You might remember DeAnna Pappas best for being the star of season four of The Bachelorette, but she’s back and revealing how she got back in shape following the birth of her second child.
As you may recall, the 34-year-old married Stephen Stagliano, whose brother, Michael, was a contestant season five of the ABC series. The couple welcomed their daughter Addison in 2014 and their son Austin earlier this year.
For Miz Pappas, bouncing back after her baby boy was way more difficult than the first time around. She tells People:
“I put on a few more pounds when I was pregnant with Austin than I did with [2├é┬╜-year-old daughter] Addison. The difference was I didn’t work out at all, really, the whole time I was pregnant with Austin, so I just felt like I was holding a lot of extra weight.”
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The TV personality relies on clean eating to maintain her figure, starting off every day with a USANA MySmart Shake, followed by a MySmart Bar as a mid-morning snack, and then a salad for lunch:
“I’m a pretty healthy eater and I actually really like salad! Then I’d have another bar or an apple and peanut butter for a mid-afternoon snack. We typically eat pretty clean and healthy, so for dinner we eat a lot of roasted vegetables and chicken and fish.”
DeAnna combines eating right with a proper fitness routine three times a week:
“I didn’t get to start working out after my second pregnancy until Austin was maybe 3 months. I was exhausted ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ he was still waking up two or three times a night to nurse. It was a little bit harder this time around to get my workouts in.”
She adds:
“Whether I’m able to get to the gym or not, I do a lot of cardio, whether it’s just getting my kids in the stroller and walking them around. And I’m really in love with barre classes and Pilates. I really like workout classes that help me to create long, lean muscles. I like a class in general because I feel like I push myself a little more because I’m super competitive.”
At the end of the day, it’s all about feeling good in her own skin (and non-maternity clothes):
“I just wanted to feel myself again, and most importantly, I just wanted to stop wearing maternity clothes! I didn’t care if I needed to buy jeans that were two sizes too big, I just wanted to wear normal clothes again ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ that was my big drive.”
And the Georgia native is sure not to put too much pressure on herself:
“It’s such a struggle, because I think about my own daughter, and I don’t ever want her to be consumed with how thin she is or how good she looks because at the end of the day those things aren’t important. I had two children, two vaginal births. What my body did is amazing, so at the end of the day, I have a couple of extra pounds, I’m carrying a little extra love handles on the sides of my hips, and it’s a beautiful thing. I’ll never be the size I was before I had kids. I’ll never be that thin, my legs will never be that smooth. Things are different, and I’m super proud of that because moms are warriors for what we do.”
Now that’s the spirit!
[Image via Instagram.]
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