'I'm perfectly happy the way I am': Cork comedian says she received unsolicited messages from trainers following birth of her baby 

Comedian and co-host of RedRaw the podcast, Laura O’Mahony, has spoken about her experience of receiving unsolicited messages from some personal trainers following the birth of her baby. 

She told The Echo that since having her baby five months ago, she has received multiple unsolicited messages from online coaches looking to exchange a fitness plan for a shoutout on her social media accounts.

Speaking on the negative effects that this cold-calling outreach can have, Laura said: “If I want to go through a weight loss transformation, I’ll seek that out myself. I don’t have an eating disorder, I don’t have a history with them, but they [PTs] don’t know that.”

Laura highlighted that this behaviour could significantly impact someone who may be struggling with their personal body image, or someone who has struggled with such issues in the past. 

“They [PTs] could easily be sending me into a spiral because they’ve looked through my photos and at the end of looking through my photos, they’ve decided this one will fit the bill because she’s made a mess of herself.”

Laura also touched on the negative impacts that pop-culture media and television has had on society, stemming from a childhood of watching tv shows like America’s Next Top Model, and The Swan.

“The beauty standard that’s held up, it shouldn’t be that, we should be seeing diverse shapes on our televisions. What we saw when we were younger, the programmes we watched, the magazines that we read, it all still exists, and I don’t really want that for my little girl.

“We have to put a bit of work into undoing that for our own kids and the next generation, because otherwise it’s just going to keep going on. I’d love if we could restructure the narrative a bit so that we’re putting more work into appreciating what we have, as opposed to longing for what we don’t have,” she said.

“Obviously there’s legitimate personal trainers and there’s legitimate businesses, I know that, but there definitely is ones that are trying to push this notion of the mommy makeover, and it’s awful,” she continued.

“I’m perfectly happy the way I am, I come from a long line of curvy women.”

The latest episode of the RedRaw podcast is all about body positivity, and dives into the topic of positive mental attitudes towards body image from the perspective of both Rob Heffernan, an Olympic walker, and Laura, actress, mother and comedian.

Listen to RedRaw the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or find it online via PodBean.