3 Months Postpartum, Body Talk: Postpartum PRESSURE Women Face
(As women this is heartbreaking to see)
Its been 7 weeks since I was cleared to "work out" again. I think I started doing light cardio the first week or two after I was cleared and then upped my game just a bit by then slowly lifting light weights again in a 24 hour gym class once a week. Then i went to twice a week the last 3 weeks. Its funny because I dont really feel that I look any different than 8 weeks postpartum, and havent lost any weight since 3 weeks postpartum (although i discussed how silly the number on the scale is on my last fitness post about being 2 months postpartum.. go back and read if your interested). I may not look different or weigh any less, but I FEEL different. I feel physically strong when I work out, I feel empowered physically and emotionally after a great sweat sesh. I also feel lighter, less stressed, and get that great endorphine boost. I feel like im doing something great for my body and being an exmaple of health to my family and community around me. My body might just decide to hold on to that last 2 lbs of baby weight, and two pounds in my opinion is nothing. Its nothing to waist time thinking about, or kill myself trying to lose when I have the greatest joy waiting at home for me, my two boys. I know I mentioned this before, but it really sank in for me this last month. I treasure my time with my son. I dont want to miss a beat. Although, I do love getting "me" time and going to work out really quick.. it gives me time to miss him, to appreciate the time i am with him even more, and it helps me stay sane to be an individual again for just a moment without him attached to me. LOL. When I came across what Kristen Bell had to say I just had to share!! She has such a great message & put it into words perfectly,
"I'm definitely trying to lose [the baby weight] — I want to be clear. But I'm not letting it keep me up at night and I am not letting it become the narrative of my life for the next year," Bell told E! News.
As for those mothers who feel like they have to lose the weight overnight, she said, "It's like, by the way, don't you want to look like you've had a baby? I'm sitting here with you, I'm crunched over, I have a huge muffin top—who cares?!"
In yet another interview about being asked about losing the baby weight she responded,
"Look, I'm like any other woman. All this evolved b.s. that I'm telling you is my mantra: It's not something I practice naturally. I had to surrender to not worrying about the way I looked, how much I weighed, because that's just part of the journey of having a baby. I am not a woman whose self-worth comes from her dress size."
"I'm going to continue working out and see where it goes. I'd like to get back down to where I was before the baby... but if this is where my body wants to be, so be it. I'm not going to make myself miserable for the rest of my life trying to get back to where I was before."
Heres the link to read what the author of this post had to say.. i highly recomend reading on: Kristen Bell Interview
My favorite part of what she had to say is, "but if this is where my body wants to be, so be it. I'm not going to make myself miserable for the rest of my life trying to get back to where I was before." I just LOVE this. Let our bodies be where they are intended to be. I'm not Kristen Bell, & she isnt me. Im not Jessica Simpson, Kim Kardashian, kate Middleton, my sisters, my friends, or YOU. And none of them or you are me either. Which just means that we need to let go of what the media and everyone around us tells us to look like or what we are supposed to be like. . . because we arent supposed to be any of those ideas or any of those models or people the world tells us to be. . . God created you and I to be just that, you... yourself.. and I .. myself. I am only me. I cannot be or look like anyone else. And we can go our entire lives striving to look like another person, when our bodies are not capable of that, and be miserable and never achieve our goal.. OR we can quit wasting our time and energy and achieve something that is attainable.. self love. SELF ACCEPTANCE. Embracing who you were created to be. If we are healthy and live a balanced life our bodies will look exactly what they are supposed to look like. You are PERFECT the way you are, not according to the worlds standards maybe, but according to our Creators. He made you. And He made you uniquely you so that you would be special.
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:13-14
Its crazy to me the pressure our society puts on women to look a certain way when no two people are exactly the same. Our world is trying to force us to fit this mold of what the ideal women looks like when this just isnt possible for every person to look that specific way. All you ladies know what "look" im talking about. I don't even need to describe it because its pushed so heavily in our faces that every woman knows exactly what im referring to. Lets be unique and embrace the body we do have, and love the body we have. Lets surrender and accept ourselves. This has been my goal and my view for many years now. For the most part I have it down, I try not to allow the media and others to influence the way I feel about myself. I try my best to view myself from God's eyes, try is the key word here. Sometimes I fail, but its momentarily, then I get right back up & He reminds me of who I am, and Who's I am. I'm His & I am "wonderfully made".."altogether beautiful" (Song of Solemn 4:7).
So any time temptation strikes & people are focused on my weight after having my perfect little bundle of baby... I stop in my tracks and remind myself that just because everyone else is focused on my weight, or what I look like, or what they look like, etc.. I dont need to be, nor do I need to care. My focus is on my son right there in front of me, and being an example of loving myself, having self value, self worth, and seeing myself through Gods eyes. My son will have a mother who knows this truth, a mother that can teach him the same truth & then he will be an example one day & know how to look at himself, his sisters/brothers, his own wife, and eventually his own children. Lets not only view ourselves through this new loving lens, let us also see others through Gods loving eyes.. because afterall, aren't we all his wonderful creation?
Im hesitant to even post a picture of my tummy progress after having a baby.. but I see it as a way to show where Im at today and to say that I love my new body & Im proud of the strength it has. We can be strong women inside and out. Thank you God for creating me, thank you for giving me a healthy body that can walk, move, have fun, be active, and most incredibly and importantly, birth my child. I am so very thankful. And truly truly blessed and undeserving.
