Nikki Bella shows off her post-baby body in the ‘realest, rawest way possible’

Nikki Bella welcome her first child, son Matteo, with fiance Artem Chigvintsev, 38, on July 31.

And five-weeks after giving birth, the 36-year-old Total Bellas star bravely showcased her postpartum body on Instagram and spoke candidly about the weight loss journey she is embarking on.

‘I want to bring you all along in the realest, rawest way possible, so here I am. I am 18 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight,’ said Nikki to her 9.5million followers on Monday.

Wearing just a black bra and panties, the reality star stood before the camera and gave her viewers a 360 view of her current form.

She added that her ‘turn’ in front of the camera was the ‘scariest turn of [her] life,’ due to how vicious the internet can be towards female bodies. 

Bella did not sugarcoat her wording as she explained the factors that played into her pregnancy weight gain.

‘I’m five-weeks postpartum, so maybe not all those pounds [I’ve gained] are fun, but the majority are for sure from having a lot of fun,’ said the former professional wrestler.

She admitted to indulging in ‘pizza quite a bit’ and ‘baked goods’ towards the end of her pregnancy and that she used her pregnancy as an excuse to eat what she wanted. 

‘I want to say COVID and being in Arizona with a lot of heat and I didn’t get to work out like I used to and see a personal trainer and go to classes. But no. I indulged in pizza quite a bit, especially towards the end, and baked goods. 

She added: ‘Especially when it got hotter, I was just sick of being locked up inside.’

Despite using ‘pregnancy as an excuse a lot’ and having a gourmet chef for a fiance, Nikki said that she takes ‘full accountability’ for her missteps and that she is ‘now on the journey to lose 18 pounds.’  

‘But in the healthiest way possible because breastfeeding, obviously, and giving my son the most amazing nutrition is number one,’ she insisted.

‘So there is gonna be no crash diets, there is gonna be no starving myself, it’s gonna be bringing workouts back in and healthy nutrition, which I have been doing.’

Nikki added that she ‘of course’ allows her self to have a cheat meal ‘here and there’ because it is ‘normal’ to do so.  

‘I just really wanted you all to be on this journey with me because I gotta give it to all you moms! It isn’t easy and it isn’t easy seeing your body change, physically, mentally, all the changes of postpartum. I feel you. And we are exhausted on top of it,’ said Nikki empathetically. 

She took a moment to call out her twin sister Brie Bella, who welcomed her second child, a son named Buddy, with husband Daniel Bryan, on July 1, for ‘always looking so good.’

‘I try to copy [Brie] and, yeah, our mom lives are a bit different. She had two [kid] and I have one.’

Brie and Daniel, who wed in 2014, also have three-year-old daughter Birdie.

To conclude her multi-clip Instagram Story post, Nikki circled back to her main points and stressed that ‘being a mom is the most rewarding thing ever.’

‘It’s worth all the curves, all the changes, the hard work to get my body back in shape, because I have the most amazing little boy ever. So, my Matteo is way worth it’

She noted that she was inspired to be so candid about her post-baby struggles because she wanted to ‘be there for all [the] moms out there.’

‘I got 18 pounds to lose, let’s do it, yes!’ exclaimed Nikki, before turning one last time for the camera in order to provide her following with a realistic, unfiltered view of her body.

After uploading her clips to her Instagram Story, Nikki uploaded a snapshot to her main feed urging her followers to head to her ‘stories for the raw and real me… yeah super scared!’

She also shared a slew of snapshots of herself with her newborn son, who she described as ‘the bestest in the whole wide world.’

Nikki and Artem, who began dating in 2017, got engaged in November, while on vacation in France. 

The loved up duo met, while competing together on Artem’s highly popular reality competition series Dancing With The Stars in 2017. They placed 7th.