9 Fierce Celebrity Moms Tell It Like It Is About Post-Baby Bodies

It’s common for a new mom to feel pressure to get “get her body back” to the way it was before pregnancy—to exercise and eat right despite the stress and exhaustion of caring for a newborn. For famous new mothers who are in the public eye, the pressure is even greater than it is for the rest of us. Celebrities are constantly being followed by cameras, and have to deal with tabloids printing photos of them with arrows pointing to their baby bumps.

Fortunately, some celebs are taking a stand against the idea that women should “bounce back” right after pregnancy. Here are nine famous moms telling it like it is—and we couldn’t agree more.

“I am not pregnant, but I have had three kids and there is a bump. From now on, ladies, I will have a bump, and it will be my baby bump. It’s not going anywhere.” —Jennifer Garner on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”

“After making two babies, holy cow, does your body do some crazy stuff! It’s hard to stay positive and love yourself. You feel like a kangaroo with a giant pouch; everything’s saggy and weird. But you think about how beautiful it is that you’re able to make children. When I lose sight of that, I exercise, read Dr. Seuss’s ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!,’ and spend time with my kids. Then I start to see things that are bigger than myself.” —Drew Barrymore in Glamour

“To expect someone to look like her pre-baby self immediately is odd. Because you just grew a human and then birthed that human—there’s a lot that needs to go back to where it was. All your organs move around, for Christ’s sakes.” —Zooey Deschanel in Redbook

“I’ve been really focused on not being ‘back’ to anything, but being the best version of myself right now. My body is the site of a miracle. I don’t want to be pre-miracle.” —Kerry Washington in Self

“That whole term ‘bounce back’ after pregnancy … I don’t like that terminology. Look, if you go into the bikini two weeks after, good for you, but that wasn’t me. I just feel like we as women need to support each other more.” —Eva Mendes on “The Wendy Williams Show”

“I believe in a world where mothers are not expected to shed any physical evidence of their child-bearing experience.” —Olivia Wilde in Shape

“I’m not willing to work really hard to be skinny. I have never put pressure on myself to lose weight, and I just rock with what I’ve got. With baby weight, my philosophy is that it took a long time to put the weight on, so it will take a long time to lose it.” —Kelly Clarkson in Closer

“Breastfeed! Stay home! Sleep! Your kid is only three months old, what are you going to the gym for?” —Zoe Saldana in US Weekly

“I work out in West Hollywood, so you see, like, Thor’s trainer you know, the people who have too many muscles to be in ‘The Avengers’ work out there. Normally, I walk into the gym and feel so intimidated, but now I walk in and I’m like, ‘Yeah I work out with five-pound weights, but I pushed a baby out of my body, I feel good right now.’” —Anne Hathaway on “The Ellen Degeneres Show”