Thank you, thank you, thank you, Nicole Sullivan! The actress who plays a couples' therapist on Cougar Town recently talked openly about her postpartum weight loss struggle after the birth of her first son.

It’s hard for most new moms to shed the pregnancy poundage, but in Hollywood, it’s especially difficult because of the conformity to thinness. Sullivan told Us Weekly, "There just are not a lot of overweight people in Hollywood. I felt like the jerk who couldn't figure it out."

She felt like an oddity among her peers, because her excess weight wasn’t just falling off like every other new mom’s seemed to do. She finally came to the conclusion that they are not exactly telling the whole truth. "They all lie," she said, adding, "[They] say, 'Oh, I lost the weight running after the kids or breastfeeding.' It's not true!"

Amen, sister. I had an incredibly difficult time losing the baby weight after my first child, and I too felt like an idiot for not being able to figure it out. I had heard all the rumors about breastfeeding burning a gazillion calories a day, and in my case, I heard that youth was on my side to shed those pregnancy pounds. Alas, I carried most of that weight around for a full year, until we were done with breastfeeding and I got my heavy hiney back on the treadmill. And yeah, I felt like a fat loser sometimes.

Sullivan was able to shed 35 pounds with Weight Watchers after the birth of her first son (she’s a brand ambassador), but now wishes that she had done things differently. She said, "With my second son, I enjoyed the whole process of him being an infant more because I wasn't mad at myself. When you are mad at yourself, you are mad at everybody."

Yes, please. More Hollywood moms like this one. I wish I hadn’t worried so much about my weight after my daughter was born. I could have enjoyed the whole process of her infanthood more. Besides, when there’s a new baby around, no one is looking at mom.

Did you have a difficult time shedding your pregnancy weight?


Image via wader/Flickr