When I was pregnant, I constantly compared my pregnant body to that of others. I didn’t exactly feel the most comfortable in my skin, especially as the pregnancy progressed and the weight piled on. My discomfort in my own skin almost kept me from doing and enjoying my maternity photo shoot.
Now that I am postpartum and trying to get back into shape, I find myself doing it again. Though I am close to my pre-pregnancy weight, these last few pounds have been difficult to lose.
At times, it feels like I’m back in a love-hate relationship with my body and I want to change that. I want to appreciate my body more and be grateful, especially for the blessing it brought into our lives. Therefore, I’m reminding myself of why I should be more patient with myself.
- It took my body 40 weeks to grow a human. It needs and deserves time to bounce back.
- I’ve weighed this much in college…when I didn’t have any excuse except laziness and a bad diet.
- Gaining weight because of pregnancy is the best reason for weight gain- ever ever.
- Comparing my postpartum body to someone else’s does no good. After all, we each carry babies differently.
- My (and every woman’s) body is amazing… I mean it stretched out (but thankfully NO stretch marks!) to grow a little human and yet I can fit in pre-pregnancy jeans just one month after giving birth.