BodyAfterBaby

The rumour mill says Antonia Kidman is suffering from anorexia.

Continues to shit me that the tabloid press jump on any semi famous woman who gains or loses a few kilos seemingly overnight. Recently Antonia Kidman was under the spotlight after she appeared toned and fit at the ASTRA awards in Sydney. I’ve known Antonia for years and interviewed her several times including for my book My Body After Baby. The reason she was on the top of my interview list for the book was that she has always looked after herself by exercising. No stupid crash dieting or fat farm, but the hard way through regular exercise. Whenever women email me seeking tips on how to lose their baby weight the first question I ask them is are you exercising regularly? More often than not they are not. It’s the cheapest, easiest and best way to get your body back, simple.
So back to Antonia this is what she told me when we sat down for a chat: “I exercise always throughout my pregnancies. It was never vigorous as I always knew my heart rate couldn’t go above 140 beats per minute. I do yoga until about 20 weeks and then it gets a bit hard because I do Ashtanga and you really need your abdominals. Swimming was what worked for me. I’d swim about 3km every day and I did that pretty much up until the day before I delivered. Exercise is also like therapy for me, it’s a bit about vanity as well, but exercise changes my mood. I like to exercise first thing in the morning which sets me up for the day. I do think being fit helps you with your delivery as it can give you that extra stamina and also helps you to push through the pain and remain focused. The other benefits are when you are trying to bounce back after the birth. It helps a great deal when you have had a normal delivery and can get up the next day and feel OK. I have always started doing yoga within 48 hours of delivering, just in the hospital starting off slowly for an hour or something working on that pelvic floor. You want to feel good and also getting back to yourself pre-pregnancy self can be connected to feeling good mentally. It’s reclaiming your body and loving the fact that you can touch your toes again and also not giving your stomach all squashed. Yes, you are sleep deprived and you are up with the baby at all hours but I actually find that time better than the last few weeks of pregnancy where you are so heavy and exhausted. Those last few weeks are unpleasant -- you are wide and you are puffy and you feel like a nothing person because it is all about waiting for the baby to arrive."
Turns out Antonia is looking fit than ever at the moment because she is training for a half marathon. She should be an inspiration to us all not a dart board for female editors who haven’t got off their bum in years.