Keke Palmer Doesn’t Want “Personal Choice” to Focus on Fitness Post-Pregnancy to Set “Unrealistic Standards”
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Keke Palmer is opening up about her decision to return to using a trainer and meal prep after having her baby back in February.
The Nope actress and host of the Baby, This Is Keke Palmer podcast said that nearly half a year after she gave birth to her first child, she’s once again focusing on her body and diet as a part of her career.
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“It is my job. Let’s not get crazy — I don’t want people thinking that I am setting unrealistic standards. I can afford a trainer, meal prep and a lot of things,” she said during the Aug. 1 episode of the podcast. “It is expensive but I am investing in my career because it is my career to look good. Not even is it my career to look good, it is my career choice to have the kind of career that I want to have.”
Palmer said part of this effort is driven by her desire to work in the action genre, where she wants to do “certain things that would require me” to be fit.
“I was always putting so much pressure on myself and I feel like with Nope, I got a great opportunity to do some action stuff and I definitely had already obtained a pretty fit body. But my frame has always been quite small, so it’s interesting after the baby to see all the extra stuff I have to work with and how much my fear of having extra weight actually became a strength as it pertained to weight training and working out,” she said. “It gave me so much more to work with and mold with.”
Even as Palmer is looking to train up and once again be ready for action films, she noted that she’s talking about the specifics of her decision because the actress and producer doesn’t want it to become a misconstrued message about body image.
“I never want to put it on anybody,” the mom of one began. “I always want to make it clear that when I am talking about fitness, health and wellness is that, ‘Your journey is your journey. You figure it out the way you can.’ And when you look at these celebrities and people in the industry, know that it is their job.”
She also challenged the unhealthy practices and shortcuts people in Hollywood have been using — such as Ozempic, a drug designed to help people with diabetes — to lose or maintain a certain amount of weight, sharing that “it sucks.”
“I get the girls want to get into shape, but I hate that,” she said. “Ozempic, from my knowledge, I know it’s been made for people that have diabetes. Ever since the girls have been using it to lose weight, the folks with diabetes ain’t able to get [it], the prices have gone up.”
In a previous April interview with People, Palmer stressed the importance of new mothers giving themselves and their bodies grace after pregnancy.
“There’s always this thing of, ‘How’d they do it?’ And I think for me, the main thing I would say to any new mom is do what you can when you can, whatever it is that makes you feel good,” the actress said at the time. “If it’s important to you, then hell yeah put in the work miss girl. Get you whatever diet you want to do or whatever workout regimen that works for you. And if that’s not what you’re worried about, then don’t worry about it.”
During the recent podcast episode, Palmer reflected on her relationship to her body and fitness during and post-pregnancy, noting that she had a personally surprising response to her body’s changes. “It’s interesting — after the baby — to see all the extra stuff I have to work with, and how much my fear of having extra weight actually became a strength as it pertained to weight training and working out,” she said.
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