September 30, 2025 • 41 mins
In this episode I'm sitting down with Laura Lindahl—certified pre and postnatal coach, exercise physiologist, and Christian body image coach—to talk about something so many moms wrestle with: the pressure to "bounce back" after baby and how to approach postpartum health from a place of grace, not guilt.
Laura's story will resonate with so many of us. She went from being trapped in superficial fitness obsessed with how she looked and what others thought, to experiencing a complete transformation when God called her back to her first love. Now she helps moms rebuild strength physically, emotionally, and spiritually after birth through her ministry True Strength Collective and the Strong After Birth Podcast.
This conversation challenges the harmful "bounce back" culture that puts unrealistic timelines and expectations on postpartum moms. Instead, Laura shares how we can build strength from a place of acceptance rather than striving for acceptance—honoring our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit while giving ourselves the grace and time our bodies actually need to heal.
Whether you're currently pregnant, in your postpartum season, or just tired of feeling like your worth is tied to how quickly you "bounce back"—this episode offers biblical truth and practical wisdom for approaching health as an act of worship, not performance.
In this episode, we discuss:
🌸 How Laura's fitness obsession led to burnout and distance from God—and the moment everything changed
⚖️ Why "bounce back" culture is hormonally harmful and biblically unsound for postpartum moms
💪 The difference between building strength from acceptance vs. for acceptance
🎯 Practical first steps for moms who feel stuck or disconnected from their bodies
✝️ How our identity in Christ frees us from the comparison trap and cultural pressure
🏃♀️ Why focusing on building muscle (not losing weight) transforms how we feel as moms
Scripture Shared:
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." – Romans 8:1 (ESV)
"Do not despise small beginnings." – Zechariah 4:10
Mentioned in this episode:
💪 Laura's 3-Day Core Restore Plan: Free postpartum recovery guide with exercise demos and diastasis recti assessment
🩷 True Strength Collective: Laura's online coaching for moms
🎧 Strong After Birth Podcast: Postpartum strength training and body image encouragement
✨ Christian Mama Birth Prep Library: Free birth prep tools, worship playlists & more
💛 Work with Me 1:1 - Personalized pregnancy and birth support that integrates faith and evidence-based care, including virtual coaching, doula support, and comprehensive childbirth education
If this episode encouraged you to see your body and health through God's eyes, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend who needs this message.
Let's reject the lies of bounce back culture and embrace the freedom found in Christ—one faithful step at a time. Go here for the full blog post, show notes, and all resources mentioned!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Natalie Portman (00:45):
Hey friends, and welcome back to the podcast.
I'm really looking forward totoday's conversation because
we're talking about somethingthat so many moms wrestle with
our bodies after birth, thepressure to bounce back and how
to approach health in a waythat's rooted in grace, not
guilt.
I'm joined today by LauraLindahl.
She's a Christian mom, certifiedpre and postnatal coach,
(01:08):
exercise physiologist, andChristian body image coach.
She's also the host of theStrong After Birth podcast and
the founder of True StrengthCollective.
Laura helps women rebuildstrength physically,
emotionally, and spirituallyafter birth.
And her heart is all abouthelping moms reject shame, move
(01:29):
joyfully, and find trueconfidence in Christ.
Laura, thank you so much forbeing here today.
Laura Lindahl (01:35):
Yeah, of course.
I mean, Natalie, can follow mearound wherever I go and just
proclaim that, that would begreat.
Natalie Portman (01:42):
Introducing Laura Lin.
Laura Lindahl (01:43):
Oh, it sounds you so
Natalie Portman (01:46):
Love it.
Laura Lindahl (01:47):
on the show, Natalie.
I'm, I'm be here.
Natalie Portman (01:51):
I'm so excited that you're here and I know just
so many women are gonna relateto this, and especially if this
is their first pregnancy andthey don't know what to expect,
you know, going into that,postpartum season.
So really excited that you'regonna just speak some truth and
just love of Jesus into thisseason.
So let's get started.
I wanna hear a little bit moreabout your story.
(02:12):
So can you take us back to whatyour relationship with health
and fitness looked like beforemotherhood, and then how that
began to shift once you invitedthe Lord into that.
Laura Lindahl (02:25):
I think, in a word I could summarize it as
superficial, that everything,when it came to health was about
how I looked.
It was about how men saw me.
It was about how I saw myself.
It was even about how otherwomen saw me and the acceptance
that I got when I walked into aroom, I really started getting
(02:48):
into fitness.
Even at a very young age, my momevery diet under the sun.
Was an avid runner.
My dad was an avid runner, didthe main marathon, all sorts of
things, but it was alwayscentered around weight loss.
It was always centered aroundburning calories.
And so I.
Naturally, uh, that was what Iwas watered with.
So that's what I grew into.
(03:09):
And God was never really talkedabout when it came to our
health.
It was just kind of like, we goto church and there, these are
the things that we do on Sunday,but this is how we exercise
Monday through Friday.
And they're not at allcorrelated.
So in a word, like I said, itwas very surface level.
It was me just taking care of myhealth.
It didn't have anything to dowith God or my emotional
(03:31):
spiritual health.
It was just just a thing you doto kind of look better.
And so that's really the rootsof where it started.
I got my bachelor's in exercisescience and that is where a lot
of those roots just got wateredwith Miracle Grow and it turned
into a lot of over exercising,undereating.
(03:53):
I was going from diet to diet.
I was.
Exercising like probably sevento 10 times a week.
And undereating, uh, drasticallyundereating at the same time I
was starting to get engaged.
And so it turned into sweatingfor the wedding and over
training and, it really justcontinued to snowball and I got
(04:14):
to a point where I feltextremely burnt out in college.
got to a point where I just feltextremely distant from the Lord
and my relationship witheverything just felt heavy
grades, felt heavy, doing work,felt heavy.
Going to a church, felt heavy,relationships felt heavy, and it
wasn't until I got to a load ina snowball that I could no
(04:37):
longer carry, that landed mealmost flat on my back.
Literally after doing like athree.
30 deadlift at the gym.
After I had graduated.
Um, I started training at a bigbox gym, and I looked over at
this platform and this girl waslifting heavier than me, and my
little ego inside me was like,you can lift heavier than that.
(04:57):
So I did.
And the next day it just feltlike God was saying, you've left
me like you've left your firstlove and you're striving for
lesser things, and deadlifts.
I probably could have snapped myback, but God was gracious and
he was merciful even in hisrebuke.
And it was at that point that Ireally just started to
(05:19):
investigate and look at theclients who were coming to me
came to me because they feltuncomfortable in their bodies.
They came to me because theywanted to fit into a dress
again, wanted to fit into theirjeans again, wanted to feel like
themself again.
And we got there.
I was a very successful trainer.
I was one of the top ratedtrainers at the gym.
I was running a nutritionbusiness.
But I got to a point where Irealized no matter how, much
(05:40):
weight they lost, no matter howmany goals they reached, the
goalposts kept moving and thenthey were never thin enough.
They were never strong enough,they were never satisfied
enough.
And I started seeing this themein my clients and then it became
evident that, oh crap.
see that theme in me that I hadbeen chasing lesser things, that
(06:02):
I had been trying to besatisfied in something else
outside of Christ.
about that time there was amessage at our church on John
15, I.
Where Jesus is speaking his tohis disciples and he's
encouraging them to abide in meas I abide in my father.
And they use the analogy of avine being intertwined into a
(06:25):
stand.
Like a grape vine is intertwinedinto a stand or into a net, and
you can see how much better thevine grows when it's intertwined
on that, because it hasstructure, it has dependency,
and in the same way I had noabiding, I was abiding in
myself.
I was abiding in what culturesaid about my body to be true,
(06:45):
and it really left me feeling sohigh and dry and so unsatisfied
that I had to keep striving forsomething more.
So I'm grateful that God kindof.
Pulled the rug out fromunderneath me, as it were that
day.
And a couple months later, Istepped away from the gym
started True StrengthCollective, which is, my
full-time online health andfitness business that I run for
(07:07):
women and moms.
At the time it was justprimarily for women who struggle
with body image.
And then about three yearslater, we got pregnant with our
first.
And our only son now, Boaz,he's, two so, so sweet.
Uh, And that was just a wholenew awakening to the next step
in the journey that God had forme in body image and health.
(07:29):
And, it was through that, thathe helped me realize.
He was just calling me deeper.
He was calling me deeper into adependence with him on how my
body looked.
He was calling me deeper into adependence on him for health and
to know that health is abidingin him.
And so that's where we are atnow.
Um, Now I primarily train momswho are postpartum and or going
(07:53):
through pregnancy, and I helpthem to develop a better
relationship with their body, abetter relationship with health,
so that they can joyfully liveinto an empowered motherhood
and.
Feel good in their God-givenbodies and use fitness as a form
of worship.
So yeah, how we got here.
Natalie Portman (08:11):
Oh, Laura, I, I just cannot handle how beautiful
that is because it, like you'resaying, is totally
counter-cultural to have thatmindset of I am not.
Working out.
I am not eating certain thingsjust for sake of image.
(08:31):
Like it's only about the way Ilook for my approval, like for
myself or approval of whatothers think about me.
But it's truly what I eat andhow I move my body.
And all of these things are aform of worship to the Lord that
we get to steward the body he'sgiven us.
So that we can accomplish themission that is so much greater
(08:53):
than just looking at ourselvesin the mirror and being happy
with the way we look.
The other thing that's reallyinsane about it and what you
were touching on with, you know,seeing that theme of clients
who.
It was never good enough.
You know, they would reach theirgoal, but it still wasn't
satisfying.
And it reminds me so much of howwe take certain things and we
(09:13):
take a good thing like healthand fitness and eating right,
and all those things, and weturn a good thing into a God
thing and we wonder why.
It's letting us down and wewonder why it's so disappointing
in the end.
And there really is true freedomin seeing the beauty of, just
(09:34):
like our bodies are meant to bea living sacrifice and it's a
joy to be able to grow a babyeven though it's difficult to
give birth to a baby, to servethat baby to go on adventures
and live this beautiful life andto live out the great
commission.
Like those are beautiful things.
But fitness and all those thingsare just a means to that end.
(09:55):
And I think it's so easy to losesight of that because our
culture is.
Hyper-focused on just the image.
And you know, the other crazything too is Paul talks about
how he doesn't care what youguys, he's like, I don't care
what you guys think about me.
I don't even care what I thinkabout me.
(10:17):
And I think that's so powerful.
He goes, I only think about whatthe Lord thinks about me.
And that's a hard place.
You know, I'm Enneagram one.
I am perfectionist.
I am like very driven.
And when I don't meet my owngoals, even if no one else cares
what I'm doing, if I don't meetmy own goals, oh man, I am so
hard on myself And so for methat was a relief to hear Paul
(10:39):
say, I don't care what you guysthink about me.
I don't even care what I thinkabout me.
I really only care about whatthe Lord thinks about me.
And what does the Lord say aboutus as his daughters?
He is, enthralled with ourbeauty.
He went to the cross and diedfor us.
He loves us deeply andendlessly, not by anything we
(11:00):
have done, and there's nothingwe could do to earn his love
more, or for him to take awayhis love from us.
Like, that's the reality.
And I get so hung up in thatmyself where, you know, I just,
I even want to just focus onwhat I think about me.
And like, you're saying that'snot abiding, that's.
That's just self dependency selfworship.
(11:21):
But like John 15 says, like, weneed to abide in the vine.
We need structure.
We need something to rest ourlife onto, we cannot do that on
our own.
So I love all of those thingsthat you were drawing out.
It's just so beautiful and soneeded that we hear that, and
that we remind ourselves overand over and over again of that
(11:42):
beautiful truth.
So thank you so much for sharingthat.
Laura Lindahl (11:45):
It's no surprise to me that the enemy wants to
attack our image, especially aswomen.
I.
Because our image, obviously aswomen carries a lot of beauty,
and beauty is a characteristicof God.
And as image bearers, we carrythat image wherever we go.
And so it's no wonder to me thathe would just want to throw
shade on the image of God inwomen, whether that is through
(12:07):
the fitness industry saying,your body isn't fit enough.
Or maybe it's other peoplesaying, oh wow, she bounced
back.
What happened to you?
Or even through ourselves wherewe can throw that shade and
somehow.
As if we could diminish theimage and beauty of our glorious
God through our bodies.
And so if your audience isfinding themselves in that
place, I also want you to knowyou're in a battle that's
(12:29):
greater than yourself.
And that part of that battle isyes, your flesh.
But I think that there's greaterthings at stake here, like God's
glory and the aspect that theenemy wants to diminish that as
much as he can.
So when we take a step back andsay, this isn't just me versus
the enemy, or me versus my.
Flesh, it's you with God.
And when we are with God in thatbattle, which I wasn't with God,
(12:51):
I was by myself.
When it's us with God, we standwith the God of angel armies.
And we're so much more powerfulin that position than when we
are trying to strive for ourhealth on our own or strive for
a size on our own, or acceptanceor love, or any other thing that
we can strive for.
Natalie Portman (13:08):
Amen.
Yeah, I love that.
And then you kind of touched onthat bounce back culture.
So you know, from yourexperience, especially in the
work that you do, why do youthink that this message is so
harmful?
And what truth do you wish everymom knew instead, I.
Laura Lindahl (13:26):
Well, If I could start with defining what bounce
back culture is, at least how Idefine it.
Bounce back culture is thepressure that is put on moms
overtly or covertly.
Whether it's someone literallysaying, Hey, you don't look like
you used to.
Or maybe it's just your owninternal pressure of seeing what
somebody else did in theirpostpartum journey versus what
(13:50):
your body is doing in itspostpartum journey, and it's a
feeling of insufficiency and orpressure.
That moms experience, I'd saylike.
around 3 6 9.
With the pressure increasing,the longer you are postpartum,
and so that's what bounce backpressure is.
(14:11):
I think that it comes from a lotof fitness industry marketing.
I actually put together a wholepodcast episode on this, like
debunking lies of fitnessindustry, and how they
determine, what words to use,how to target our psychology and
our weak points and our desires.
But they really use a lot ofmarketing that's based on that
desire.
We want to feel like ourselvesin a season where we are serving
(14:35):
everyone else outside ofourselves, right?
So it makes sense that the enemywould kind of take that avenue.
But here's where a bounce backgoes.
Bad.
Bounce back goes bad.
When we determine that faster isbetter that our body has to look
like somebody else's.
where bounce fat goes bad.
I'm not saying that it's bad towanna feel like yourself again.
(14:56):
I'm also not saying that it'sbad to want to lose fat.
We can look from a healthperspective, yeah, it's probably
more advantageous for you tohave more muscle and less body
fat on your body.
But that does not mean thatfaster equals better.
That does not mean that you haveto do it and it's gonna look
like somebody else.
And so we can start to parsethrough why bounce back can be
(15:18):
so deceptive and so deviousHormonally for us, when we are,
especially in those first likesix to nine to 12 months
postpartum.
are literally going through ahormone rollercoaster when we
try to lose fat or lose weightquickly postpartum, and we try
(15:38):
to quote unquote bounce backhormonally, you are taking a
rollercoaster ride and you'retaking your seatbelt off.
Because the seat belt of tryingto get more sleep, the seat belt
of trying to eat enoughcalories, especially if you're
breastfeeding, those things canhelp our hormones it's still
gonna be a rollercoaster.
Your body's doing a lot ofchange that happened in nine
months and you can't expect anine months of change to be
(16:00):
undone in six weeks.
It's just such a big myth, andit's such a devious pressure.
To put on ourselves.
And so we have to approach itsafely and we have to approach
it in a way that allows ourbodies natural healing timeline
to happen.
And I think bounce back culturetries to condense.
(16:23):
I.
That and it tries to put anextra pressure and a timeline
like a should be on top of that.
And I think biblically we cansee that Romans eight one tells
us there is therefore nocondemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus.
That means that you can giveyour body the timeline that it
needs.
Doesn't mean that you don't doanything for your health.
And those, even the first sixweeks, there's many things we
(16:44):
can talk about those today.
What are some things we can doin the first six weeks to help?
our health, but we refuse toagree with the world that says,
if you don't bounce back in acertain way, that doesn't mean
you're unhealthy.
That doesn't mean that you're abad mom.
It doesn't mean that so and sois doing it better than you are.
just means your body has adifferent healing timeline.
Natalie Portman (17:06):
Yeah, I love that you defined what it is and
kind of drew out some of the,the roots of that and, and I
have seen that in my life, butkind of in the opposite.
So by the grace of God, like Ireally do feel like it was just
like genetics or whatever.
I mean, I'm five 10, so I'm talltoo, but.
Like for me, baby weight, allthat came off immediately
(17:28):
without trying.
And I ended up being skinnierafter I had kids than before I
had kids, which I feel like formost women, that is like,
obviously not at all theirstory.
And I remember I posted apicture of me by the pool with
my two month old.
This is when I had Ellie.
And all the comments on therewere like, oh my gosh, talk
(17:49):
about bounce back.
Like all this feedback.
And I remember I likecontemplated kind of taking it
down because it made me souncomfortable because I knew
that that kind of mentality I.
How pervasive it is in ourculture.
And, and then whenever I waslike in a bad place mentally, I
(18:10):
would go back, this, this is sobad like this, this just shows
how like sinful I am.
I would go back and I would belike, I need some encouragement.
So I'm gonna read all thecomments of people that were
talking about.
Like, oh wow, Natalie, you lookso good after just having a
baby.
And I'm like.
Ugh.
Like, that's so icky.
Like that's so icky that, thatwas how my heart, like I could
(18:31):
tell that it was wrong.
Like I could tell that there wasa problem with this bounce back
culture.
But at the same time, because Ihappened to be on like the,
having the better side of thatcoin, I was like, oh cool.
So I'm gonna kinda like buildmyself up in this regard.
And so, sorry, real talk here.
You know, like that just kindof.
(18:52):
Is one of those things where themore I am in this space, and I'm
sure you as well, the moreyou're in this space and you
just see how deep that lie goes.
Just from, you know, from thestart of like sin and all the
things, but also just ourculture that again, is just so
hyper focused on, on just theway we look.
(19:14):
How easy it is to just naturallyfall into that mindset.
And as believers, we have to bevery, very intentional to bring
that to the Lord, to take thatthought captive, to take that
value system and toss it away.
Because we're, we're so prone toit.
(19:34):
Even if that, that's not yourstory of having a struggle to
bounce back, but say you dobounce back quickly and it being
a, a form of pride or like ajust like, ugh, look at all
these people struggling and lookat me over here.
Like, I'm doing so much betterthan these people for these
reasons.
And where, you know.
I very much feel like, you know,obviously I, I do exercise, I
(19:56):
eat really clean, but at thesame time, the Lord has had to
work in me to be like, andNatalie, none of that is because
of you.
Like, it is things out of yourcontrol that things are the way
they are.
But I, I really this side of it,I really do feel like that's the
Lord's grace that I haven't hadthat struggle and that the Lord
(20:18):
has been working on me tosteward.
Eating and exercise as a way ofworshiping the Lord instead of
it being a form of self worship,which I know I can be very prone
to, and I know a lot of womencan be very prone to.
So I wanna change gears a littlebit here.
So you talk about buildingstrength from a place of
(20:40):
acceptance instead of foracceptance.
I love that powerful shiftthere.
So what does that actually looklike for you in the day to day
of motherhood, especially whenwe're tired and we're just
completely stretched thin, orwe're just feeling completely
disconnected from our bodies?
Laura Lindahl (21:00):
Uh.
There's a quote by Tim Kellerthat I absolutely love, and he
says There are two types ofpeople in the world, which is
such a general statement.
Uh, But he says there are peoplewho are either wound up too
tight or people who are wounddown too loose.
And for those of us who arewound up too tight.
We need to learn grace, and forthose of us who are wound down
(21:22):
to loose, we need to learndiscipline.
I start with that because Ithink that it's a helpful
perspective that this answer isgoing to vary based on where you
land.
There are personalities like.
An Enneagram one or an Enneagramthree, that we are highly driven
people and we need to learngrace for ourselves and for our
(21:43):
bodies and for our health.
And then if somebody lands onthe other side of that, say
maybe an Enneagram four,Enneagram nine, right?
Like different personalities aregoing to need different things.
So I can't speak to this on likeevery avenue for every person,
but I'm gonna trust the HolySpirit's in the room and he can
speak for you.
But when it comes to trainingfor a place of acceptance, it
(22:05):
can look very different based onthe individual.
So let's say you are the mom whoworks out or had worked out
before, kids like 5, 6, 7 timesa week.
Very disciplined, veryregimented, and then kids come
along and you're like, I canonly work out twice a week.
I'm failing.
For that person, it's knowingthat twice a week is good enough
(22:28):
and that you are fully acceptedby Christ in that.
on the flip side of that, forthe mom who maybe struggle to
exercise or struggle to buildstrength or struggles to get up
off the couch.
Before kids and then kids camealong and you say, I wanna be a
good example for my kids.
I want to show them how they canexercise.
(22:50):
But I have such a hard timedoing it.
I feel really guilty.
They are also fully accepted byChrist and fully forgiven.
Right?
And they need to learn.
give me discipline to love mybody well, and to see it as the
home of the Holy Spirit, as yousee it, and give me the
discipline to move forward fromthat.
(23:10):
So both sides of the spectrumneed acceptance, but it's going
to look very, very different.
Now how it plays forward for mepersonally is, is knowing if I
lift strength train three timesa week, that's great.
And I don't need to give myself,strain or stress for not doing
that.
and I think that that's thebiggest shift that we can make
(23:30):
is to be fully satisfied inChrist, to remind ourselves in
him we lack nothing.
Uh, hallelujah, all I have isChrist.
Applies whether we arestruggling to get up off the
couch or struggling to letourselves rest after a long day.
So that's, that's kind of whereI would approach it, just with
some like practical examples.
Does that make sense?
Natalie Portman (23:52):
Yeah, because it's, it is funny just how your
personality can kind of, why areyou.
To kind of fall one way or theother on the pendulum of that
kind of striving.
And again, like not juststriving, but the reasons why
you're striving can be reallydifferent.
That's why I really have lovedthe Enneagram.
I was listening to your podcastearlier and you talk a lot about
(24:14):
the Enneagram and I was like,oh, I need to speak more about
the Enneagram on the podcastbecause it is so helpful.
I'll put some I'll put somebooks that I recommend.
Do you listen to, or do you knowabout Suzanne Stabile?
Laura Lindahl (24:27):
name of her Instagram account?
She's on Instagram, right?
Natalie Portman (24:30):
Enneagram journey?
Yeah, I think so.
Her podcast is Enneagramjourney.
I think her podcast is somethingsimilar or Instagram is
something similar.
But yeah, her stuff is amazingand she's a believer as well,
which is also why I like her,her kind of perspective on
things.
But she has a couple books andlike there's like.
I think like a three parter bookseries that helps you kind of
understand the Enneagram.
(24:51):
So I'll put those books in theshow notes because I think
they're just really helpful tokind of tap into.
'Cause it is good to understandkind of like your wiring because
I think the Lord has given uscertain traits and desires and
drives and motives.
And if we can tap into that, wecan better honor.
The way the Lord has designed usinstead of just always feeling
(25:12):
like a failure if we don'tmeasure up to other people that
we see that are seeminglyeffortlessly succeeding in
certain things.
So I love that you mentionedthat.
So if there is a mom that'slistening and she kind of feels
stuck in her situation, she'sexhausted or discouraged by her
postpartum body and she doesn'treally know where to start, what
(25:34):
is one step that she could taketo today to move forward in her
health journey and just let itbe a way to steward her body and
honor the Lord?
Laura Lindahl (25:46):
I think the the first thing that comes to mind
is trust, that's trusting theLord.
I.
His design for your body that itis designed to grow.
It is hardwired to build,whether you're building a baby
or building strength.
Our are hardwired to build andso I I think there's an aspect
(26:06):
of trusting the Lord's designfor your body, and I want to
instill in that trust that.
The first step needs to be theeasiest step.
So whether that first step foryou is starting to go for a walk
or that first step for you isbuying a five pound dumbbell and
starting to do some squats orwhatever that first step is, it
(26:31):
has to be the easiest because weoften set the bar so high for
ourselves, and we see peoplelifting a barbell, or we see
people running marathons and wethink to ourselves.
If I'm not there, I'm like atzero miles an hour and they're a
hundred miles an hour, andthere's a huge gap and it's
really intimidating.
If we stay at, like, if we keepour goal of a hundred miles an
(26:53):
hour, we're gonna feel like wecould never reach it.
So we never take the first step.
that our bodies are meant tobuild meant to build strength,
meant to build endurance, andthey are adaptive, then we can
move forward and say, great.
So it's only up from here.
I can get started with the mostsimple, easy step, and then move
forward from there.
(27:14):
Another thing I would recommendas a mindset shift is to stop
weighing yourself.
If you've found yourself in acycle of weighing yourself every
day, getting frustrated that allof these things aren't working,
stop weighing yourself and startfocusing on just building
muscle.
I think one of the.
Best things that women can dofor their health postpartum is
(27:34):
to focus on building muscle.
'cause when we have more muscleon our bodies as women,, not
only do we have more energybecause our body tends to store
more glucose as glycogen in ourmuscles.
So you literally carry aroundmore energy with you, which.
What mom doesn't need that,right?
We carry more energy, but alsolife feels lighter, so we can
(27:54):
reduce stress on our system.
We can show up more presentlyfor our spouse.
We can be more patient with ourkids when we're strong.
I think it's it's a beautifulthing that when we have this
dependency on the Lord to say,God, give me full trust that my
body will grow if I show up oncea week, 25 minutes, strength
training.
Or if it's just once a weekgoing for a walk or starting
(28:14):
maybe a five minute daily walk.
I don't know what that firststep is for you, but having the
trust to know that.
We can move forward and thenobey, like God does command us
to care for our bodies likethey're a temple of the Holy
Spirit because they are.
But when we partner with God andwe say, God, I I trust that you
have designed this body tobuild, I can then obey what you
(28:38):
have to say for me and for mybody.
Natalie Portman (28:41):
And that first step is, is also in some ways
the hardest because you'rechanging trajectory and, and
like you're saying, I love thatyou said set the bar.
Are low so that it's achievable,and then be so thankful that you
were able to take that firststep instead of being like, oh,
but I wish I was all the wayover there.
No, like, just start with thatfirst little baby step.
(29:04):
When I interviewed CrystalDoiron, she's a therapist, and
she was talking about how, youknow, even babies, like when
they're learning to walk, theystumble and they fall, but guess
what?
They get right back up and theykeep going.
And my son is definitely in thatstage.
He's 15 months.
He's been walking for like acouple of months now.
And I, I watch him and I think.
(29:25):
I'm so proud of him for, youknow, when he falls down or he
gets a little you know, wobblyand he falls on his little
bottom and then he just finds awall or something to kind of
crawl up on.
You know, I'm like, I can takea, lesson out of Daniel's little
book there and apply that tomyself and apply that grace to
myself that.
Even if you start something andit didn't go as smooth as you
wanted it to, or you kind of,you stumbled and you fell and
(29:48):
you kind of got off thebandwagon so to speak, that
there's grace in that, that theLord is still proud of your
obedience in that and to justcontinue on, even if it does not
look like a perfect, you standup, you take some steps, then
you start walking, then youstart running.
You know it.
We don't have to all be in thatstage immediately.
Laura Lindahl (30:07):
Reminds me there's a verse, I think in
Zacharia of four, maybe four 10,uh, it says, do not despise
small beginnings.
And it's where the children ofIsrael trying to rebuild the
temple and they're saying, howcan we do this?
It's so much work to do.
It's like.
no, don't despise smallbeginnings.
When you judge yourself for thatsmall step, you're diminishing
(30:27):
the growth and the futureprojection of where you want to
be.
And I think in the same way, wecan just take that same position
and remember those smallbeginnings can have great
impacts in the long run.
Natalie Portman (30:40):
I love that you said that, that it is truly a
transformative experience.
I mean, anyone who's had a babyknows you are not the same.
You are not the same afteryou've had that baby in your
mind, in your body, in yourspirit, socially, emotionally,
everything changes.
So to honor that, I actuallyremember my sister, she, my
younger sister had a baby beforeme and she told me after she had
(31:04):
her son, she goes, I.
I have learned to appreciate mybody in a different way because
of all that.
It just did.
The fact that it grew a baby, itgave birth to a baby, and now
I'm nursing this baby, and thatreally struck a chord with me
and that stuck with me.
So after I had my baby girl,even though you know, you still
(31:25):
look like six months pregnantafter you have a baby.
And you've had that baby, youkind of, you know, still have a
belly.
But I remember looking at myselfand being like, I am so proud of
what my body did.
The fact that my body grew thisbaby, I gave birth to this baby
and now I'm nursing this baby,like my body was able to do all
that.
Like that is insane to me.
And I had this appreciation formy body that I had never had
(31:48):
before that point.
So it is really like, it's veryimperative to honor that
transformation that's happened.
Even if the way you physicallylook on the outside is
different, that it is still atransformation and it is still
something that the Lordabsolutely designed for whenever
(32:10):
he created this whole process ofchildbearing and what that
postpartum season looks like.
Laura Lindahl (32:17):
good.
Natalie Portman (32:17):
So final question here.
How has becoming a mom changedthe way you see fitness, faith,
and your identity in Christ?
And what has the Lord beenteaching you lately in this
season of toddler life and pottytraining, all the things.
Laura Lindahl (32:34):
is that like parenting is never over,
Parenting for us is justbeginning.
Right.
But I think parenting as Godparents, us is never over.
And gosh, I've just been, somany times of just the beauty,
beautiful pictures of the gospelwith our son that he'll, you
know, he'll run up to me justhis goofy little wide legged run
(32:56):
with his arms up in the air, bigeyes, his curls bouncing and
just says, mama, come see me.
And it's just such a beautifulpicture of us just wanting the
father to see us.
They, he just wants us to beseen and I'm just.
Reminded as I read through thePsalms.
'cause the Psalms have been agreat, if there's a mom
listening who's just beenstruggling in the word.
(33:16):
I just wanna encourage you tojust like, read a psalm a day.
It's so life-giving.
It's so simple.
It can be done in less than fiveminutes, with the exception of
Psalm one 19 I'm reading the Ijust read about like the Psalms
of Ascent where it says, youknow, I look to the Lord and the
Lord saw me.
And so I think just knowing thatGod sees us has just been a
beautiful lesson.
And I think also learning howto, learning how to work out in
(33:40):
new rhythms, learning how toshift from our workouts to 25
minute workouts and to have moregrace for other moms that before
I, I, I couldn't understand, Icould try to empathize with, but
now when a mom says, Hey, youknow, my kid woke up.
Early and I couldn't get myworkout in this morning to have
empathy and compassion.
And then it gets me reallyexcited because now I'm like, oh
(34:02):
yeah, I've been there.
It sucks.
Here's some things that mighthelp.
And so I think that it hasreally helped me as a coach to
become more empathetic, uh, tobecome more creative, and to
really just kind of keep fitnessin the box that it was meant to
be in that it's a tool toempower our bodies to have
energy to serve the kingdom.
That's it like, doesn't have tobe this huge thing.
(34:26):
You don't have to be the quoteunquote fit mom.
Like you can look average andstill be incredibly healthy.
so I think in in a lot of waysit has softened me.
It's slowed me down.
it's helped me walk with theLord in a rhythm of, of daily
dependence to just looking tohim, to parent me as I parent my
son, and just ask me, okay, God,what is stewarding my health
look like today?
(34:46):
based on where my hormones areat, based on where my, my energy
is at, how can I build strength?
Today is is today a walking day.
And just seeking seeking theLord in that way I think has
been such a good place to be in.
and it's it's just been good.
It's been sweet.
Natalie Portman (35:02):
That's beautiful.
The verse came to mind about,for everything there is a season
and, and how that really doespertain to.
Specifically like a female bodyand how the Lord designed us to
literally have a cycle.
Like we, the fact that we have acycle also speaks to the fact
that every day, you know, if wewere to kind of have it be like
a farming analogy, every day isnot harvest day.
(35:25):
There's the resting and thewaiting, there's the watering,
and then there's the growth.
And I feel like we, when we getinto the mentality that like.
Every single day I need to besetting personal records.
Every single day I need to bestronger than I was yesterday.
That kind of mentality is, notrealistic and it's not even
healthy.
(35:46):
I've been really into, and I'vementioned this book a couple
times on the podcast, but in theflow, and she talks about how
when your hormones are even outof whack, she recommends doing.
Exercise is no more than 30minutes a session.
Because past that 30 minute markyou're probably taxing your body
a little bit too much.
And that has given me somefreedom to be like, okay, so I
(36:08):
don't need to do a, an intensehour workout every time I
workout I can do a 30 minuteworkout and be like, and I'm so
glad I did that.
And even just that little shiftis so helpful to me.
'cause I also am verycompetitive.
So I go to like my body pumpclass and I see all these ladies
around me.
Many of whom are much older thanme and they're lifting much
(36:29):
heavier than me and all thethings.
And my competitive side is like,Hmm, you need to be lifting
heavier too, Natalie.
And then the other side of me islike, you know what?
That's good for them.
But I am not here to competeagainst anybody else.
I am here to just steward mybody to just move my body in a
way that is just honoring theLord that is getting me
(36:50):
stronger, but it's not acompetition against me, against
anybody else.
And, and, you know, not even meagainst myself in, in a way, you
know what I mean?
Going back to the just, youknow.
I don't even care what I think.
I, I really do want to just carewhat the Lord thinks about me.
Which obviously is easier saidthan done, but.
This was just such a pleasurehaving you here, imparting your
(37:11):
wisdom.
And just helping mamas realizejust the truth of, why we strive
in this way, that, you know,there really is a deep root
there that we do wanna bebeautiful.
We want others to re regard usas beautiful.
We want to see ourselves asbeautiful.
But the, the beautiful thing iswe are.
Already beautiful in the Lord'ssight.
(37:33):
And when we get to comealongside that truth, that's
where we get to abide.
That's where we get to grow.
And that's something that is notonly just growing us, but we're,
we're going up the ladder, upthe right ladder.
You know?
I think that's the other kind oftrick of, of the fitness, bounce
back, all that kind of culturalstuff is, yeah, you're striving,
(37:54):
you're doing all the things, butyou, you get to the top and you
realize.
Oh my goodness.
I was climbing up the wrongladder All of this was for
nothing.
And when we get to, to look atthe way the Lord has designed
stewarding our body and justeverything he's given us, it's
climbing up the correct ladderand we get to the top and it is
fulfilling because it's Jesusthat we gain.
(38:16):
It's no nothing else.
It's just the Lord and His glorythat we gain.
Climbing up the correct ladder.
So thank you so much for comingon today, sharing your wisdom,
sharing your heart, and yourstory.
If someone wants to connect withyou, if they feel like they
would love to, you know, beginpostpartum coaching with you how
they can get in contact withyou.
Laura Lindahl (38:37):
You can find me on Instagram at True Strength
Collective.
You can also follow along thepodcast where I give a ton of
postpartum advice, strengthtraining, tips for women in that
postpartum period and throughpregnancy.
That podcast is called TheStrong After Birth Podcast, and
then as a freebie.
For your listeners for listeningto the episode, I also have a
(38:58):
three day core restore plan thatcan help women, especially in
that early postpartum period,reconnect to their core and just
taking that first step in areally guided, simple way with
exercise demonstrations.
We have a diastasis rectiassessment, all sorts of things
that are just really valuable inthat first phase where we're
just looking to something, we'relooking to Google or, or um,
(39:22):
YouTube to try to findsomething.
So I just give you some reallysimple practical tips in that
guide.
So make sure you guys downloadthat'cause it's an awesome
resource to check out to thethree day Core Restore.
And then I think we can put thatin the show notes.
Natalie Portman (39:35):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I'll definitely put thatin there.
Wonderful.
Thank you Laura, so much foryour time and I'm just so
excited for all the Lord isdoing in your life and through
your ministry, through trueStrength Collective.
Thank you so much.
Hey friends, and welcome back to the podcast.
I'm really looking forward totoday's conversation because
we're talking about somethingthat so many moms wrestle with
our bodies after birth, thepressure to bounce back and how
to approach health in a waythat's rooted in grace, not
guilt.
I'm joined today by LauraLindahl.
She's a Christian mom, certifiedpre and postnatal coach,
(01:08):
exercise physiologist, andChristian body image coach.
She's also the host of theStrong After Birth podcast and
the founder of True StrengthCollective.
Laura helps women rebuildstrength physically,
emotionally, and spirituallyafter birth.
And her heart is all abouthelping moms reject shame, move
(01:29):
joyfully, and find trueconfidence in Christ.
Laura, thank you so much forbeing here today.
Laura Lindahl (01:35):
Yeah, of course.
I mean, Natalie, can follow mearound wherever I go and just
proclaim that, that would begreat.
Natalie Portman (01:42):
Introducing Laura Lin.
Laura Lindahl (01:43):
Oh, it sounds you so
Natalie Portman (01:46):
Love it.
Laura Lindahl (01:47):
on the show, Natalie.
I'm, I'm be here.
Natalie Portman (01:51):
I'm so excited that you're here and I know just
so many women are gonna relateto this, and especially if this
is their first pregnancy andthey don't know what to expect,
you know, going into that,postpartum season.
So really excited that you'regonna just speak some truth and
just love of Jesus into thisseason.
So let's get started.
I wanna hear a little bit moreabout your story.
(02:12):
So can you take us back to whatyour relationship with health
and fitness looked like beforemotherhood, and then how that
began to shift once you invitedthe Lord into that.
Laura Lindahl (02:25):
I think, in a word I could summarize it as
superficial, that everything,when it came to health was about
how I looked.
It was about how men saw me.
It was about how I saw myself.
It was even about how otherwomen saw me and the acceptance
that I got when I walked into aroom, I really started getting
(02:48):
into fitness.
Even at a very young age, my momevery diet under the sun.
Was an avid runner.
My dad was an avid runner, didthe main marathon, all sorts of
things, but it was alwayscentered around weight loss.
It was always centered aroundburning calories.
And so I.
Naturally, uh, that was what Iwas watered with.
So that's what I grew into.
(03:09):
And God was never really talkedabout when it came to our
health.
It was just kind of like, we goto church and there, these are
the things that we do on Sunday,but this is how we exercise
Monday through Friday.
And they're not at allcorrelated.
So in a word, like I said, itwas very surface level.
It was me just taking care of myhealth.
It didn't have anything to dowith God or my emotional
(03:31):
spiritual health.
It was just just a thing you doto kind of look better.
And so that's really the rootsof where it started.
I got my bachelor's in exercisescience and that is where a lot
of those roots just got wateredwith Miracle Grow and it turned
into a lot of over exercising,undereating.
(03:53):
I was going from diet to diet.
I was.
Exercising like probably sevento 10 times a week.
And undereating, uh, drasticallyundereating at the same time I
was starting to get engaged.
And so it turned into sweatingfor the wedding and over
training and, it really justcontinued to snowball and I got
(04:14):
to a point where I feltextremely burnt out in college.
got to a point where I just feltextremely distant from the Lord
and my relationship witheverything just felt heavy
grades, felt heavy, doing work,felt heavy.
Going to a church, felt heavy,relationships felt heavy, and it
wasn't until I got to a load ina snowball that I could no
(04:37):
longer carry, that landed mealmost flat on my back.
Literally after doing like athree.
30 deadlift at the gym.
After I had graduated.
Um, I started training at a bigbox gym, and I looked over at
this platform and this girl waslifting heavier than me, and my
little ego inside me was like,you can lift heavier than that.
(04:57):
So I did.
And the next day it just feltlike God was saying, you've left
me like you've left your firstlove and you're striving for
lesser things, and deadlifts.
I probably could have snapped myback, but God was gracious and
he was merciful even in hisrebuke.
And it was at that point that Ireally just started to
(05:19):
investigate and look at theclients who were coming to me
came to me because they feltuncomfortable in their bodies.
They came to me because theywanted to fit into a dress
again, wanted to fit into theirjeans again, wanted to feel like
themself again.
And we got there.
I was a very successful trainer.
I was one of the top ratedtrainers at the gym.
I was running a nutritionbusiness.
But I got to a point where Irealized no matter how, much
(05:40):
weight they lost, no matter howmany goals they reached, the
goalposts kept moving and thenthey were never thin enough.
They were never strong enough,they were never satisfied
enough.
And I started seeing this themein my clients and then it became
evident that, oh crap.
see that theme in me that I hadbeen chasing lesser things, that
(06:02):
I had been trying to besatisfied in something else
outside of Christ.
about that time there was amessage at our church on John
15, I.
Where Jesus is speaking his tohis disciples and he's
encouraging them to abide in meas I abide in my father.
And they use the analogy of avine being intertwined into a
(06:25):
stand.
Like a grape vine is intertwinedinto a stand or into a net, and
you can see how much better thevine grows when it's intertwined
on that, because it hasstructure, it has dependency,
and in the same way I had noabiding, I was abiding in
myself.
I was abiding in what culturesaid about my body to be true,
(06:45):
and it really left me feeling sohigh and dry and so unsatisfied
that I had to keep striving forsomething more.
So I'm grateful that God kindof.
Pulled the rug out fromunderneath me, as it were that
day.
And a couple months later, Istepped away from the gym
started True StrengthCollective, which is, my
full-time online health andfitness business that I run for
(07:07):
women and moms.
At the time it was justprimarily for women who struggle
with body image.
And then about three yearslater, we got pregnant with our
first.
And our only son now, Boaz,he's, two so, so sweet.
Uh, And that was just a wholenew awakening to the next step
in the journey that God had forme in body image and health.
(07:29):
And, it was through that, thathe helped me realize.
He was just calling me deeper.
He was calling me deeper into adependence with him on how my
body looked.
He was calling me deeper into adependence on him for health and
to know that health is abidingin him.
And so that's where we are atnow.
Um, Now I primarily train momswho are postpartum and or going
(07:53):
through pregnancy, and I helpthem to develop a better
relationship with their body, abetter relationship with health,
so that they can joyfully liveinto an empowered motherhood
and.
Feel good in their God-givenbodies and use fitness as a form
of worship.
So yeah, how we got here.
Natalie Portman (08:11):
Oh, Laura, I, I just cannot handle how beautiful
that is because it, like you'resaying, is totally
counter-cultural to have thatmindset of I am not.
Working out.
I am not eating certain thingsjust for sake of image.
(08:31):
Like it's only about the way Ilook for my approval, like for
myself or approval of whatothers think about me.
But it's truly what I eat andhow I move my body.
And all of these things are aform of worship to the Lord that
we get to steward the body he'sgiven us.
So that we can accomplish themission that is so much greater
(08:53):
than just looking at ourselvesin the mirror and being happy
with the way we look.
The other thing that's reallyinsane about it and what you
were touching on with, you know,seeing that theme of clients
who.
It was never good enough.
You know, they would reach theirgoal, but it still wasn't
satisfying.
And it reminds me so much of howwe take certain things and we
(09:13):
take a good thing like healthand fitness and eating right,
and all those things, and weturn a good thing into a God
thing and we wonder why.
It's letting us down and wewonder why it's so disappointing
in the end.
And there really is true freedomin seeing the beauty of, just
(09:34):
like our bodies are meant to bea living sacrifice and it's a
joy to be able to grow a babyeven though it's difficult to
give birth to a baby, to servethat baby to go on adventures
and live this beautiful life andto live out the great
commission.
Like those are beautiful things.
But fitness and all those thingsare just a means to that end.
(09:55):
And I think it's so easy to losesight of that because our
culture is.
Hyper-focused on just the image.
And you know, the other crazything too is Paul talks about
how he doesn't care what youguys, he's like, I don't care
what you guys think about me.
I don't even care what I thinkabout me.
(10:17):
And I think that's so powerful.
He goes, I only think about whatthe Lord thinks about me.
And that's a hard place.
You know, I'm Enneagram one.
I am perfectionist.
I am like very driven.
And when I don't meet my owngoals, even if no one else cares
what I'm doing, if I don't meetmy own goals, oh man, I am so
hard on myself And so for methat was a relief to hear Paul
(10:39):
say, I don't care what you guysthink about me.
I don't even care what I thinkabout me.
I really only care about whatthe Lord thinks about me.
And what does the Lord say aboutus as his daughters?
He is, enthralled with ourbeauty.
He went to the cross and diedfor us.
He loves us deeply andendlessly, not by anything we
(11:00):
have done, and there's nothingwe could do to earn his love
more, or for him to take awayhis love from us.
Like, that's the reality.
And I get so hung up in thatmyself where, you know, I just,
I even want to just focus onwhat I think about me.
And like, you're saying that'snot abiding, that's.
That's just self dependency selfworship.
(11:21):
But like John 15 says, like, weneed to abide in the vine.
We need structure.
We need something to rest ourlife onto, we cannot do that on
our own.
So I love all of those thingsthat you were drawing out.
It's just so beautiful and soneeded that we hear that, and
that we remind ourselves overand over and over again of that
(11:42):
beautiful truth.
So thank you so much for sharingthat.
Laura Lindahl (11:45):
It's no surprise to me that the enemy wants to
attack our image, especially aswomen.
I.
Because our image, obviously aswomen carries a lot of beauty,
and beauty is a characteristicof God.
And as image bearers, we carrythat image wherever we go.
And so it's no wonder to me thathe would just want to throw
shade on the image of God inwomen, whether that is through
(12:07):
the fitness industry saying,your body isn't fit enough.
Or maybe it's other peoplesaying, oh wow, she bounced
back.
What happened to you?
Or even through ourselves wherewe can throw that shade and
somehow.
As if we could diminish theimage and beauty of our glorious
God through our bodies.
And so if your audience isfinding themselves in that
place, I also want you to knowyou're in a battle that's
(12:29):
greater than yourself.
And that part of that battle isyes, your flesh.
But I think that there's greaterthings at stake here, like God's
glory and the aspect that theenemy wants to diminish that as
much as he can.
So when we take a step back andsay, this isn't just me versus
the enemy, or me versus my.
Flesh, it's you with God.
And when we are with God in thatbattle, which I wasn't with God,
(12:51):
I was by myself.
When it's us with God, we standwith the God of angel armies.
And we're so much more powerfulin that position than when we
are trying to strive for ourhealth on our own or strive for
a size on our own, or acceptanceor love, or any other thing that
we can strive for.
Natalie Portman (13:08):
Amen.
Yeah, I love that.
And then you kind of touched onthat bounce back culture.
So you know, from yourexperience, especially in the
work that you do, why do youthink that this message is so
harmful?
And what truth do you wish everymom knew instead, I.
Laura Lindahl (13:26):
Well, If I could start with defining what bounce
back culture is, at least how Idefine it.
Bounce back culture is thepressure that is put on moms
overtly or covertly.
Whether it's someone literallysaying, Hey, you don't look like
you used to.
Or maybe it's just your owninternal pressure of seeing what
somebody else did in theirpostpartum journey versus what
(13:50):
your body is doing in itspostpartum journey, and it's a
feeling of insufficiency and orpressure.
That moms experience, I'd saylike.
around 3 6 9.
With the pressure increasing,the longer you are postpartum,
and so that's what bounce backpressure is.
(14:11):
I think that it comes from a lotof fitness industry marketing.
I actually put together a wholepodcast episode on this, like
debunking lies of fitnessindustry, and how they
determine, what words to use,how to target our psychology and
our weak points and our desires.
But they really use a lot ofmarketing that's based on that
desire.
We want to feel like ourselvesin a season where we are serving
(14:35):
everyone else outside ofourselves, right?
So it makes sense that the enemywould kind of take that avenue.
But here's where a bounce backgoes.
Bad.
Bounce back goes bad.
When we determine that faster isbetter that our body has to look
like somebody else's.
where bounce fat goes bad.
I'm not saying that it's bad towanna feel like yourself again.
(14:56):
I'm also not saying that it'sbad to want to lose fat.
We can look from a healthperspective, yeah, it's probably
more advantageous for you tohave more muscle and less body
fat on your body.
But that does not mean thatfaster equals better.
That does not mean that you haveto do it and it's gonna look
like somebody else.
And so we can start to parsethrough why bounce back can be
(15:18):
so deceptive and so deviousHormonally for us, when we are,
especially in those first likesix to nine to 12 months
postpartum.
are literally going through ahormone rollercoaster when we
try to lose fat or lose weightquickly postpartum, and we try
(15:38):
to quote unquote bounce backhormonally, you are taking a
rollercoaster ride and you'retaking your seatbelt off.
Because the seat belt of tryingto get more sleep, the seat belt
of trying to eat enoughcalories, especially if you're
breastfeeding, those things canhelp our hormones it's still
gonna be a rollercoaster.
Your body's doing a lot ofchange that happened in nine
months and you can't expect anine months of change to be
(16:00):
undone in six weeks.
It's just such a big myth, andit's such a devious pressure.
To put on ourselves.
And so we have to approach itsafely and we have to approach
it in a way that allows ourbodies natural healing timeline
to happen.
And I think bounce back culturetries to condense.
(16:23):
I.
That and it tries to put anextra pressure and a timeline
like a should be on top of that.
And I think biblically we cansee that Romans eight one tells
us there is therefore nocondemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus.
That means that you can giveyour body the timeline that it
needs.
Doesn't mean that you don't doanything for your health.
And those, even the first sixweeks, there's many things we
(16:44):
can talk about those today.
What are some things we can doin the first six weeks to help?
our health, but we refuse toagree with the world that says,
if you don't bounce back in acertain way, that doesn't mean
you're unhealthy.
That doesn't mean that you're abad mom.
It doesn't mean that so and sois doing it better than you are.
just means your body has adifferent healing timeline.
Natalie Portman (17:06):
Yeah, I love that you defined what it is and
kind of drew out some of the,the roots of that and, and I
have seen that in my life, butkind of in the opposite.
So by the grace of God, like Ireally do feel like it was just
like genetics or whatever.
I mean, I'm five 10, so I'm talltoo, but.
Like for me, baby weight, allthat came off immediately
(17:28):
without trying.
And I ended up being skinnierafter I had kids than before I
had kids, which I feel like formost women, that is like,
obviously not at all theirstory.
And I remember I posted apicture of me by the pool with
my two month old.
This is when I had Ellie.
And all the comments on therewere like, oh my gosh, talk
(17:49):
about bounce back.
Like all this feedback.
And I remember I likecontemplated kind of taking it
down because it made me souncomfortable because I knew
that that kind of mentality I.
How pervasive it is in ourculture.
And, and then whenever I waslike in a bad place mentally, I
(18:10):
would go back, this, this is sobad like this, this just shows
how like sinful I am.
I would go back and I would belike, I need some encouragement.
So I'm gonna read all thecomments of people that were
talking about.
Like, oh wow, Natalie, you lookso good after just having a
baby.
And I'm like.
Ugh.
Like, that's so icky.
Like that's so icky that, thatwas how my heart, like I could
(18:31):
tell that it was wrong.
Like I could tell that there wasa problem with this bounce back
culture.
But at the same time, because Ihappened to be on like the,
having the better side of thatcoin, I was like, oh cool.
So I'm gonna kinda like buildmyself up in this regard.
And so, sorry, real talk here.
You know, like that just kindof.
(18:52):
Is one of those things where themore I am in this space, and I'm
sure you as well, the moreyou're in this space and you
just see how deep that lie goes.
Just from, you know, from thestart of like sin and all the
things, but also just ourculture that again, is just so
hyper focused on, on just theway we look.
(19:14):
How easy it is to just naturallyfall into that mindset.
And as believers, we have to bevery, very intentional to bring
that to the Lord, to take thatthought captive, to take that
value system and toss it away.
Because we're, we're so prone toit.
(19:34):
Even if that, that's not yourstory of having a struggle to
bounce back, but say you dobounce back quickly and it being
a, a form of pride or like ajust like, ugh, look at all
these people struggling and lookat me over here.
Like, I'm doing so much betterthan these people for these
reasons.
And where, you know.
I very much feel like, you know,obviously I, I do exercise, I
(19:56):
eat really clean, but at thesame time, the Lord has had to
work in me to be like, andNatalie, none of that is because
of you.
Like, it is things out of yourcontrol that things are the way
they are.
But I, I really this side of it,I really do feel like that's the
Lord's grace that I haven't hadthat struggle and that the Lord
(20:18):
has been working on me tosteward.
Eating and exercise as a way ofworshiping the Lord instead of
it being a form of self worship,which I know I can be very prone
to, and I know a lot of womencan be very prone to.
So I wanna change gears a littlebit here.
So you talk about buildingstrength from a place of
(20:40):
acceptance instead of foracceptance.
I love that powerful shiftthere.
So what does that actually looklike for you in the day to day
of motherhood, especially whenwe're tired and we're just
completely stretched thin, orwe're just feeling completely
disconnected from our bodies?
Laura Lindahl (21:00):
Uh.
There's a quote by Tim Kellerthat I absolutely love, and he
says There are two types ofpeople in the world, which is
such a general statement.
Uh, But he says there are peoplewho are either wound up too
tight or people who are wounddown too loose.
And for those of us who arewound up too tight.
We need to learn grace, and forthose of us who are wound down
(21:22):
to loose, we need to learndiscipline.
I start with that because Ithink that it's a helpful
perspective that this answer isgoing to vary based on where you
land.
There are personalities like.
An Enneagram one or an Enneagramthree, that we are highly driven
people and we need to learngrace for ourselves and for our
(21:43):
bodies and for our health.
And then if somebody lands onthe other side of that, say
maybe an Enneagram four,Enneagram nine, right?
Like different personalities aregoing to need different things.
So I can't speak to this on likeevery avenue for every person,
but I'm gonna trust the HolySpirit's in the room and he can
speak for you.
But when it comes to trainingfor a place of acceptance, it
(22:05):
can look very different based onthe individual.
So let's say you are the mom whoworks out or had worked out
before, kids like 5, 6, 7 timesa week.
Very disciplined, veryregimented, and then kids come
along and you're like, I canonly work out twice a week.
I'm failing.
For that person, it's knowingthat twice a week is good enough
(22:28):
and that you are fully acceptedby Christ in that.
on the flip side of that, forthe mom who maybe struggle to
exercise or struggle to buildstrength or struggles to get up
off the couch.
Before kids and then kids camealong and you say, I wanna be a
good example for my kids.
I want to show them how they canexercise.
(22:50):
But I have such a hard timedoing it.
I feel really guilty.
They are also fully accepted byChrist and fully forgiven.
Right?
And they need to learn.
give me discipline to love mybody well, and to see it as the
home of the Holy Spirit, as yousee it, and give me the
discipline to move forward fromthat.
(23:10):
So both sides of the spectrumneed acceptance, but it's going
to look very, very different.
Now how it plays forward for mepersonally is, is knowing if I
lift strength train three timesa week, that's great.
And I don't need to give myself,strain or stress for not doing
that.
and I think that that's thebiggest shift that we can make
(23:30):
is to be fully satisfied inChrist, to remind ourselves in
him we lack nothing.
Uh, hallelujah, all I have isChrist.
Applies whether we arestruggling to get up off the
couch or struggling to letourselves rest after a long day.
So that's, that's kind of whereI would approach it, just with
some like practical examples.
Does that make sense?
Natalie Portman (23:52):
Yeah, because it's, it is funny just how your
personality can kind of, why areyou.
To kind of fall one way or theother on the pendulum of that
kind of striving.
And again, like not juststriving, but the reasons why
you're striving can be reallydifferent.
That's why I really have lovedthe Enneagram.
I was listening to your podcastearlier and you talk a lot about
(24:14):
the Enneagram and I was like,oh, I need to speak more about
the Enneagram on the podcastbecause it is so helpful.
I'll put some I'll put somebooks that I recommend.
Do you listen to, or do you knowabout Suzanne Stabile?
Laura Lindahl (24:27):
name of her Instagram account?
She's on Instagram, right?
Natalie Portman (24:30):
Enneagram journey?
Yeah, I think so.
Her podcast is Enneagramjourney.
I think her podcast is somethingsimilar or Instagram is
something similar.
But yeah, her stuff is amazingand she's a believer as well,
which is also why I like her,her kind of perspective on
things.
But she has a couple books andlike there's like.
I think like a three parter bookseries that helps you kind of
understand the Enneagram.
(24:51):
So I'll put those books in theshow notes because I think
they're just really helpful tokind of tap into.
'Cause it is good to understandkind of like your wiring because
I think the Lord has given uscertain traits and desires and
drives and motives.
And if we can tap into that, wecan better honor.
The way the Lord has designed usinstead of just always feeling
(25:12):
like a failure if we don'tmeasure up to other people that
we see that are seeminglyeffortlessly succeeding in
certain things.
So I love that you mentionedthat.
So if there is a mom that'slistening and she kind of feels
stuck in her situation, she'sexhausted or discouraged by her
postpartum body and she doesn'treally know where to start, what
(25:34):
is one step that she could taketo today to move forward in her
health journey and just let itbe a way to steward her body and
honor the Lord?
Laura Lindahl (25:46):
I think the the first thing that comes to mind
is trust, that's trusting theLord.
I.
His design for your body that itis designed to grow.
It is hardwired to build,whether you're building a baby
or building strength.
Our are hardwired to build andso I I think there's an aspect
(26:06):
of trusting the Lord's designfor your body, and I want to
instill in that trust that.
The first step needs to be theeasiest step.
So whether that first step foryou is starting to go for a walk
or that first step for you isbuying a five pound dumbbell and
starting to do some squats orwhatever that first step is, it
(26:31):
has to be the easiest because weoften set the bar so high for
ourselves, and we see peoplelifting a barbell, or we see
people running marathons and wethink to ourselves.
If I'm not there, I'm like atzero miles an hour and they're a
hundred miles an hour, andthere's a huge gap and it's
really intimidating.
If we stay at, like, if we keepour goal of a hundred miles an
(26:53):
hour, we're gonna feel like wecould never reach it.
So we never take the first step.
that our bodies are meant tobuild meant to build strength,
meant to build endurance, andthey are adaptive, then we can
move forward and say, great.
So it's only up from here.
I can get started with the mostsimple, easy step, and then move
forward from there.
(27:14):
Another thing I would recommendas a mindset shift is to stop
weighing yourself.
If you've found yourself in acycle of weighing yourself every
day, getting frustrated that allof these things aren't working,
stop weighing yourself and startfocusing on just building
muscle.
I think one of the.
Best things that women can dofor their health postpartum is
(27:34):
to focus on building muscle.
'cause when we have more muscleon our bodies as women,, not
only do we have more energybecause our body tends to store
more glucose as glycogen in ourmuscles.
So you literally carry aroundmore energy with you, which.
What mom doesn't need that,right?
We carry more energy, but alsolife feels lighter, so we can
(27:54):
reduce stress on our system.
We can show up more presentlyfor our spouse.
We can be more patient with ourkids when we're strong.
I think it's it's a beautifulthing that when we have this
dependency on the Lord to say,God, give me full trust that my
body will grow if I show up oncea week, 25 minutes, strength
training.
Or if it's just once a weekgoing for a walk or starting
(28:14):
maybe a five minute daily walk.
I don't know what that firststep is for you, but having the
trust to know that.
We can move forward and thenobey, like God does command us
to care for our bodies likethey're a temple of the Holy
Spirit because they are.
But when we partner with God andwe say, God, I I trust that you
have designed this body tobuild, I can then obey what you
(28:38):
have to say for me and for mybody.
Natalie Portman (28:41):
And that first step is, is also in some ways
the hardest because you'rechanging trajectory and, and
like you're saying, I love thatyou said set the bar.
Are low so that it's achievable,and then be so thankful that you
were able to take that firststep instead of being like, oh,
but I wish I was all the wayover there.
No, like, just start with thatfirst little baby step.
(29:04):
When I interviewed CrystalDoiron, she's a therapist, and
she was talking about how, youknow, even babies, like when
they're learning to walk, theystumble and they fall, but guess
what?
They get right back up and theykeep going.
And my son is definitely in thatstage.
He's 15 months.
He's been walking for like acouple of months now.
And I, I watch him and I think.
(29:25):
I'm so proud of him for, youknow, when he falls down or he
gets a little you know, wobblyand he falls on his little
bottom and then he just finds awall or something to kind of
crawl up on.
You know, I'm like, I can takea, lesson out of Daniel's little
book there and apply that tomyself and apply that grace to
myself that.
Even if you start something andit didn't go as smooth as you
wanted it to, or you kind of,you stumbled and you fell and
(29:48):
you kind of got off thebandwagon so to speak, that
there's grace in that, that theLord is still proud of your
obedience in that and to justcontinue on, even if it does not
look like a perfect, you standup, you take some steps, then
you start walking, then youstart running.
You know it.
We don't have to all be in thatstage immediately.
Laura Lindahl (30:07):
Reminds me there's a verse, I think in
Zacharia of four, maybe four 10,uh, it says, do not despise
small beginnings.
And it's where the children ofIsrael trying to rebuild the
temple and they're saying, howcan we do this?
It's so much work to do.
It's like.
no, don't despise smallbeginnings.
When you judge yourself for thatsmall step, you're diminishing
(30:27):
the growth and the futureprojection of where you want to
be.
And I think in the same way, wecan just take that same position
and remember those smallbeginnings can have great
impacts in the long run.
Natalie Portman (30:40):
I love that you said that, that it is truly a
transformative experience.
I mean, anyone who's had a babyknows you are not the same.
You are not the same afteryou've had that baby in your
mind, in your body, in yourspirit, socially, emotionally,
everything changes.
So to honor that, I actuallyremember my sister, she, my
younger sister had a baby beforeme and she told me after she had
(31:04):
her son, she goes, I.
I have learned to appreciate mybody in a different way because
of all that.
It just did.
The fact that it grew a baby, itgave birth to a baby, and now
I'm nursing this baby, and thatreally struck a chord with me
and that stuck with me.
So after I had my baby girl,even though you know, you still
(31:25):
look like six months pregnantafter you have a baby.
And you've had that baby, youkind of, you know, still have a
belly.
But I remember looking at myselfand being like, I am so proud of
what my body did.
The fact that my body grew thisbaby, I gave birth to this baby
and now I'm nursing this baby,like my body was able to do all
that.
Like that is insane to me.
And I had this appreciation formy body that I had never had
(31:48):
before that point.
So it is really like, it's veryimperative to honor that
transformation that's happened.
Even if the way you physicallylook on the outside is
different, that it is still atransformation and it is still
something that the Lordabsolutely designed for whenever
(32:10):
he created this whole process ofchildbearing and what that
postpartum season looks like.
Laura Lindahl (32:17):
good.
Natalie Portman (32:17):
So final question here.
How has becoming a mom changedthe way you see fitness, faith,
and your identity in Christ?
And what has the Lord beenteaching you lately in this
season of toddler life and pottytraining, all the things.
Laura Lindahl (32:34):
is that like parenting is never over,
Parenting for us is justbeginning.
Right.
But I think parenting as Godparents, us is never over.
And gosh, I've just been, somany times of just the beauty,
beautiful pictures of the gospelwith our son that he'll, you
know, he'll run up to me justhis goofy little wide legged run
(32:56):
with his arms up in the air, bigeyes, his curls bouncing and
just says, mama, come see me.
And it's just such a beautifulpicture of us just wanting the
father to see us.
They, he just wants us to beseen and I'm just.
Reminded as I read through thePsalms.
'cause the Psalms have been agreat, if there's a mom
listening who's just beenstruggling in the word.
(33:16):
I just wanna encourage you tojust like, read a psalm a day.
It's so life-giving.
It's so simple.
It can be done in less than fiveminutes, with the exception of
Psalm one 19 I'm reading the Ijust read about like the Psalms
of Ascent where it says, youknow, I look to the Lord and the
Lord saw me.
And so I think just knowing thatGod sees us has just been a
beautiful lesson.
And I think also learning howto, learning how to work out in
(33:40):
new rhythms, learning how toshift from our workouts to 25
minute workouts and to have moregrace for other moms that before
I, I, I couldn't understand, Icould try to empathize with, but
now when a mom says, Hey, youknow, my kid woke up.
Early and I couldn't get myworkout in this morning to have
empathy and compassion.
And then it gets me reallyexcited because now I'm like, oh
(34:02):
yeah, I've been there.
It sucks.
Here's some things that mighthelp.
And so I think that it hasreally helped me as a coach to
become more empathetic, uh, tobecome more creative, and to
really just kind of keep fitnessin the box that it was meant to
be in that it's a tool toempower our bodies to have
energy to serve the kingdom.
That's it like, doesn't have tobe this huge thing.
(34:26):
You don't have to be the quoteunquote fit mom.
Like you can look average andstill be incredibly healthy.
so I think in in a lot of waysit has softened me.
It's slowed me down.
it's helped me walk with theLord in a rhythm of, of daily
dependence to just looking tohim, to parent me as I parent my
son, and just ask me, okay, God,what is stewarding my health
look like today?
(34:46):
based on where my hormones areat, based on where my, my energy
is at, how can I build strength?
Today is is today a walking day.
And just seeking seeking theLord in that way I think has
been such a good place to be in.
and it's it's just been good.
It's been sweet.
Natalie Portman (35:02):
That's beautiful.
The verse came to mind about,for everything there is a season
and, and how that really doespertain to.
Specifically like a female bodyand how the Lord designed us to
literally have a cycle.
Like we, the fact that we have acycle also speaks to the fact
that every day, you know, if wewere to kind of have it be like
a farming analogy, every day isnot harvest day.
(35:25):
There's the resting and thewaiting, there's the watering,
and then there's the growth.
And I feel like we, when we getinto the mentality that like.
Every single day I need to besetting personal records.
Every single day I need to bestronger than I was yesterday.
That kind of mentality is, notrealistic and it's not even
healthy.
(35:46):
I've been really into, and I'vementioned this book a couple
times on the podcast, but in theflow, and she talks about how
when your hormones are even outof whack, she recommends doing.
Exercise is no more than 30minutes a session.
Because past that 30 minute markyou're probably taxing your body
a little bit too much.
And that has given me somefreedom to be like, okay, so I
(36:08):
don't need to do a, an intensehour workout every time I
workout I can do a 30 minuteworkout and be like, and I'm so
glad I did that.
And even just that little shiftis so helpful to me.
'cause I also am verycompetitive.
So I go to like my body pumpclass and I see all these ladies
around me.
Many of whom are much older thanme and they're lifting much
(36:29):
heavier than me and all thethings.
And my competitive side is like,Hmm, you need to be lifting
heavier too, Natalie.
And then the other side of me islike, you know what?
That's good for them.
But I am not here to competeagainst anybody else.
I am here to just steward mybody to just move my body in a
way that is just honoring theLord that is getting me
(36:50):
stronger, but it's not acompetition against me, against
anybody else.
And, and, you know, not even meagainst myself in, in a way, you
know what I mean?
Going back to the just, youknow.
I don't even care what I think.
I, I really do want to just carewhat the Lord thinks about me.
Which obviously is easier saidthan done, but.
This was just such a pleasurehaving you here, imparting your
(37:11):
wisdom.
And just helping mamas realizejust the truth of, why we strive
in this way, that, you know,there really is a deep root
there that we do wanna bebeautiful.
We want others to re regard usas beautiful.
We want to see ourselves asbeautiful.
But the, the beautiful thing iswe are.
Already beautiful in the Lord'ssight.
(37:33):
And when we get to comealongside that truth, that's
where we get to abide.
That's where we get to grow.
And that's something that is notonly just growing us, but we're,
we're going up the ladder, upthe right ladder.
You know?
I think that's the other kind oftrick of, of the fitness, bounce
back, all that kind of culturalstuff is, yeah, you're striving,
(37:54):
you're doing all the things, butyou, you get to the top and you
realize.
Oh my goodness.
I was climbing up the wrongladder All of this was for
nothing.
And when we get to, to look atthe way the Lord has designed
stewarding our body and justeverything he's given us, it's
climbing up the correct ladderand we get to the top and it is
fulfilling because it's Jesusthat we gain.
(38:16):
It's no nothing else.
It's just the Lord and His glorythat we gain.
Climbing up the correct ladder.
So thank you so much for comingon today, sharing your wisdom,
sharing your heart, and yourstory.
If someone wants to connect withyou, if they feel like they
would love to, you know, beginpostpartum coaching with you how
they can get in contact withyou.
Laura Lindahl (38:37):
You can find me on Instagram at True Strength
Collective.
You can also follow along thepodcast where I give a ton of
postpartum advice, strengthtraining, tips for women in that
postpartum period and throughpregnancy.
That podcast is called TheStrong After Birth Podcast, and
then as a freebie.
For your listeners for listeningto the episode, I also have a
(38:58):
three day core restore plan thatcan help women, especially in
that early postpartum period,reconnect to their core and just
taking that first step in areally guided, simple way with
exercise demonstrations.
We have a diastasis rectiassessment, all sorts of things
that are just really valuable inthat first phase where we're
just looking to something, we'relooking to Google or, or um,
(39:22):
YouTube to try to findsomething.
So I just give you some reallysimple practical tips in that
guide.
So make sure you guys downloadthat'cause it's an awesome
resource to check out to thethree day Core Restore.
And then I think we can put thatin the show notes.
Natalie Portman (39:35):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I'll definitely put thatin there.
Wonderful.
Thank you Laura, so much foryour time and I'm just so
excited for all the Lord isdoing in your life and through
your ministry, through trueStrength Collective.
Thank you so much.
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