Tori Spelling on gaining and losing her 40 pregnancy pounds
Actress Tori Spelling, 34, has been open about gaining 40 lbs during her pregnancy with son Liam Aaron, 6 months next week. Now that she has gotten her bikini body back, Tori spoke to People about her weight loss, reality show Tori & Dean: Inn Love, and why she doesn’t recommend c-sections.
Liam wears Kimball Concepts ‘My mom is hot’ tee ($5.25; romper $7.25). Their online store is not currently open, but should be soon!
On gaining the weight: I didn’t have a problem with it. Iate whatever I felt like, and the weight crept up. And I did not workout at all. [After the delivery], I immediately lost 10 lbs. Then thescale didn’t move. Nothing. I was like, ‘Why isn’t it coming off?’
On her c-section: I had an emergency c-section [after a failed induction hours after my water broke],which kept me from exercising for nine weeks. One of the biggestmisconceptions is that celebrities have c-sections because it’s easier.If I had a choice, I would not have, I would not recommend it. The recovery is much worse.
Life as a mom: You have to make the time to spend with your baby. But the greatthing is, in the work I do currently, Liam can be with us. I get to bewith my baby and my husband all day long. There’s nothing better. Lifeas a mom is fantastic — it’s hectic, but I always say the show and thebed and breakfast is more work than Liam is.
Not dealing with the weight: The last thing on my mind wasto diet. I ate more in the six weeks after the birth than when I waspregnant; I was just so happy! We were home all day long, and peoplewould bring food over to us. It was great.
Filming of Inn Love 8 weeks later: I was okay withit, surprisingly. But it was in the back of my mind. Liam was 2 months,and I felt like I should start losing weight.
I had a friend who did NutriSystem.I thought, "Let me try it." [Tori is now a spokeswoman.] When I startedto see results, it was huge for me, because I never had to lose weightbefore. I never once dieted. I mean, I didn’t go through my life eatingMcDonald’s every day, but I never needed a strict diet.
Exercise: Honestly, I’m not doing much. That’s been thehardest part, the workout. I try to do two days a week. I do treadmill,and with the trainer, Sam Levine, we do fun stuff like kickboxing. Anda lot of ab work to help my belly.
Once the weight came flying off, I was excited to get on the scale everyday. It was like a competition. I’m very competitive.
Goal weight: I’m at my goal weight now. I lost 30 lbs. I’mnot the thinnest I’ve ever been, but I’m at the weight I was when I gotpregnant, which is the weight I’d like to stay at.
Source: People, September 17th issue, p. 88
Tags: Liam McDermott, Tori Spelling
- Posted on Sep 7, 07 at 8:14PM
- Permalink
- 27 Comments
September 7th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
All experiences are individual. I’m sorry to hear Tori had a tough recovery with her c-section. I’ve had two and had NO problems. (no I did not have them out of convenience)
If Tori was upset about 9 weeks of no exercise simply because she wanted to feel like “herself” and just get moving, fine, but I have the feeling this is leaning more toward “what will Hollywood think of me?” and that I have a problem with.
Who knows what she meant? I can’t say because I don’t know, but I hate the idea of the latter, and it’s out there, whether it’s Tori who supports it or just the many other Hollywood moms who do.
September 7th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
What a little cutie…
September 7th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Liam is so adorable! I love his shirt.
September 7th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
She lost the weight and looks good, and liam looks a lot like the spelling family.
September 7th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
Little Liam looks a lot like his Uncle Randy, Tori’s brother.
September 7th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
I have to say that Liam is getting cuter the older he gets!
September 7th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
What an adorable little family, Tori looks great and Liam’s shirt is so cool lol
September 7th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
I don’t think us hot moms need a shirt telling the world so.
September 8th, 2007 at 4:17 am
good for her for telling it like it is about sections. the recovery is brutal, ime. i had a vaginal delivery, then a section, then a VBAC. i can’t fathom that people actually chose and want to have major abdominal surgery.
September 8th, 2007 at 8:07 am
my first csection was horrible and painful and just awful. It was after 22 hrs of labor and not getting past 5cm. I had a fever and was miserable. I was glad they did it, but the recovery was really tough. I totally understand where Tori is coming from. The 2nd one was scheduled and I knew what to expect and how to move around afterwards and wasn’t nearly as hard. I was up and taking walks within a week and I recovered much quicker. If I have another I will still try for a VBAC though. Its been long enough I doubt the chance of uterine rupture is still there for me. My first 2 were only 18 months apart.
As for the weight, I still don’t weight what I did pre pregnancy and probably never will. I lost all but 10 pounds from my first within 9 months of having her. I got PG with my 2nd a few weeks later and kept 10 pounds from him too. So, there I was 20 pounds heavier and not getting the weight to budge. I tried Slim Fast and it just didn’t work for me. I have gone up and down for years, but that 20 pounds still doesn’t want to come off. I am gonna try NutriSystem next month though. Maybe it will work!
Liam looks just like Dean IMO, he is a gorgeous baby!! And, I LOVE his little tee shirt!!!
September 8th, 2007 at 11:21 am
I HATED my c-section and felt pressured into it by the doctor on call. If I could go back in time, I would have fought more for a vaginal birth. I plan to try a vbac with my 2nd baby. I agree with Tori about the surgery completely. Why on Earth would these celebrities choose to have major surgery? It was brutal for me and it made caring for the baby so much worse and I’m convinced it contributed to my PPD.
September 8th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
I loved my c-section because it saved my life and the life of my son. I didn’t think it was painful at all. I was going for walks around our block a week after surgery and was walking around two miles within four weeks. I am not sure why Tori waited 9 weeks but everyone responds to pain differently. I also find those who enjoyed pregnancy and especially the attention that comes with pregnancy tend to have a harder time with c-section recovery…but I don’t have any scientific data on this observation.
September 8th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Liam is such a cutie
I have to say though, I am not an advocate of c-sections or anything, but my c-section recovery w/ my son was not that bad. I didn’t go into delivery choosing a c-section; I had to have an emergancy section b/c the cord was around his neck and his heart dropped too low, but it really wasn’t as bad as people make them out to be. I think what woman need to remember is that every body is different and the way you react to a section or a regular delivery just depends on you. I have friends who had horrible, long recoveries w/ their vaginal deliveries, it just depends on you and your body. I was running 6 weeks after delivery and ran in a 10k marathon 4 months after I had him. I will tell you that I worked out my entire pregnancy so I do honestly believe that helped me recover and I think it would help w/ whatever kind of delivery you had;
I do think if you can deliver w/out having a c-section thats awesome, but if you do have to have one, its ok too. We need to get rid of this stigma on c-sections…I know there are unnecessary ones, but there are times, as in my case, where you aren’t left w/ an option and I’m tired of being made to feel embarrassed or guilty for having to have one.
September 8th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
I have friends who had horrible tears and months long recoveries with vaginal births. Two friends had to have their rectums sewn back after 5th degree tears after the doctors refused to do even an episiotomy (a legacy of the go all natural movement). These women still have problems with incontinence, hemorrhoids and constipation after years. And each of them vow they will try to get a c-section the next time.
The fact is that women who have emergency C-sections after several hours of unsuccesful labor have a harder time recovering because their uterus wall has already been stretched and punished. And combine that with the feeling that they are failures because the prevailing wisdom is that you are NOT a real woman unless you had a natural birth, no wonder these women take longer to heal.
I think c-sections should be banned for these women, and then we’ll see how the maternal and infant mortality rates skyrocket.
September 8th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
I am confused wasn’t there a picture on this site of Tori working out before 6 weeks??
I remember because there was an added tidbit about not working out until 6 weeks??
Sarah’s note: There was a picture of her out jogging with Dean at 4 weeks pp, yes. I wonder if maybe she was referring to her treadmill/ab exercise routine in the article?
September 8th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Dancer,
Funny, the U.S has THE highest c-section rate (currently at around 34% and climbing) and ALSO one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates. Something to think about.
September 8th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Kristy, what those studies don’t mention is that women are having babies at a later age, and with that comes increased risk of complications. Also, since obesity rates have skyrocketed, more women have complications like gestational diabetes and larger babies. You will find that the vast majority of c-sections are emergency c-sections, which have more risk, and at times are performed after the baby or mother is already in distress. Insurance companies don’t want c-sections because of higher costs, and most doctors don’t perform them till a crisis is already underway.
BTW, I know two women who died during natural childbirth because doctors refused to perform c-sections.
Like I said, let’s ban c-sections and then see what happens.
September 9th, 2007 at 12:54 am
i would like to read the whole article-does anyone have it coz people’s website doesn’t seem to =(
great pics.can’t believe liam is almost 6mths already.
Sarah’s note: That is the whole article. There’s one more new pic of Tori in the magazine that I didn’t include since Liam was not in it.
September 9th, 2007 at 12:57 am
lol never mind im blind i didnt even read it……
September 9th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Here’s my two cents on c-sections. My son’s fetal movements really slowed down a couple days before he was born. I went in to be monitored twice before being admitted to labor and deliver. I knew something was wrong and am so thankful for my c-section.
I never went into labor, but had a c-section only to find out that my son had pooped meconium in the amniotic fluid. I had a fever and he had to spend the first four hours of his life in the special care nursury.
If I hadn’t insisted on accelerating labor (doctors didn’t even wait to induce), there’s no telling what could of happened to my son or myself!
September 9th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
I LOVE Tori! She’s so real and her show is endearing. Here is a celebrity that slowly took their weight off safetly. I am really proud of her to do it the right way despight the “anorexic look” in Hollywood. She’s a great role model! =)
September 9th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Dancer- I can see you have some very strong feelings about C-sections and people who are against them. Personally, I am also against C-sections…But ONLY when they are clearly NOT neccesary. I understand that there are times when C-sections are medically neccessary, and in those cases, I see nothing wrong with having one.
What I am against is elective C-sections that are done for no reason other than that the mother doesn’t want to give birth vaginally. I just don’t see why anyone would actually choose to have major abdominal surgery. Personally, I think that elective C-sections should be banned!
September 10th, 2007 at 12:53 am
Annoynomus, it’s none of your business who wants to get a c-section. If someone wants to get an elective c-section, it’s none of your concern. What bugs me about people who push “natural” birth, is that they hate to see people choose something they don’t agree with. It’s not your body, so butt out. If you want elective c-sections banned, then all c-sections should also be banned. Then we would see how many howls of protest would come from husbands of dead wives and parents of dead children.
The reason I feel so strongly about c-sections is beacuse I have many friends whose bodies and health were destroyed by doctors and insurance companies who didn’t want to perform c-sections. These people who play with people’s health are aided and abetted by these natural birth advocates who want to take away choices from other women.
I bet if a survey were done of the number of purely elective c-sections, those that are not done for any health reasons, they would be a miniscule percentage of all c-sections. The vast majority of c-sections done are emergency.
BTW, there is no such thing as a natural birth. If you are not giving birth alone out in the bush, it’s not a natural birth, the way our foremothers did for thousands of years.
September 10th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Dancer, you said there is no such thing as a natural birth because all women have some intervention – I take it you’ve never heard of freebirth, also known as unassisted childbirth? Might open your eyes a bit as to the options at the far opposite end of the spectrum.
September 10th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Yup, lets legislate that every one should have a freebirth, unassisted by even midwives. Let the madness commence.
September 11th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I would highly suggest the book “Born in the USA” by Marsden Wagner. It is incredibly well researched and written by a man who has practiced perinatology, both in private practice and research (as a scientist). For 15 years he was also Director of Women’s and Children’s Health for the World Health Organization. The man is brilliant and has a lot of VERY interesting things to say about obstetric care in America, including the rising rate of C-section and artificially induced childbirth.
Everyone has an opinion, but not everyone has a good argument. Most of us are not experts and base our ideas and opinions on life experience and the experiences of the small collection of people we know or have heard of. This is entirely normal, but also completely unscientific. If we could all publish books based on our own small information base, the world would be full of gross misinformation. It already is to some extent! One must be very careful where their information comes from. Who paid for the study? What source is the information coming from and what is the agenda of that source?
In the end, we all usually keep our own opinions, but it seems a good idea to at least keep ourselves well informed from all angles.
September 11th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
I wonder if she got new implants, that’s the rumor and her boobs I just saw a picture look bigger and very up and hard like implants tend to look. She lost all the baby weight though, I saw a pic of her today in a white dress.