Since Strictly Come Dancing star Kristina Rihanoff gave birth to her first baby, Milena, in this July, it seems like she’s had no trouble regaining her usual toned figure.
Last night, Kristina returned to the stage for the first time since giving birth - in her West End show One More Dance - and looked svelte and fit. But rather than rushing into a post-baby diet or exercise regime, Kristina has been vocal about how her and her baby’s health come first.
Speaking to the Evening Standard in September, Kristina, 39, said: “I’m not one of those celebrities who is obsessed with getting back to their pre-pregnancy body. Everything has to come naturally.”
She also wrote on her Hello! magazine blog that she didn’t “want to jeopardise my health or Mila’s by going on extreme diets. I’m breastfeeding and I want to continue breastfeeding for as long as possible, at least six months. If I slim down, I want it to be in a healthy way.”
She revealed that, while a full-on diet wasn’t on the cards, she was eating “lots of lean protein [and] lots of vegetables”.
If Kristina’s Instagram is anything to go by, her natural approach has worked wonders. In photos from press calls for One More Dance, which she starred in alongside fellow Strictly Come Dancing star Gleb Savchenko, she looks toned and healthy.
“Dancing, for me, is the most natural way of losing weight,” she said in a previous interview. “I’m not a big lover of running.”
Kristina has also been vocal about how the expectation for women to get their pre-pregnancy figures back as quickly as possible isn’t realistic or healthy.
“I can’t fit into my skinny jeans right now, but do you know what? It’s okay! I had a baby three months ago,” she wrote on her Hello! blog. “We shouldn’t be obsessed with how we lose weight.”
On an appearance on This Morning in September, she said: "I don't think my body will ever be the same, but it's fine because [Milena's] the most important thing in the world."
Althought studies into whether breastfeeding is directly related to weight loss haven’t established a definite link, the face that Kristina is breastfeeding Milena – who she and partner Ben Cohen, 38, call Mila for short – could be aiding her regain her post-baby body, as the body uses extra calories to produce breast milk.
And although Kristina prefers to go for a spin in the dance studio than a run, her Instagram reveals she has hit the gym with ex-Rugby player Ben.
One More Dance - which also featured Kristina’s old Celebrity Big Brother roommate and TOWIE star Megan McKenna making her singing debut - appeared at the Adelphi Theatre on December 11, and was Kristina’s first dance performance since she gave birth to Milena, as she didn’t partake in this year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Earlier this year, she told Closer that she hadn’t ruled out returning to the show next year though.
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