why you should be nice to your postnatal body!

Remember when you were a young child?  Not a care in the world except whether or not you’d be allowed to watch cartoons on Saturday morning.  You didn’t notice that your body was fat or different or wrinkly or not perfect.  You just had a body.  A body that allowed you to jump and play.  A body that was essentially…YOU.

You probably walked around naked quite a bit.  Because it felt airy and nice.

You probably hate walking around naked now.  Because you feel less than perfect in your own skin.

This especially rings true after having children.  The breasts sag (or are huge and uncomfortable), there are new stretch marks, your belly is a bit rounder.  Even if you lose all the weight you put on during pregnancy, your “post-baby body” looks and feels a little different.

As it should.

Think about what it just did for you.  For that sweet baby.  It’s truly remarkable what our bodies accomplish through pregnancy.  You grew another person for goodness sake!!  It’s so very sci-fi!  Yet we often skip over the appreciation aspect and jump right to BODY BASHING.  Sadly, the focus is either A) gaining back control as quickly as possible or B) bashing ourselves when we don’t return to that perfect state of normalcy.

It’s just silly.  And it needs to stop….today!

Tips To Become More Comfortable In Your Own Skin

• Avoid negative talk.

Women are the worst for self-hate talk – we are our own worst enemies.  Avoid body bashing by following this simple rule:  If you wouldn’t say it out loud about another person, don’t say it to yourself! 

• Embrace the change.

Be open to the possibility that your body might not look the same as it did pre-pregnancy.  I can guarantee that you’re the only one who cares that you now have to wear a size 8 instead of your pre-pregnancy size 6’s.  Embrace the change!

• Quality foods/Quality Movement

Focus on feeling better in your own skin by putting quality foods into it and exercising daily.  Get outside for a walk in the sunshine.  While you’re walking, thank your body for the ability to MOVE.  It’s a blessing!

• Focus on the positive.

Instead of looking at all of the “flaws,” pick out some details about your body that you LOVE.  Maybe you have strong legs or thick, lustrous hair.  We’ve all been blessed with something that makes us feel beautiful.  Dwell on those things and not the negative.

With all of the other stressors in your life, negative body image shouldn’t be one.  I can tell you right now that with three little ones, I just don’t have time to be LOOKING BACK.  I want to look FORWARD.  They look to me for behavior patterns too.  They hear when I bash my body.  They SEE that wonky face I make when I look in the mirror and “feel fat.”

Strong, confident women don’t focus on the negative.  They don’t look back.  They don’t keep those “goal jeans” and continually beat themselves up for not fitting back into them.  And they certainly don’t speak body hate over themselves or in front of their children.

Instead, they appreciate.  They give themselves GRACE.  They move forward and focus on the things that they can change.  You may not look like or be the same person you were before you had kids.  And thank GOD!!  That girl was a shadow of the woman you’re turning into.  Having kids will do that for you – make you stronger, less focused on yourself, more focused on the things that truly matter.

Strong, confident women are capable of the strongest of feats.

Like creating new life.

That’s something to be proud of, no matter what you look like.

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QUESTION:  Other ways that we can celebrate the post-pregnancy body??  What’s your best physical feature?

splendid…lindsay