Zoe Saldana: Why Hollywood moms "hide in a cave" post-baby

by

Carolyn Robertson

posted in Celebrities

Actress Zoë Saldana has a message for all new moms in Hollywood: Step away from the treadmill!

The Book of Life star, who welcomed twin sons Cy and Bowie in January, says that too many famous mothers go to extremes to shed the baby weight in record time. Speaking to PEOPLE this week, Zoë hit back against the pressure women face to "bounce back" into their skinny jeans immediately after giving birth.

"Throughout the years that I've been in this business, women that hide in a cave and they don't come out until they're a size zero," Zoë, 37, reveals. "And that is a very misleading message to send out to women, especially when women here in LA are the skinniest women out there, and that should concern us. We're too busy thinking about our appearances and not really thinking about our mental health first as well."

"I feel bad for those women that get super desperate and want to bounce back three months after having a baby. Breastfeed. Stay home. Sleep. Your kid is only three months old. Like what are you going to the gym for? Catch up on f**king reruns of some sort."

Ten months after delivering her boys, Zoë looks pretty much to her pre-baby shape - “I’ve got a booty!" she insists. "I’ve got some thighs I got to burn off all the time!” - but she says she took her own advice when it came to losing the baby weight.

“I definitely took a break,” says the stunning star, who weighed 185 lbs at the end of her pregnancy. “And I trusted that my body was going to bounce back when it was ready. I never wanted to push myself. I’m the most beautiful woman to my husband, so he tells me (or I will kill him), so I didn’t really have this anxiety to bounce back.”

I think all of us, famous or not, feel some level of pressure to lose the baby weight, to be able to finally shake the dust off our favorite pair of pre-baby pants. I imagine it is more intense for moms in Hollywood, who have to worry about tabloids drawing attention to their slim-down success (or lack thereof).

I absolutely agree with Zoë that it's important for new moms to try to prioritize their own mental and emotional well-being (easier said than done, I know). For some moms, that might include hitting the treadmill when they have the time. For others it might just mean accepting that the gym will have to wait.

Did you feel pressure to lose the baby weight?

Here's how 13 famous women stood up to fat shaming:

Photos: REX USA