Melissa Joan Hart’s Getting In Shape Plan
As Melissa Joan Hart welcomed her second son Braydon ‘Brady’ Hart with her husband, Course of Nature rocker Mark Wilkerson, she also gladly welcomed back into her life another huge commitment: breastfeeding. Now four months later, the mom of two boys — including older brother Mason Walter, 2 ½ — is making it her priority to shed the pregnancy weight and gain muscle without compromising her milk supply. On track to getting back in shape, Melissa goes "three days a week" to Pulse Fitness Studio — which for now, balances out "being a really good mom, breastfeeding my child and making sure he’s as healthy as can be," without forgetting the other goal of "losing the weight for me and my career and my husband!"
During her pregnancy with Brady, the 32-year-old actress reveals that she "probably put on about 35 pounds…maybe by the end it was close to 40," but since then has come a long way with her weight loss results, saying she is "about five [pounds] off from where I started."
Click below to read about Melissa hating pregnancy, her sadness over baby growing up, and her plan for more kids!
While Melissa has enjoyed finding a healthy balance between feeling good while breastfeeding Brady, she didn’t feel so good during her pregnancy! Admitting she "just hated" being pregnant, Melissa shares she had always thought she would "feel so feminine and beautiful and wonderful" during the nine month stretch, especially after seeing her own mom go through pregnancy seven times and then "seven years of breastfeeding too." Dreaming she could "eat whatever I wanted to and I’d enjoy it," Melissa, being the oldest child, was in awe of her mother, revealing "my whole life I said I can’t wait to be pregnant." Unfortunately, in Melissa’s case, the love of being pregnant was not passed down from mother to daughter with Melissa saying, "it is so uncomfortable and you just feel so out of sorts." Luckily for Melissa — who does "love being a mom" — did "enjoy this pregnancy more because I didn’t freak out as much."
Being a mother the second time around has the mom "sad for the phases as they leave," as she knows what’s coming — her baby is growing up! With Mason, Melissa said she is always "looking forward to what comes next" and experiencing new territory — which for now is potty training! While Melissa is eager for her older son to get out of diapers, she would prefer Brady stay in his, as she shares Brady "outgrew his newborn diapers, and now he’s about to outgrow his number ones." Soaking up the baby-time she has left with Brady, Melissa is "just so enjoying his little moments."
With a new baby brother, an actress mom, and a singer for a dad, Melissa says Mason — who she lovingly refers to as her "monkey" — is a "complete crazy man!" While Brady, "the little love bug" — is "a little smiley happy angel" — Mason is a typical energetic toddler who is "so into jumping and running around in circles." According to Melissa, her eldest son is a "little OCD right now" as he has his poolside routine that includes going "all the way around the pool, get out, run over kiss somebody, and put his head under the waterfall," but blames it on their lives being "so chaotic" where "no day is the same."
While Melissa is looking forward to "two more [babies] in my thirties," she says she is in no rush to have another! Saying, "Every time I do an interview…it always comes off like I’m desperate to have another one right away, but I’m not!" Melissa, for now, is "totally happy with my two little monkeys." However, down the road, she does share that she’d like "to have two little girls, because I’d like to have a girl and I’d like for her to have a sister."
Source: OK! Magazine; Photo by Andy Fossum/Startraksphoto.com.
- Posted on Jul 26, 08 at 2:00PM
- Permalink
- 19 Comments
July 26th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Awee…what a sweet down to earth person! I can relate the the not being able to go on a diet to shed those last few pounds while BFing. It’s so hard, but worth it! She sounds like she has a great realistic and healthy plan to get back to pre-preggers body! Go MELissa!!
July 26th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
She seems so sweet!!! i totally understand what she is going through. I HATED being pregnant. As thankful as I was, and trust me it was a true blessing….I hated what I saw in the mirror…the huge nose, the bloated face, the weight gain. I was so wrapped up in how horrible I looked, I didnt allow myself to enjoy the pregnancy. She looks amazing, and watching two children is difficult, so she should give herself some more credit. I’m glad to see she is doing it the right way…..it’s refreshing, since some of these celeb. moms are back to their old self within a week or so. Good for you Melissa!
July 26th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
That is one of the millions of fantastic things about breast milk — it is very adapting.
There is a big myth about “needing 500 extra calories per day”, but that is completely false, as proved by world renound Dr. Jack Newman (breastfeeding guru!) — he says –
“Women on even very low calorie diets usually make enough milk, at least until the mother’s calorie intake becomes critically low for a prolonged period of time. Generally, the baby will get what he needs. Some women worry that if they eat poorly for a few days this also will affect their milk. There is no need for concern. Such variations will not affect milk supply or quality. It is commonly said that women need to eat 500 extra calories a day in order to breastfeed. This is not true. Some women do eat more when they breastfeed, but others do not, and some even eat less, without any harm done to the mother or baby or the milk supply. The mother should eat a balanced diet dictated by her appetite. Rules about eating just make breastfeeding unnecessarily complicated.”
Melissa need not worry — it is VERY hard indeed (with the exception of drugs and alcohol) to compromise your breast milk, or supply by your lifestyle and diet.
Breast milk works it’s very hardest to stay the most PERFECT nourishment for a baby.
July 26th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
I personally like Mellissa updates, and think her two boys are cute, but I am really just super tired of reading about everyone’s plan to get back in shape-whether it be healthy or not. I think we as a society in general should just stop focusing on this issue at all. Because it’s not really about “getting in shape” anyway. The extra weight a pregnant women puts on is not unhealthy and while it may be important to try and tone some muscles to try and loose the weight is not a health issue, but is clearly more about body image and I for one am just tired of hearing about it really
July 26th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
I love Melissa and her sweet family!!! She is so cute, yet so human! She makes it feel like you actually know her. She shares so much and seems so grounded.
July 26th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Awwwh what a sweetheart, and those boys are just as cute as can be. I’m glad she is losing the weight healthy and for herself. I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to get in shape for yourself. If you feel uncomfortable with additional weight on you, and aren’t pleased with how you look in the mirror and want to change that by losing weight,GOOD for you. If you look in the mirror and are satisfied with your additional weight then GOOD for you too!!!!
I had my baby 9 days ago and can’t wait to strap my baby on my chest and start walking to get back into shape and not because of other peoples standards of what body images should be, but because I want my pre-pregnancy body back.
July 26th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Hi Juliana. I understand how tiring it gets constantly seeing the unrealistic standard of beauty shoved down our throats. However, I personally feel better about myself when I am lookin’ good, working out, not eating crap, drinking water, sleeping enough, all that stuff. It boosts my self-esteem, which I consider to indeed be a health issue. I mean, look at the photo of Melissa in the super sexy red dress in the recent OK magazine. She looks like she’s really proud of herself, and she should be.
July 26th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Melissa shouldn’t feel too worried about their “chaotic” lives being the cause of Mason’s love of routines. He is at that stage of development where kids want to start doing the same things over & over the same way. They like to read the same stories, sing the same songs, and have things “just so.” The repetition makes them feel secure and helps them learn and remember things.
July 26th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Breastfeeding just takes a balanced diet…not necessarily a high calorie one!! Drinking a lot of water helps as does Brewer’s Yeast!! I took it while I was breastfeeding on the advice of a nutritionist…and it helped!! I produced about 8-16 ounces of milk every 2-3hours!!
July 27th, 2008 at 12:07 am
she seems like a nice down to earth lady. Both her boys are adorable. I always pictured her with 3-4 kids, so I hope one day she gets to have a girl. I picture her with all boys though, like victoria beckham and pam anderson.
July 27th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Sasha-
I certainly agree with maintaining a healthy lifestyle and I sometimes can even go overboard in that endeavor. It’s just sometimes I just get tired of how there are so many articles and concern about what a women is going to do to get her “old” body back after pregnancy. The concern and obsession with that just doesn’t promote healthy body issues even if the woman is planning to do it in a healthy way
July 27th, 2008 at 9:58 am
I’m not surprised she wants four kids in total. Melissa herself comes from a big family, though some of them are still kids themselves.
She’s a good mom, though I was surprised to read she only has just started potty training Mason now. I would have thought Melissa would have started long before Brady was born so she only had one baby in diapers.
July 27th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Re: “world renound Dr. Jack Newman (breastfeeding guru!)”
The day Dr. Newman is awake at 3:00am with a Hoover clamped to one of his uber-sensitive and cracked nipples for 40-minutes is the day I’ll take a man’s advice on breastfeeding.
July 27th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Hey Juliana, oh I totally agree with you. The headlines blaring “she had a baby two weeks ago and she’s ready to GET THAT WEIGHT OFF” are bizarre. And the amount of Photoshopping women’s bodies (and faces even) in magazines now, it’s complete fraud! Raising children is the most challenging work there is, and we don’t need any extra pressure.
July 27th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Rofl at ‘Hoover’! Did that ever paint the picture!
July 27th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
DLR-
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR POST!! That guy needs to breast feed a baby before he says you don’t need 500 extra calories!! You may not NEED them but the question is will you WANT them…and the answer is “YES PLEASE”.
The hungriest I’ve ever been is when I’m breastfeeding, WAY more than when I’m pregnant – there’s a reason! There’s a baby living off of you! I eat ravenously when I’m breastfeeding…Don’t know about others people..
July 27th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Robin,
Either you aren’t a mother or your children are potty superstars. Any mother of a typical toddler knows that you can’t just potty train when YOU find it convenient to. There are many different variables to potty training.
Anyways, beautiful family.
August 1st, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Mom2boys: Actually you can just potty train a child when it’s convenient if you are persistent enough about it. In the 80’s and early 90’s children were routinely potty trained between the ages of 1 1/2 and 2 years old, and despite the dire warnings some pediatricians give about how potty training that early will cause harm to the child, the kids who were potty trained that earlier are perfectly fine. It does not harm a child to be potty trained early, it just requires that the parents be patient, persistant, and accepting of the fact that even though a child doesn’t grasp a concept within the first few minutes does not mean it’s time to give up. Many parents claim their child isn’t ready when really they’re just not ready to do the amount of work it takes, so they wait until their kids can practically do the work themselves. So there’s really no reason why Melissa couldn’t have potty trained her child before the new baby was born – not that I’m saying she should have, because that is completely her choice, but it would have been possible if she had wanted that.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
I love that Melissa is breastfeeding. I would like to weigh in on one issue that I heard Melissa say on a TV interview. She said she “couldn’t drink caffeine because she was breastfeeding”. My doc says a cup of coffee in the morning or a soda in the afternoon is perfectly ok! I just wouldn’t want a woman to choose not to breastfeed because they heard something like that.