, I've really learned how to live my life and enjoy it and not sit around waiting."
Calling herself a "choiceful woman," she has had to push against culture norms and found that many of her experiences with men around her age were challenging due to the toxic masculinity they had been raised in. Many of their views about relationships conflicts with how she lives her life, so she tends to date younger.
“It's not just that I'm older. I’m also very embodied. I am a full, very whole person who knows myself, who is in charge of my life and who lives a very full, just robust life," she said.
Regardless if they're younger or older, Tracee has made it clear that she isn't settling and won't be in a relationship for the sake of having a partner. Even when loneliness creeps.
“As much as grief does surface for me around not having children and not having a partner, I still wouldn’t want the wrong partner. At all, I’m not interested in that. You have to make my life better, it can’t just be ‘I’m in a relationship just to be in a relationship,” she said.
Fans have watched pieces of Tracee's life played out on social media and TV. Just one look at her Instagram, you see that the black-ish star lives her life to fullest and it's filled with fashion, family, and all-round fabulousness.
"Even though the grief does emerge, and that comes, and I hold that, I think of what I’ve done. I think I woke up every morning trying to do my best. I didn’t wake up one morning and be like I’m gonna mess this day up. So I must be where I’m supposed to be.”
She added, “And sometimes I think of all of the things I’ve done—the courage that I’ve had to have, what I had to learn to how to navigate as a single person with no one to hide behind. It's built a really beautiful experience around me and I have incredible friends."
The Black Mirror actress has spoken about dating before and has always stated that she doesn't allow singleness stop her from living her best life.
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