Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
A US fitness influencer’s ‘dose of tough love’ has come under fire, after he told postpartum mothers that “being pregnant is a lame excuse for being fat”.
Noah Bermundez is no stranger to controversy, having amassed a huge online following for his ‘say it as it is’ attitude when it comes to weight loss and coaching.
But in his recent Tik Tok, the content creator took things to the next level, with his video captioned: “You owe it to yourself to get healthy and in the best shape of your life”, sparking a tirade of anger among social media users.
Pivoting to say that he was “just kidding” about the fat gibe, Mr Bermundez momentarily reassured his audience that cravings and body image concerns are entirely normal while carrying a baby.
“Focus on having your kid obviously. But afterwards, you owe it to yourself, not only to your kids or your partner, but mainly to you,” he continued.
Shortly after, the creator soon doubled-down to encourage new mothers to “get in the best shape of your life” post-pregnancy.
“You birth that child, give yourself a pat on the back, but you owe it to yourself to get in the best shape of your life, for your health and also for attraction reasons.
“Get out there, get active. You can do it. Make it a priority. You have one body. Take care of it.”
Coming to the defence of postpartum women, Aussie fitness creator Mitchell Little shared the clip on his own social media account, labelling Mr Bermudez a “w*****” and advising him to not “tell women what to do”.
The Queensland fitness coach touched on his wife’s experience, revealing her perimenopause had him more aware of women’s health concerns and just how tough it can be.
“I’ve come to the realisation that women genuinely have it so tough. To me, the thought of just having to deal with a monthly menstrual cycle is hard enough,” he began.
“And then childbirth? Freaking terrifying. Perhaps after that, you get postnatal depression. And if that wasn’t fun enough, here’s perimenopause right around the corner, which is just a warm-up for menopause.
“This ridiculous narrative that women have continuously got a push to be in the best physical shape of their life at all stages of life is ridiculous, unrealistic, and uneducated.”
In a slew of social media comments across both videos, outraged mothers have shared their own experiences with postpartum weight to clap back at Mr Bermundez.
“I’d like to see you carry an 8.5 lb, 8 lb, and over 9 lb baby with a 5’2” frame and magically shrink your stomach back down to the best abs of your life,” one woman wrote, with another adding: “Let him have a c section and report back in 6 months.”
A third wrote: “As someone who has two beautiful babies after three rounds of IVF and multiple embryo transfers, I can assure you: I did not try to get fat.
“The amount of hormones my body was pumped with just to fall pregnant and carry my babies to term had a huge impact on my weight – I gained around 16 kg.
“I’ll keep working on myself, but I refuse to be ashamed or be shamed because of the body that got me here.”
