Carrie Underwood Vows to ‘Stop Trying to Be Perfect’ After Birth of Second Son Jacob

Carrie Underwood opened up several weeks ago about her struggle to get back into shape after the birth of her second son, Jacob. Now, the “Southbound” singer says she is trying to be kinder to herself, and not demand so much of her body.

“The first time around, with Isaiah, it was easier for me,” she said on the TODAY Show, speaking about her fitness after giving birth to her oldest son. “I think that’s just the way of it. So you kind of have unrealistic expectations about the second time. [You think] it’s going to be just like the first time. And it wasn’t. And I’m like, ‘What is happening? What am I doing wrong?’”

Eventually, Underwood realized the problem wasn’t with her body, but with her own lofty expectations of herself.

“I hold a high standard for myself,” Underwood acknowledged. “But if you set the bar too high and you have unrealistic expectations, at some point you’re going to realize, ‘I’m not there,’ and, again, you’re going to feel like you’ve failed. And it’s ridiculous. You know, my son is three months old. I don’t know what I was expecting, to be quite honest.”

Once Underwood saw that she was asking too much of herself, she quickly corrected her path to focus more on doing her best, regardless of the end result.

“I stopped trying to be perfect immediately,” Underwood admitted. “And I started putting one foot in front of the other, instead of trying to plan everything out — putting one foot in front of the other, and being on my journey, and being on my path and, you know, thinking about my end goal. And it really doesn’t matter exactly when I reach that goal, as long as I just keep putting one foot in front of the other.”

Underwood has learned a lot in the past few years, especially after suffering three miscarriages and sustaining serious injuries in a fall outside her house. Although the experiences were painful, in hindsight Underwood is grateful for the lessons they taught her.

“If there’s anything the past couple of years have taught me is that you don’t know what’s gonna happen next,” Underwood conceded. “And there’s no way you can plan for everything or make everything be the way you want it. So it’s been good for me to just kind of be present, and live in the moment, and stop trying so hard to plan out the entire rest of my life.”

Underwood’s Cry Pretty Tour 360 kicks off on Wednesday night, May 1, in Greensboro, N.C., with Maddie & Tae and Runaway June joining her on the road. Find dates at Underwood’s website.

Photo Credit: Getty Images / Gilbert Carrasquillo