WWE star Eve Torres wrestled with body image after welcoming her son Raeven in September 2015. “As someone whose profession relies heavily on physical activity, I definitely felt extra pressure to get back to my pre-baby shape,” the 32-year-old tells Us Weekly. “But the truth is, I don’t know a mom who doesn’t feel the pressure to bounce back after giving birth.”
That’s why the athlete opened up about her struggle in a September 20 Instagram post, where she is pictured just one week postpartum.
“I had originally taken this photo … with the intention of putting it side by side with my future ‘skinny’ body after I lost all my baby weight ‘in just 4 weeks!’ (like they do in the magazines),” Torres shared in her caption. “Well 4 weeks passed. And then 4 months. And we are almost at a year, and I still haven’t reached my pre-baby body, and maybe never will.”
And Torres, who is married to American Brazilian jujitsu practitioner Rener Gracie, is OK with that. “I realized that the only ‘after’ picture that matters is a happy, healthy mommy with her happy, healthy baby,” the head instructor for the Gracie Women Empowered Self-Defense program wrote. “Exercise (when your body is ready), eat for health, love yourself & your child, and let your body do whatever it’s meant to do after the amazing feat of creating a human.”
Her moving post has received nearly 5,000 likes.
“I realized that these rapid transformations posted all over social media were the only reason why I felt I had to [lose the weight], and the reason I assumed it would be easy,” Torres tells Us. “Most people who are able to do this are either genetically gifted, undergo plastic surgery or have the resources to make this kind of extreme dedication to weight loss and exercise.”
She continued: “It’s time to stop to stop comparing ourselves to others, and to ask ourselves as new moms: ‘What’s really important?’”