Wednesday, February 16, 2011
women & body image
Ok, so in my last post I said I had mentioned that I had a post about this video & post from Carissa. It talks about how hard women are on their body image, and give statistics that are very ver interesting. It occurred to me how, after having Saige, I am so much happier with myself physically. Now, I'm not model, nor close to being one by looks or size- but I'm ok with that. The last time I was this happy with my physical appearance it was between 2006-2008ish. I had lost a huge amount of weight and that made me happy. Sadly, the weight loss was all that made me happy, those years there were a little rough. Thats another post I'll have to write one day down the road. Anywho, when I got pregnant, I wasn't really happy with my size or weight or the way I carried my weight. I was lucky & only gained 20lbs during my pregnancy & I didn't gain it fast & mostly it was in my stomach/hips area. I delivered Saige with only 3 stretch marks & immediately lost 15lbs. It took me about another month to lose the last 5 & that was ok. I don't know what has given me the confidence now, maybe its my maturity, maybe its knowing what made my body this way? Either way, who cares. I do make negative remarks about my body still, although not as often & mostly their in a joking manner, but I am going to work on lessening that even more. I can say that I look in the mirror when I'm getting dressed or getting ready to walk out the door and am pleased. I love that my clothes fit, and fall down a little, that I'm not tugging at my shirts or wearing over-sized shirts to hide my pudge. I have a pudge yes, but I'm not perfect and nor do I try to be. I have thought about starting up many different exercise videos & training, and when I'm ready I will start them. I don't feel any pressure to tone up or lose more weight, from myself, husband, or society and that is something that I am so grateful for. Sometimes I wonder if this came about because I had Saige. Like Carissa, I would never ever want my little girl to hear my talk negatively about myself (in any way), because the pressure for girls to be "perfect" & skinny is too strong as it is and I would never ever want Saige to crack under that pressure or to hate her looks. I would rather her be happy with herself & the looks she was given and will grow with and embrace them.
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Its so crazy how just having a baby can make you think more positively about yourself. Having a girl, for me, transformed everything I do and think. When they are teenager we'll be grateful for the things we taught them when they were small. :)
ReplyDeleteSaige is one lucky girl to have such a strong, confident Mama!
I am so glad you are so confident about your post pregnancy body. I'm the total opposite. I was so happy with my body before Nealie. Everything I owned fit perfectly. I gained 70 yes 70lbs during my pregnancy. I've lost 50 but I can't loose the last 20. I hate the way I look. I had to buy new clothes because my size 7s and med tops don't fit my now double d chest and my size 12 hips. I barely got stretch marks too. I'm sad for myself because I did this to my body and made my baby my excuse and I'm sad for my husband because I'm not the woman he married. It also doesn't help that my twin sister is 60lbs lighter than me. I would do anything for my old body back.... there is nothing to feel good about this body I am now stuck in....
ReplyDeleteAlice, you have a blog? Why am I not following? I only gained 20lbs during pregnancy & Saige was almost 7lbs at birth, plus I the water & placenta weight I lost. The last 5 came off very very slowly. It took my hips 3 months to get back to normal from pregnancy. I could still wear my pre-preg clothes, but they fit tightly in my hip area. I had no appetite after having Saige and had to force myself to eat, and usually I was only eating a full meal at dinner. I've just recently gotten my appetite back & I'm more than making up for it. Also, are you still producing a large amount of milk? I have only produced what Saige needed, so that could be part of our differences. My boobs jumped 2 sizes from pre-preg to now, I'M IN LOVE! Your weight will come off, it may take time. I've always been able to gain & drop weight fast. I'm 100% positive your husband loves you & the way you look just the same if not more now, than he did before you were pregnant. I think you're beautiful!
ReplyDeleteCarissa, thank you!