 photo credit: Getty
One year ago, OITNB star Danielle Brooks gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Freeya.
While Brooks has ample amounts of body positivity, she has been struggling with accepting her postpartum body. She has been watching her Hollywood peers 'snap back' to their pre-baby bods, and it has left her feeling 'shame.' She opened up about the 'shame' she has felt, in an intimate post on Instagram: "As someone who coined the phrase #voiceofthecurves I’ve muted my voice for a few months now out of shame. I felt shameful of gaining weight. Even though I brought a whole human into the world, I still felt shameful because I wasn’t able to maintain my normal body weight post- pregnancy. And a year later i have only lost roughly 20lbs of a 60lb weight gain. I was quiet in hopes to post that snatch back photo like so many celebrities miraculously do. But that’s not my story."
She went on to talk about how she is working on becoming healthier. She also said that "it's okay to show the in between of growth. You ain't always gotta have it all the way together."
Girl, I felt that. I've struggled with weight my entire life, and when I became pregnant with my son, I was not looking forward to the weight gain. I gained 40lbs with my son, and I didn't 'snap back' right away. It took me over 5 months to lose 40lbs, and another 3-4 months to lose an additional 22lbs. I got down to the lowest weight I have ever been, and I was a size 4. I kept it off for nearly a year. ​Then, the pandemic happened. I gained 20lbs back. I digress. I remember feeling 'shame' for not snapping back to my pre-pregnancy weight right away. I have friends who had gotten right back to their pre-pregnancy weight within a month after giving birth. I saw celebrities like Khloe Kardashian who bounced back within a few months after giving birth. It took a long time to turn off that voice inside of me that was overly self-critical. After I gained 20lbs back, I heard that overly self-critical voice. I shut that motherfucker up quickly. I thought about all of my good qualities and focused on that. I'm not in competition with anyone. I won't allow competition to silence my inner peace. NeNe Leakes had an opening phrase during her time on 'Real Housewives of Atlanta,' "I'm not keeping up with the Joneses, I AM the Joneses." We are not in competition with anyone. There is no one we need to keep up with. Life is not a sprint. It's a marathon. There is no rush. Keep it going, keep it movin, and enjoy the babies! Danielle Brooks, you are fucking fabulous babe! 
#OITNB #DanielleBrooks #babyweight #weightloss #postpartumlife #pregnancy #momlife
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