couples

Got a new baby? This man thinks you're "fat and lazy".

Meet the personal trainer who has just insulted every new mum in a few thoughtless breaths.

I love waking up and reading news that insinuates my friends and I are a bunch of lazy, fat women.

I also love telling smart-arse, fitness-obsessed male personal trainers they have absolutely NO IDEA what life with a newborn is like.

In an article in today’s The Daily Telegraphpersonal trainer Allan Trinh claims that mothers are using babies as excuses to cover laziness.

“I think some mums are giving up a little bit too easily.”

Whoa buddy, let’s back up here.

“Giving up too easily.”

I’d be hard-pressed telling any woman who has just sacrificed her body to create another  life for nine months and then birthed the child in either an epic labour or a major surgery is “giving up too easily” on anything.

And once the baby is here, life didn’t magically get any easier.

“I hear this excuse all the time — ‘I have had no sleep and I’m too tired for exercise’,” he said.

Excuse? That’s not an excuse. That’s LIFE.

If you stay awake for more than 17 hours (which for those non-parents reading, happens A LOT) your body and abilities are at the equivalent of having a blood alcohol level of 0.05.

Have you ever tried exercising while drunk Mr Trinh? HAVE YOU?

Let’s just say it’s not pretty and there is usually vomit involved. Not to dissimilar to general life with a newborn, actually.

Have you ever tried exercising after spending 6 hours of your night with your baby attached to your nipple and the other 6 hours with your baby screaming because they have wind?

No? No, you haven’t because you are male and you DON’T HAVE KIDS.

Personal trainer Allan Trinh "new mums are lazy."

Mr Trinh’s comments have been labelled “a controversial marketing ploy". I label them “comments of a bully".

New mothers, who are already in a vulnerable place, are bombarded with expectations from society on breastfeeding, bottle feeding, sleeping through the night and a myriad of other parenting beliefs - why do we insist on adding “look like a freakin’ super model” to the list?

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If you have a good metabolism and bounce back into shape, that’s awesome.

If you enjoy fitness and jumped right back on the exercise bandwagon post birth, that’s awesome.

If you did neither of those and you put on a few extras kilos while housing the next generation in your own body then you, too, are awesome.

“A lot of new mothers don’t prioritise themselves, they let themselves go, they put weight on, they just don’t care and they give up,” Mr Trinh, 24, said.

“It seems having a child is a reason to stop looking after yourself.”

He got part of that one right.

Mother’s don’t tend to prioritise themselves but that's because they just had a baby.

They do care, they care about their BABY. The mini-human they just grew inside of them who, for the foreseeable future, requires attention and love and, you know, food and everything.

For anyone who hasn’t had a baby (Mr Trinh, I’m looking at you), babies cannot do anything for themselves. Well, they can cry and poop and drink milk. That’s about the extent of their abilities for at least a good six months or so.

They need to have everything done for them. Everything.

They need to be dressed, and fed, and put to sleep. They need their nappies changed. They need cuddles. And sometimes they just need to be loved and stared at because they are babies and they are super cute.

Mr Trinh’s campaign centres on one argument.

“Parents are role models and kids grow up watching what their parents do, that’s where they get their own habits from.”

Yes that is right. We are role models. So we’ll teach our kids to exercise in a healthy manner; ride bikes, kick balls and join sporting teams. Not by giving their hard-earned money to chastising personal trainers who bully new parents into making them feel bad about their bodies.

What's your opinion of this trainer's comments?

Want more? Try these:

The reasons why I love my 'ugly' body

5 things new mums want dads to know but don't know how to tell them

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When you become a parent, you don't leave your brain in the delivery suite. That's why mothers with kids of all ages come to themotherish.com; because they're still interested in news about entertainment, health, current affairs and food along with an inspiring and useful stream of parenting advice and support.

Most importantly, they come because they want to hear personal stories of parenting directly from other mothers, without fear of judgement.

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