ATLANTA, GA – DECEMBER 02: Nivea attends Reginae Carters Birthday Party at Suite Lounge on December 2, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/WireImage)
For more than a decade, singer Nivea has given up a lot to focus on raising her four children. As she recently shared on BET’s mini-documentary Finding Nivea, it hasn’t been easy at all, but it’s been necessary — and rewarding.
“It was a supreme adjustment. Because it didn’t work out with their fathers, I’m not finna give them to no nannies. They didn’t ask to be here,” she said. “It was hard because I’m not regular. And to try to be regular has been very awkward and unorthodox and un-motherf–king-comfortable. Like I hate it! For real. I’m at every parent-teacher conference, I’m at everything for four kids, for years. Lil Wayne and Dream can’t show up. Where is the room to be a singer? Unless I say, ‘Y’all go with that nanny. Y’all go to that boarding school,’ like I was told to do.”
“But I’m obsessed with them,” she continued. “I cannot breathe without them. They’re everything to me. And it’s all so hard to walk away from, despite what I’m naturally drawn to do. So I just give them all of me, reckless and insane. And they are f–king beautiful. I f–king love them. And the pride kept me at home. And I’m sorry, I’ve been a beautiful mother even though that’s not all that I know that I am or wanted to be.”
But now, the 36-year-old is making herself a priority as well. She released new music (the song “Circles”) and is even carving out some time to take her health and wellness seriously.
The beauty is working with a trainer (@forever_mistah on Instagram) and posted a video of herself doing some light but tough abdominal work. She captioned it, “Day 1 of getting this body together with my trainer”:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpXKogBgZEQ/?hl=en&taken-by=thisisnivea
And instead of having the 36-year-old burn herself out on the treadmill on her first day, or jump into weight training when she doesn’t have much experience with it, her trainer had her work on introductory abdominal work for good reason. “Its important that you train SMART,” he wrote about their workout. “If you are a beginner, don’t bite off more than you can chew. Effective training outweighs EVERYTHING!”
For her first day at it, Nivea walked away with a smile on her face, so it’s safe to say she’s off to a great start:
And while she’s working to feel and be her best self, Nivea did say recently that she believes the industry has become more accepting of all sorts of bodies, so she feels more comfortable as she is to step back into it.
“Today it’s different. Pregnancy is embraced. You have artists showing off their baby bump and everyone loves it,” she told Rolling Out. “Plus the industry embraces women with hips and curves and big butts, etc., ‘mama bodies’ are the in thing now, so it’s a lot more comfortable to come back now.”
