The Benefits of Compression Wear and Why You Need To Get On Board

You guys may have heard of Jessica Graf before. She’s famous for her roles in Big Brother & The Amazing Race.

Jessica & I met when I was the keynote at Create & Cultivate in Dallas. We immediately clicked & it just so happens she’s a fellow podcaster. Jessica invited me on her show Now What?! where we talked about everything from entrepreneurship to hustling to motherhood.

She’s a young hot mom & I immediately asked her 100 questions about how she got her body back after having a baby. She said her number one tip BY FAR was wearing compression clothing during & after her pregnancy.

She swears by compression wear so I had to invite her on The Skinny Confidential to share her experience with all of you.

By the way, you can totally wear compression wear if you’re not pregnant too. It holds you in in all the right spots.

Sidenote: Compression wear is the new IT GIRL & it’s not to be ignored. Compression wear has been saving my life day after day. It helps with swelling, bloating, & works the lymphatic system too. Like, think about how compression socks can get rid of cankles, but now picture that over your whole body. LOVE. Compression wear is really popular among pregnant women, postpartum women, & people who have just had surgery. It kind of trains your body to tighten inward so the whole thing just makes a lot of sense to me. Compression wear also supports your muscles, holds things in, & majorly helps reduce swelling.

With that, let’s welcome Jessica Graf.

I can’t begin to tell you guys how often I get asked how I ‘bounced back’ after having my baby girl, Maverick! It happens whenever I wear tight clothes around friends/family & pretty much under every Instagram photo. 

Well, to be honest, I stumbled on my secret by complete accident!

I put on 43 lbs while I was pregnant. The insecurity was REAL! Cody, my husband, & I usually always shower together every night before bed but the bigger I got, the less I wanted him to see me naked. I mean, my body was doing some weird stuff! My nipples were practically black & I couldn’t even tell you what was going on with my vagina. Mostly because I couldn’t see it, which I’m kind of happy about. Can’t stress over what you can’t see! My face was bloating bad & I had acne all over my face & even down my back and chest. Pregnancy was a total mind f*ck for me.

Whatever “pregnancy glow” was, I never got it.

I especially started stressing out about what I was going to look like after giving birth & wanted to do everything in my power to minimize the damage! I got really into oils! Oils EVERYWHERE! For acne scaring, stretch marks, moisture, everything. And the heavier my stomach got, the more support I craved. So I started treating my stomach like I would my boobs. I’ve had big boobs since I was 16 & I always have a bra on. It doesn’t matter if I’m at home or sleeping. Gravity is not a friend to real boobs. I applied that same logic to my belly. 

That’s where compression clothes came in.

When the second trimester came around, there wasn’t a day I didn’t wear a Belly Band! It’s essentially a bra for your stomach. It gives you support that can actually help alleviate back pains & pressure that you might have on your Sacroiliac Joint.

Under the Belly Band came the compression leggings. I found these great ones by Blanqi that come up over the belly. It basically has a Belly Band built into the pants but I layered my other Belly Band over the pants because it just felt like the clothes were hugging my belly which was so comforting! I was obsessed with how great it felt that I even layered a compression tank/T-shirt over all of this. I know, three layers of compression clothing sound like a lot but if you’re following Lauryn then you know we like to do everything in excess. No moderation here, ladies.

And if you think we’re done with the compression clothing, you’d be wrong.

My cherry on top were compression knee socks! Yes, all the way up to the knee!

ESPECIALLY if you’re traveling. 

When you’re pregnant, discomfort can travel all the way down your legs & even through your feet. If you want to avoid Jessica Simpson feet ( you know exactly the image I’m talking about! ) wear the socks! They’ll help with all of that pressure & swelling & keep those varicose veins at bay.

My only regret is I didn’t start doing all of this sooner. But now I know for babies 2-10 😉

Now let’s talk about postpartum & this is the part you don’t hear enough! 

DON’T STOP WEARING YOUR COMPRESSION CLOTHING!

You’re in recovery mode for 6 weeks post baby & you’re giving your body that well deserved time to heal because it just worked it’s ass off making the most perfect little human. If you’re anything like me, you might feel really anxious to get your body back to normal & since you can’t work out yet, your options are fairly limited. 

I lived in my compression clothing for the whole 6 weeks! Including sleeping with my belly band on. Postpartum compression clothing helps you heal. They help to support & align your abdominal & if you’ve had a c-section, like me, it’ll alleviate pressure on your scar which is crucial.   

But my theory is that it helps put things back where they belong too! It basically showed my stomach where it actually belonged again & prevented gravity from doing its evil deeds. Every day I could visibly see my thighs & stomach getting closer to my pre-baby body & it felt so incredible! It’s really amazing what our bodies are capable of. Just when I was feeling so low, like I would never have my figure back, my body showed me how strong it was! By the time I got the green light from my doctor to start working out again, I didn’t have a whole lot left to lose & I can proudly say that I’m back to my original weight!

So to this day whenever anyone asks me what my secret is, I tell them compression clothing. It’s comfortable & supportive if you find the right brands & I highly recommend it!

There you have it. Anything & everything you needed to know about compression wear. If you have a brand you love I would love to know below.

I hope you all had an amazing holiday & are relaxing. Currently wrapped in compression wear & loving every minute of it.

x, lauryn

+ listen to Jessica’s podcast here.

++ for more tips and tricks like this, follow my account @and.the.skinny.was.like.

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