Update: Jillian Barberie Reynolds talks about about postpartum weight loss
Update: Added photo of Ruby.
Originally posted January 4th: Growing up as a child adopted by her parents and going on to become a mom, herself, has clearly been both transforming and cathartic for Jillian Barberie Reynolds. Describing the process as "amazing," Jillian recently opened up to OK! about daughter Ruby Raven, turning 6-months on Sunday, and how her own adoption has affected her view of motherhood.
It’s been amazing. It puts everything into perspective -- how loving people have to be to take in babies that aren’t theirs, like my mother and father did and now that I am a mother, I mean, my birth mother was very young.
It was different for her. I can’t even imagine how hard it would be for her. For me, it’s put into perspective that at five months old, here [Ruby] is and I think how innocent and sweet and how protective I am of her, and when you’re adopted, if you’re very young, like I was her age and in foster care, you think, you hope that you rely on the kindness of strangers and thank God there’s some incredibly kind people out there because it’s amazing to look after someone else’s baby. Babies are such a gift to the world. They’re so innocent, so sweet and it really puts it into perspective.
For more of Jillian's interview, including the secrets behind how she returned to a size 2, click 'continue reading.'
Jillian reinforced earlier statements that for the longest time, she "never thought" she would have kids, telling inquiring minds, "sorry to tell you, I just don’t want them," and that,
It’s not in the makeup for me. I’m a total career girl and I’m single. Just wasn’t in the cards for me, but it turns out it was!
It was after the Good Day LA host met her husband Grant Reynolds that she softened her outlook on motherhood. Pregnancy was an emotional time for Jillian, as it is for most women.
Just the fact that I never thought I would have a human life inside me like that, and just kind of marveling. It really made me think about my birth mother situation and how sad and hard that must have been to her. It brought out a lot of emotion. I met Grant and fell in love. He wanted kids, and I was like, 'Oh, okay.' I was thinking it would be a little harder on my end than it was for him -- but apparently not!
The 41-year-old tells OK! that her favorite aspect of expecting was "eating everything I wanted." She says she took comfort in watching other pregnant celebrities as their bodies changed.
Because I’ve never been that girl. I’ve always had to be very careful with what I eat so I’d see these tiny girls like Salma Hayek and Naomi Watts and they got so big like me. I mean, I wasn’t all belly. I got [big] everywhere -- arms and I was always thinking, this is for her.
When I got pregnant, I was like, 'Oh my God, this is a license to eat every carb that I haven't eaten in five years!' I ate potatoes, specifically French fries. If I was at a restaurant, I would eat the whole bread basket -- and then order pasta.
Jillian wasn't an avid exerciser before she became pregnant and she stayed that way throughout her pregnancy, per her doctor's advice.
I wasn’t going to start! The doctor, in fact, said to me, 'Do you exercise?' I said, 'No.' He goes, 'Good.' Because I got pregnant at 40 and he said it’s not a good idea to start exercising with a baby in you at 40. If your body is not used to it, do not start now. And I didn’t.
When it came time to lose the 40-pounds she gained with Ruby, like Tori Spelling before her, Jillian turned to NutriSystem.
Well, at first it was pretty hard because when you give birth, you still look pregnant, so I gained 40 pounds and she was six pounds, 12 ounces so you give birth to that and the rest, you’re still carrying weight. I thought it would be a lot easier than it has been and it isn’t-- it’s something you really have to work at.
I started doing Nutrisystem a month after Ruby was born, and that makes it easy. In December, I decided I had to have a trainer, too, because it’s one thing to lose the weight, which I’ve done and I have eight more pounds to go — but it’s another thing to be toned.
Ruby is the first child for Jillian and Grant, who've been married since 2006.
Source: OK!, January 14th issue, p. 56-57.
Photo by Caroline Greyshock.
- Posted on Jan 5, 08 at 3:33 PM
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