In This Article
WWE Superstar Milena Roucka aka Rosa Mendes
I remember the first moment I got pregnant. The feeling of happiness and nervousness took over me. Happy, because I met the man of my dreams and I’m having his baby, and nervousness because of my career.
Never in history has there ever been a new mom in the WWE. I had been in the business 10 years and had never seen it happen, past or present. I was going to make history.
During my career in the WWE, I lived on steamed veggies, salads, grilled chicken, fish and steak.
Very rarely did I have a cheat meal or eat carbohydrates. I worked out 6 days a week, and my physique meant everything to me. [1]
During my pregnancy, I read a lot on what foods contribute to encourage fetal brain development, bones, and everything you could think of to benefit my growing baby.
I would eat egg yokes mixed with avocado, I ate carbohydrates, I stopped drinking Diet Coke, coffee, anything and everything that would be harmful for my baby to be.
As the months went by, I had a very good, comfortable pregnancy and was on a very safe workout regimen. At week 32, I started to crave extremely unhealthy food. French fries, cheeseburgers, pizza and so much steak, I didn’t hold back.
I kept away from harmful foods and liquids but when it came to foods that were safe and high in fat, I listened to my body. During this time my path had crossed with nutrition coach, Courtney Daylong. We spoke briefly about our careers, we exchanged numbers, and would text periodically.
I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl on February 13, 2016. The moment they laid her on my chest and she looked up at me with her big brown eyes, I had never been that happy in my life. At that very moment everything changed.
Life wasn’t about me anymore. It was all about her, and I gladly made that change and adjusted to motherhood perfectly. So perfectly, I completely neglected my body and what I put in it. I didn’t change my awful eating habits, and at this point “listening to my body” wasn’t an excuse anymore.
On June 20th, 2016, I received a call from one of the medical staff at WWE, asking me how I’m feeling, and if I’m ready to come back. It must have taken at least 30 seconds before I uttered the word “yes”.
I wasn’t ready, I was comfortable and overweight with my beautiful bundle of joy in my nest with the love of my life, Bobby Schubenski, who told me I was beautiful every single day.
I still felt beautiful but I was in no shape to put on spandex and walk down that ramp with confidence. I went back to eating grilled chicken and steamed vegetables and was miserable.
I missed the flavors and the grease so much. I thought about Courtney and wondered if she had any recipes that would be healthy and would satisfy my taste buds. She invited my family over for lunch and cooked this delicious vegetable stir fry, I could taste coconut, sweet, citrus and a tiny bit of salt. It was absolutely amazing.
She gave me some more recipes that I played around with since I’m more into savory foods and I was in shock of how delicious everything was. The pounds started dropping rapidly, energy levels went up and I felt happiness, because I felt so good and started to feel good about myself.
Courtney and I had a meeting, and we agreed that women everywhere needed to know these recipes and know that they didn’t need to sacrifice their taste buds to eat healthy and feel confident. [2]
On February 13, 2017, I announced my retirement from the WWE and now I’m in even better shape than I was when I started in the WWE, and it’s not to feel good in spandex, it’s to be a happier, energized mother and fiancè.
It’s to be a role model for my daughter and mothers. Courtney and I want to help people live better and healthier lives and be the best version of themselves.
Was this article helpful?
2 Sources
We review published medical research in respected scientific journals to arrive at our conclusions about a product or health topic. This ensures the highest standard of scientific accuracy.
[1] Henselmans M, Bjørnsen T, Hedderman R, Vårvik FT. The Effect of Carbohydrate Intake on Strength and Resistance Training Performance: A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2022;14(4):856. Published 2022 Feb 18. doi:10.3390/nu14040856[2] Can You Teach Your Taste Buds to Prefer Healthier Food?: https://www.samhealth.org/about-samaritan/news-search/2020/01/13/train-your-taste-buds-to-prefer-healthy-food