What “getting your pink back” really means

Somebody probably said it to you. Maybe it was a friend, maybe it was your mom, maybe it was the little voice in your own head at 2 a.m.: you’ll get your pink back. It’s meant kindly. It’s meant as a promise that the tired, foggy, not-quite-yourself feeling won’t last forever.

But what does it actually mean? Back to what? Back to your pre-baby jeans? Back to the person you were before the year that knocked the wind out of you? Back to some version of yourself that, if we’re honest, was also tired and also doing her best?

We named this whole thing Pink in Progress because we think the phrase deserves a better answer. Getting your pink back isn’t about erasing what happened to you. It isn’t about shrinking, or proving anything, or getting “your body back” as if someone took it. It’s about feeling strong, rested, nourished and connected again, in the life you have right now. This post is our long answer to what that looks like, and how to start.

Where “in the pink” comes from

“In the pink” is an old English idiom that means in the best of health or condition. If someone asked how your grandfather was doing after his knee surgery and the answer was “oh, he’s in the pink,” you’d know he was up and about, cracking jokes, back to himself.

The word “pink” used to mean more than a color. For centuries it also meant the very embodiment of something, the peak or the finest example. Shakespeare has Mercutio call himself “the very pink of courtesy” in Romeo and Juliet. Over time, “in the pink” came to describe a person at their best: healthy, lively, glowing a little.

We love that history, because it gets the goal right. Being in the pink was never about looking a certain way. It was about how you were doing. Are you up and about? Do you have some spark? Do you feel like yourself? That’s the pink we’re talking about.

How you lose your pink (usually without noticing)

Almost nobody loses their pink all at once. It fades. A week of bad sleep turns into a month. Lunch becomes whatever is left on a toddler’s plate. The walk you used to love gets skipped because there’s laundry, and then it gets forgotten because there’s always laundry. Friends text, and you mean to answer, and then it’s been three weeks and answering feels awkward.

For a lot of women, the clearest version of this is the year after a baby. Your body has done something enormous. Your sleep is broken into pieces. Your days revolve around someone else’s needs, around the clock, and the things that used to fill you up quietly drop off the list. Many new moms describe feeling like they love their baby completely and miss themselves at the same time. Both things can be true.

But babies aren’t the only reason. You can lose your pink to:

• A hard year. Grief, illness, a breakup, caring for a parent, a move that didn’t go to plan.
• A demanding job. The kind where you’re “on” all day and have nothing left at night.
• Putting everyone else first. Kids, partners, coworkers, friends. Eventually there’s nobody left in line for you.
• Just time. Sometimes nothing dramatic happened. You just looked up one day and realized you hadn’t felt strong or excited in a long while.

If any of that sounds familiar, nothing is wrong with you. Losing a little of yourself during a big season is normal. It’s also not permanent.

Why “bouncing back” is the wrong goal

You’ve seen the headlines. A celebrity is “back in her bikini” six weeks after giving birth. A program promises to help you “get your body back” in thirty days. A friend-of-a-friend is already running half marathons and you’re still figuring out how to shower before noon.

The bounce-back idea does three unhelpful things.

It points you backward

Bouncing back assumes the goal is to return to exactly who you were before. But you’re not the same person, and that’s not a failure. You’ve learned things, survived things, grown in ways that don’t show up in a mirror. The goal isn’t to undo that. It’s to build a version of you who feels good now.

It measures the wrong things

Bounce-back culture is almost always about size: the scale, the jeans, the “after” photo. Those numbers say very little about whether you have energy to get through the afternoon, whether you can carry the car seat without your back hurting, or whether you laughed this week. We’d rather track the things that actually change how your days feel.

It runs on a deadline

Six weeks. Three months. “By summer.” Recovery doesn’t run on anybody’s calendar, and rushing it, especially after birth, can set you back. A plan that starts gently and builds slowly will almost always get you further than a crash program you quit in week two.

So we threw the word out. At Pink in Progress you’ll never hear “bounce back.” You’ll hear “forward.”

What getting your pink back actually means

When we talk about getting your pink back, we mean four things. None of them is about a number on a scale, and you don’t have to work on all four at once. Most women start with one and find the others follow.

1. Strength you can feel

Not a six-pack. The everyday kind of strong. Lifting the laundry basket without a twinge. Carrying a sleeping toddler up the stairs. Getting off the floor without using your hands. Feeling steady in your own body again.

Strength training is one of the best things you can do for how your body feels day to day, and it doesn’t require a gym or hours of your time. The CDC recommends muscle-strengthening activity at least two days a week for adults, and two or three short sessions with a pair of dumbbells, done consistently, adds up. The key words are short and consistently. Twenty minutes you actually do beats an hour you keep postponing.

2. Energy that lasts past noon

Energy is the thing most women say they miss first. Some of it comes down to sleep, and we know sleep isn’t always yours to control, especially with a baby. But a surprising amount comes from small habits: drinking water before coffee, eating real food at regular times, getting outside in daylight, moving a little every day.

None of these are dramatic. That’s the point. Energy usually comes back through a handful of boring, repeatable habits, not a single big change.

3. Food that takes care of you

We don’t do diets. No foods are off limits, nobody is counting your crackers, and birthday cake is allowed. What we do care about is whether your food is keeping up with your life. Are you eating enough protein? Are you skipping meals and then running on empty by three o’clock? Is there something you can grab with one hand when you’re feeding a baby with the other?

Most of the time the fix isn’t eating less. It’s eating a little more regularly, with a bit more protein and a lot less guilt.

4. Your people

This is the one most programs leave out, and it’s the reason Pink in Progress exists. You can follow the perfect plan and still feel flat if you’re doing it alone. Plenty of new moms say loneliness caught them off guard, and it can sneak up after a move, a breakup or a big career change too.

Having other women around, on a walk, in a group chat, on a Tuesday-afternoon video call while the babies nap, changes everything. It makes the habits easier to keep. It makes the hard days lighter. And it reminds you that you’re not the only one figuring it out. Find your strength, find your girls. We mean both.

If you’ve just had a baby

The postpartum season deserves its own section, because your body is healing from something real, whether you had a vaginal birth, a C-section or a birth that didn’t go to plan. Here’s how we think about it.

Start with your provider, not a program

Before you start any new exercise after birth, talk to your doctor or midwife and get their okay. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says you can start gradually once it’s medically safe. For some women that’s within days of an uncomplicated birth; after a C-section or complications it usually takes longer. Your provider knows your situation. Our postpartum coaching only begins once you’re cleared, and we always defer to your care team.

Gentle counts

The first steps back are small on purpose. Breathing that reconnects you with your core. Short walks with the stroller. Gentle mobility for a back that’s been hunched over feeds and diaper changes. These might not feel like “real” workouts. They are the foundation everything else is built on.

Ask about pelvic floor support

Leaking when you laugh or sneeze, heaviness, or pain are common after birth, but common doesn’t mean you have to live with it. A pelvic floor physical therapist can assess what’s going on and give you a plan. Ask your provider for a referral if anything feels off. It’s one of the most helpful appointments many women never knew to book.

Listen for the signals

As you build back up, some things are a cue to slow down and check in with your provider: pain that doesn’t settle, bleeding that increases after activity, a bulge along your belly when you strain, or feeling dizzy or unwell. Progress isn’t pushing through. It’s paying attention.

Take your mood seriously too

Many new moms have weepy, up-and-down days after birth, often called the baby blues. The National Institute of Mental Health describes the baby blues as mild mood changes in the first two weeks, and says symptoms that are more severe or last longer than two weeks may be signs of postpartum depression. If low mood, anxiety, intrusive thoughts or feeling disconnected from your baby are hanging on, that’s worth talking about. Postpartum depression and anxiety are common and treatable, and reaching out is a strong move, not a weak one.

If it’s been a hard season

Maybe there’s no baby in this story at all. Maybe it was burnout, or grief, or a year where everything that could go sideways did. Losing your pink to a hard season can feel harder to name, because there’s no obvious “recovery period” and people may expect you to just be fine by now.

A few things we’ve learned:

• Start smaller than feels useful. When your tank is empty, a ten-minute walk is a real win. Build from there.
• Routines before results. The first goal isn’t a stronger body. It’s a few habits that happen most days without a fight.
• Let movement be about mood. Plenty of women come back to exercise because it helps them feel better in their heads first. That’s a great reason.
• Don’t do it quietly. Tell a friend what you’re working on, or join a group. Being seen makes it stick.

And if a hard season has turned into something that feels like more than tired or sad, please talk to your doctor or a mental health professional. Coaching and community can help a lot, but they’re not a replacement for care.

Seven small ways to start this week

You don’t need a new planner or a perfect Monday. Pick one or two of these and see how it feels.

1. Drink a glass of water before your coffee. Put the glass out the night before so it’s the first thing you see.
2. Take one walk outside. Ten minutes counts. Stroller, dog, podcast, or nothing at all.
3. Add protein to breakfast. Eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, a protein shake. It’s one of the easiest ways to steady your energy.
4. Do one short strength session. Squats to a chair, wall push-ups, a few rows with a dumbbell or a water jug. Ten to twenty minutes.
5. Text one friend. Not to catch up on everything. Just “thinking of you, want to walk Saturday?”
6. Protect one bedtime. Pick a night and go to bed thirty minutes earlier than usual. Phone in another room if you can.
7. Write down one win. At the end of the week, note one thing that felt good. That’s your proof it’s working.

What a real week can look like

It helps to see how small this can be. Here’s an example of a gentle first week for a mom who’s been cleared to exercise, or for anyone coming out of a rough stretch. It’s not a prescription. It’s proof that a week can move you forward without taking over your life.

• MondayWater before coffee. A ten-minute walk after lunch, stroller optional.
• TuesdayFifteen minutes of strength at home: chair squats, wall push-ups and a few rows. Join a nap-time circle if you can.
• WednesdayRest day. Add protein to breakfast and text one friend.
• ThursdayA twenty-minute walk, a little faster than Monday. Bed thirty minutes early.
• FridayRepeat Tuesday’s strength session. Notice whether it felt a little easier.
• SaturdayThe fun one: a walk with friends, a park workout or coffee with the girls.
• SundayWrite down one win. Plan two things for next week, not ten.

That’s about an hour of movement across the whole week, a couple of food habits and two moments of connection. It doesn’t sound like much, and that’s exactly why it works. Most women who stick with something start with a plan that fits on a sticky note. Once it feels easy, you add a little more: an extra set, a longer walk, one more meal you plan ahead. In a few months, that small week has turned into a stronger, steadier you.

If you’d like a week like this built around your own schedule, that’s exactly what 1:1 coaching is for.

How Pink in Progress helps

We built Pink in Progress for women who want a plan and a crew. There are three ways in, and you can mix them however you like.

Whichever you choose, the promise is the same: no bounce-back talk, no foods you’re “not allowed,” no shrinking yourself, and no doing it alone.

What it looks like a few months in

It’s easy to picture the start and the finish line. The middle is harder to imagine, so here’s what getting your pink back often looks like a few months in, for women who keep going.

• You notice it in ordinary moments. The car seat feels lighter. You take the stairs without thinking about it. You get through the afternoon without crashing.
• The habits run on their own. Water before coffee isn’t a decision anymore. The Tuesday walk is just what Tuesday is.
• You have people. A couple of names in your phone you can text at 6 a.m. or 10 p.m. who will get it.
• Bad weeks don’t undo everything. You miss a few days, and instead of starting over you just pick back up. That’s the real sign of progress.
• You want a little more. A longer walk, a heavier dumbbell, a run, a class. Not because you should, but because you feel ready.

Notice what’s missing from that list: a number on a scale or a size on a tag. Some women’s bodies change a lot in these months and some barely change at all. Neither tells you whether you’re in the pink. How you feel, how you move and who you have around you tell you that.

And if a few months in you’re still finding it hard, that’s okay too. Some seasons take longer. That’s exactly when a coach, a group or a conversation with your doctor can make the difference.

Progress, not perfection

Here’s the part we most want you to remember. Getting your pink back isn’t a finish line. Nobody wakes up one day fully restored, glowing, with every habit locked in. There will be weeks where the baby is teething and the plan falls apart. There will be days where the walk doesn’t happen. That’s not failure. That’s life, and you pick it back up.

That’s why the name is Pink in Progress. The progress is the point. Every glass of water, every short walk, every text to a friend is part of it. You don’t have to be all the way there to be on your way.

We’re all a little pink in progress. Come find your girls.

• Postpartum fitness
• New moms
• Women's wellness
• Healthy habits
• Community