Kris Bernal opens up about struggling with body image during pregnancy

Kris Bernal got real about struggling with body image as she looked back on her journey to being a mom.

The actress shared some throwback clips of her prenatal pilates workouts in an Instagram post on Tuesday, Oct. 24, saying she's "completely in awe of what a woman's body can do."

She recalled being at her "heaviest weight ever" while she was pregnant. "I'll be honest that there were moments during my pregnancy that I struggled with body image," she wrote.

Kris, however, eventually found herself loving her baby bump as it's her child's "first home."

"I couldn’t be more grateful for my body—to grow and carry life—its strength and sacrifice has not gone unnoticed! I can say that it’s the most beautiful I’ve ever felt!" she said.

The local star gave an empowering message to soon-to-be moms who are having a hard time loving their bodies during pregnancy. "Tell yourself: 'My body is meant to be lived through, not looked at,'" she wrote. "Life is happening through you in such a profound way. You're growing a life!"

"Live through that miraculous, ever-changing body of yours," she continued. "And, don't worry, you can always bounce back!"

Kris welcomed her child Hailee Luca with her husband Perry Choi on Aug. 15.

"It has been the most magical day of our lives," she shared. While she had "the longest pregnancy and hardest labor," Kris said she "would do it over so many times to meet my #LittleSunshine."

Reflecting on motherhood, the Kapuso celebrity described the bond between a mother and a child as "one of the strongest in existence."

"I'm so in love. It's a kind of love that is never understood until it happens to you," she said.

Kris announced her pregnancy in March via a movie-themed maternity shoot titled When Two Become Three.

She got engaged to Perry in February 2020. They tied the knot in September 2021.