It’s not all magical motherhood; Katharine McPhee spoke candidly about some of the struggles she faced “psychologically” during her pregnancy with son Rennie, 11 months, especially with her changing body. Speaking to Katherine Schwarzenegger on her Instagram Live series Before, During, and After, Katharine opened up about the experience, sharing: “It played with my mind a little bit.”
Katharine got real about pregnancy while a guest on Katherine’s show on Thursday, Feb. 17th. The actress and singer, who has been open in the past about her struggles with bulimia and disordered eating, revealed that she was initially terrified to gain weight. “Even though you know your body is going to change, and you expect that, if you’re someone who has control issues with your body … psychologically, it just does something different…” she shared.
Even though Katharine’s heart was always with her baby, the rapid changes of pregnancy brought back some disordered mindsets. “I was losing control and I was going back to this old disordered version of myself, which was upsetting because I just wanted to enjoy my baby,” she told Katherine.
Ultimately, Katharine found a way to make peace with her body and her baby: finding self-love. “I really struggled during that first trimester. It was difficult for me to find that self-love, self-appreciation. But then I found it later, and I think how I found it … is something that I’ll now carry with me,” she recalled. “I really feel like having conversations with yourself are important.”
While Katharine’s been so open about the low points of her self-confidence, she’s also never afraid to share joy and positivity. After Katharine and her husband David Foster, 72, received criticism for a bikini photo David posted of his wife, she clapped back by sharing a swimsuit selfie or her own and calling the hullaballoo around the photo “so dumb.” “I’ve struggled with weight my whole 20s and 30. I’ve gone up and down 10 times over. Does that make you feel better?” Katharine shared in her caption. “There is nothing wrong with that -most people do.”