Eva Longoria Tells Us Exactly How She Transformed Her Body After Having A Baby - Exclusive Interview

While many women are proud to show off their baby bumps, they're also eager to get rid of their extra body weight as soon as their little ones have arrived into the world. However, the pressure to "bounce back" to the size you were pre-baby — while also juggling late-night diaper changes, little amounts of sleep, and perfecting what it means to be a parent — can be absolutely overwhelming, especially when we see other women who seem to do it with ease.

When actress, producer, and businesswoman Eva Longoria gave birth to her son Santiago in 2018, her life completely changed along with her body. When exercise and eating healthy alone didn't give her the results she wanted to see, her group of mom friends suggested she try out a body sculpting treatment that is accessible to more than just the stars.

In an exclusive interview with Health Digest, Longoria explained how InMode technologies have helped transform her post-baby body, detailed her postpartum exercise routine, and shared the wisdom she wants women everywhere to know about "bouncing back" after pregnancy.

Can you walk us through the exercise routine you used after giving birth?

First and foremost, I was very grateful to my body, so I had zero pressure to hurry up and get back to the way I was. That was not my goal. That was not an intention, and I think women should know that. Take your own time, go at your own pace, and be thankful to what your body just did. It created a human being, so of course it's going to change.

But what started my exercise journey was that — this feeling of gratitude — and I approached it that way. I eased into it with, "How can I be gentle with myself and with my body?" and going back with meditation and yoga.

Eventually, COVID happened, and we were on lockdown, so there were no classes and things like that. But I did pick up the trampoline, and I became obsessed with that. I loved the trampoline workout, which is the Bounce, and I enjoyed that because it was high intensity but low impact. It's a routine, so it helps with so many other things other than your body: It helps your mind, memorization, sequencing. It could help prevent dementia. There's lymphatic drainage. It did a lot for my mind as well.

That's what got me back into, "This is fun," and it didn't feel so extreme of getting in the gym and hitting the weights. After I eased in with yoga and meditation and jumping, then I went back to my proper trainer, which is weights and weightlifting.

How many times each week were you exercising?

Meditation I do every day, and when I started yoga, it was only twice a week. It wasn't that intense. Again, I gave myself the space, but I was like, "Okay, I'm going to work out two times this week, and this time I'm going to do three times."

But once I was in it, I'm a five-day-a-week girl, so it turned into that once I was back in my space of before-the-baby. I love working out. Working out for me is my mental health hour. I need to give it that hour a day. On my off days is yoga or stretching.

How has your exercise routine evolved over the last few years since your son was born?

I feel like it's become more important because of my mental health — not because, "I need to get in shape because I've had a son." It was more like, "Oh, my gosh. I have to show up as a good mom." When I exercise first thing in the morning and get it done and feel my body with those endorphins and that adrenaline, it sets the tone for the rest of my day, and it makes me a better mom.

Before, I was doing it for me and for vanity. "I've got to work out, I need better abs, I need better arms, I need ..." Now it's like, "I've got to be a better mom. I got to be a better partner. I got to be a good businesswoman."

If I have a huge meeting today that is in the morning, then I wake up even earlier to work out — not because of vanity, but because "Oh, gosh. I've got to get that oxygen to my brain." When I'm in that big meeting, I've got to be present. That's my approach.

How did your diet change after delivery compared to what you were eating during your pregnancy?

God, you know what's so funny? I didn't have cravings when I was pregnant. I had aversions. I'm a big coffee drinker, and I hated coffee. I couldn't stand the smell of it. I couldn't go by a Starbucks. It did not make me feel good. Chicken — which, I love chicken — I stopped eating chicken, but there were these aversions of, "Ugh. I don't know what happened." As soon as Santi was born, I went right back.

But I don't know. It was really interesting. Because it was COVID when Santi was a baby, after Santi was born and then he was about a year old, we started intermittent fasting only because it was COVID. It was like, "I can't stay up all day and eat, and I'm home." [laughs] I was cooking a lot.

Then I thought, "I like eating dinner with him at 5," because he goes to bed at about 6. My husband and I would have a really late breakfast, and then a [lunch/dinner called] linner at 5, and that was it. I loved it, because our social construct of when we eat is ... It's a lot. I don't know if my body needed that much for that many meal times.

Were there any foods you initially cut out of your diet completely postpartum?

No. I was breastfeeding, so I wasn't doing alcohol, but no, I didn't. Not that I remember.

How did InMode body contouring treatments help you when it came to getting the body that you wanted after having a baby?

Once I got back into it and I dedicated myself to it, I plateaued, and I was doing everything right. I was eating well, I was exercising, I was sleeping, I was meditating, I was walking ... I was like, "Why can't I lose? Why can't I tighten the skin? I want to tighten the skin." That's hard. That's diet and exercise resistant.

It was a girlfriend, a mommy friend of mine, who was like, "Oh, my God. You should try [Morpheus8]. It's this radio frequency." I was like, "What?"

"It kind of remodels your skin." I was like, "Sign me up." I loved that it wasn't a Hollywood secret. It was in my mommy circle, and I was like, "Wait. You all know about this? How do I not know about this?" That's where I first heard of it.

When I went there, I was talking about the skin on my stomach. I wanted to tighten it. That's when Pandora's Box opened to all the other secrets of EvolveX and Morpheus and Evolve Transform, which stimulates the collagen in my stomach. It's telling my stomach, "Hey, wake up! You got to get taut again."

They were all non-invasive, so I was like, "I don't want to go have surgery to fix this, but it needs something more than what I'm currently doing." It was the best sweet spot for me.

Overall, what would you say was the most challenging part for you about getting in shape after having a baby?

That first step of getting back into the gym — stepping foot. I was taking my time to appreciate and be grateful to my body and not rushing, but at the same time, going, "Okay, he's 8 months old. It's time."

There's a fine line between, "Okay, I really should do something now," and "No, you're fine," and those mental gymnastics of being ready is something a lot of women face.

What's one thing you want new moms to know about their postpartum bodies that you wish you had known right after giving birth?

That. I wish somebody ... I wish, and not I wish, because I did end up doing it, and I did actually have a lot of moms saying, "Don't rush to get back." Especially being in the industry of the media, it's like, "Hurry up! Hurry up! How fast can she bounce back?" That was a big theme in my industry, and ignoring that was the goal.

Otherwise, [InMode] was the big secret of: You can have some help, and having a baby isn't the end of the world. It's the beginning.

For more information on InMode's non-invasive and minimally invasive body-sculpting technologies, visit their website.

This interview has been edited for clarity.