Mine seems to be so much healthier! I struggled all my life with positive self-talk & viewing myself in a healthy light. After gaining 40 lbs between my freshman & senior years of high school, I dropped it all plus a little & still could never see myself in a positive light (always bashing myself for eating this or that, constantly standing in front of the mirror looking for what I didn't like, etc.). Now, 5 months PP & about 10lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight, I'm so much easier on myself. I started eating clean & am trying my best to work out regularly but since I'm breastfeeding I only monitor what goes in, not how much & I just caught myself thinking that 10lbs is no big deal & it will come off when it comes off as long as I do my part....who I am? It feels so nice to like myself! Anyone else have a healthier body image after baby?
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I look like I got stuffed with filo dough and cellulite but I am very happy with my body! I appreciate myself (and it) so much! I am proud of what she's done
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I'm not sure if it's healthier or if I just don't care as much. Probably the latter.
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I am not sure that it is a healthier body image but I am much more aware. I want to be happy looking back at pictures of my boys. So I make a point to eat healthier and be healthier for them. Plus I am happier when I eat well. I am not so hard on myself when I do treat myself tho because hey I know I earned it.
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Yes! I used to obsess over my weight and I pretty much just didn't eat. Now I want to set a healthy example for my daughter. It's so much easier to just enjoy my life and eat what I love in moderation and exercise regularly.
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Yes- my body is squishier than before baby but now I'm just so grateful that my body carried a healthy pregnancy, had no problem giving birth, and now is provided perfect nourishment for my baby. If that means my stomach will forever be a little pouchier and my bikini days are behind me, I'm fine with it.
That said, I'm one of the lucky ones who can eat whatever I want while bfing and I weight 14 pounds less than when I got pregnant, so that helps too. I hope to keep this mindset past the bfing days though!
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Nope. I have never felt worse about myself. It sucks. But I am working on it.
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@NurseMommy: haha, I think I might be like you!
I don't know that it's healthier - it's probably that I don't care as much anymore. But I definitely have a new appreciation for my body and what it has done! And the pooch I have - it doesn't bother me because of what it means to me - that I was able to carry a healthy baby to term. Plus I know that Xander (and my husband) love me just as I am and that's enough for me!
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@Smurfette: *hug*
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@Smurfette: Me too.
I was in the absolute best shape of my life right before getting pregnant (and I was 34!). Soooo yeah, things all around suck right now in the body image department.
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@Adira: thanks friend!
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Nope! I don't even recognize myself anymore.
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Some days yes, some days no. I appreciate what my body has done and I try not to beat myself up over the extra pounds I'm holding on to. I keep telling myself that time spent with DS is more valuable right now than time spent at the gym but I think that excuse is wearing thin.
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Yes, I feel so bad that I spent decades hating it! I'm so grateful for the healthy pregnancy, birth, and baby my body gave me!
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Definitely not. I have a really hard time now.
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@Greentea: haha i'm sure that's not the case but this made me laugh anyway.
i think my body image is about the same as pre-baby. as in, not great but not horrible, and certainly much much better than it used to be.
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Not one bit....but I am going to work on that after baby #2.
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@Smurfette: @JoJoGirl: Right there with ya! I was in incredible shape when I got knocked up, and it's just so hard not to compare what I look like now to what I looked like then . . . I am s-l-o-w-y getting back to *normal*, but it's taking so much longer than I ever imagined it would.
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I'm accepting of the things like stretch marks and stuff, but my body image didn't really get better until I dropped all the weight and started to eat right and get my shape back. I'm just not me unless I look and feel like me, no matter what's come out of my body. Having a baby didn't make me complacent in that department.
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I wouldn't say it's healthier by any means. I weigh 15 pounds less than I did when I got pregnant, but I'm squishier than I was, too. I struggle with that, a little bit. But at the same time, I am so fiercely proud of how my body did through pregnancy/delivery/postpartum that the extra squish and wobblies doesn't really faze me. So no, I'm not healthier, but my pride in my body kind of outweighs my unhappiness with its appearance. If that makes any sense whatsoever.
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@Mrs. Sunshine: Congratulations! That is wonderful. Seriously - embrace it.
I go back and forth - the last couple of years have been difficult on my body and I (which has been tough because I have always been pretty slim and in shape so never thought much about it before TTC). I *like* my body a lot more than I did before I started TTC because it has been so strong and powerful - it carried and created a human, went through a loooonnnnng labor without meds, and BF a beautiful baby for 12+ months. But it is also riddled with endometriosis, had a postpartum hemorrhage, retained placenta, and has caused me a lot of post-childbirth pain.
I was the happiest with my body that I have ever been when I was pregnant. I felt so strong and beautiful. Now, a year pp, I'm below my pre-preg weight, but everything is a little softer and droopier than before. I have faith that I get can my butt back in fighting shape, but I figure that's something I'll deal with when we are done having kids (TTC #2 now)...
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No
I'm tired of eating better and being more active and still not being able to fit in my clothes, to buy normal shirts at the store... to just look at myself in the mirror and not think I look horrible. I'm having a pretty hard time with my pp-body.. but I am making a pretty big effort to not be negative about myself around LO.
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Yes, absolutely.
To be fair, I've dropped below my pre-pregnancy weight by 5lbs at this point by breastfeeding and moderate exercise alone. But once I was back to within 5-10lbs of my old weight I felt totally fine. I think like @NurseMommy: I care a lot less, too.
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DH commented to me a couple weeks ago that he felt like my self-esteem was really good right now (currently pregnant). I gained a lot of weight in the beginning number wise but it all went to my belly, so I feel really good about myself pregnant. I'm curious to see if that carries over to my postpartum body. I hope so! It's been nice to not feel bad about the way I look!
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I used to have some very bad habits to lose/maintain my weight in HS/College, so me being at a bigger body has been hard on me but I refuse to go back to that place. I wish I had more motivation to lose weight, but I respect my body that i'm in now because it has given me my daughter. I don't want her growing up in a house where being skinny is everything.
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@Smurfette: same here. I don't hate my body but it kind of makes me sad to see what it looks like now. Not that I was super fit before but I was more toned and no stretch marks on my tummy. Now with baby #2 in there, lord only knows how it will look like after. When I look at my little boy, I know he was totally worth it, but I still miss what I looked like. I should have appreciated it then.
And I can't really complain because I don't work out. When would I find the time to do that?! I hope to after this one.
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@Bookish: I am already making sure I don't make comments about dieting/my body around her. Just to get in the habit.
@Mamasig: My DH travels during the week, so I just cancelled my gym membership cause I could never go (hours never worked out on the weekends) But I have to do something cause it isn't fair to me. I want to feel good about myself again. I want to feel like that my DH is attractive to me (I know he is now but you get what I am saying).
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@septca: so far I liked myself best pregnant too! I just never would have been this forgiving or kind to myself before hand!
And I think it's wonderful for you to look at yourself so positively. I would be so easy to focus on the negative but you aren't choosing to do that!! -
@MsLipGloss: this! It's so hard not to compare! I'm only 9 weeks pp so I'm trying to take it in stride but it's so hard not to feel strong like I did before - I miss my abs!
I don't think I have a negative body image (and I never have) but I do long for the 6 pack I used to have, but I know that 6 pack couldn't stay because my perfect daughter needed that space, and it's a no brainer I'd rather have her
and I will gladly hold onto extra weight right now to be able to meet her nutritional needs -
It is. I use to feel horrible about my body which was silly since I was a healthy weight. I focus less on how awful I look and more on wanting to improve myself and feel good rather than skinny.
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@HLK208: same here! I feel like I wasted so much time hating myself, it's sad really! I hope my new outlook will translate to a healthy body image for my daughter as she grows.
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Ugh - at one month pp I am feeling super critical - not cool.
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@MrsH: I've always heard it can take up to a year to get back to "normal". Just relax. I know a month feels like forever but it's not; you just finished growing an entire person!!! The evidence is beautiful, I promise!
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I liked my body before but it's hard to go back to that after having two kids. I don't have the gene that makes you lose weight while nursing either. Haha! Okay, it didn't make me gain weight but I did after and, thankfully, only with my first and not my second. I'd like to go back to what I used to look like but I'm not hopeful and am actually okay with how I look now. I'm about 25lbs heavier but am happy. However, being in Asia I'm considered totally fat so it's slightly motivated me to start running again. Haven't started yet. But I guess I will for my health's sake.
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I would say I care less, so yes, but I'm honest enough with myself to know I didn't feel this way until I lost the last of the baby weight ( around 11 months pp).
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I go back and forth. At the moment no. I still had 10 lbs. to lose when I got pregnant with LO #2 and I'm terrified at how much weight I may gain during this pregnancy. But, at times I don't care and figure I can work on it after baby arrives. When I look at my daughter it reminds me it was more than worth it.
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@Bookish: @Smurfette: same here:( it's been a year since my LO was born and i dont feel good about my body. it is frustrating for my old jeans etc to be constantly tight even though I'm exercising and eating a bit better.
I am being a nut about it and won't buy bigger pants as that feels like a slippery slope for me. I was I'm the best shape ever when I got pregnant so that's what I am comparing myself to which likely isn't helpful!
Truthfully, I am not one of those ladies who embraces pregnancy and the power of my body in that way -I am too stuck on a dress size. Stupid I know.
One thing that has made me feel better is when my LO is crawling over me and grabbing the squish, he doesn't care how I look, just that I'm his mom. -
I ate really well and worked out before and during my pregnancy. I probably cared about my pregnancy weight gain way too much but overall I was really happy with my body then. At 4 months post-partum, I am too sleep-deprived and busy with LO to work out or care! So not sure if that is better or worse!
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I definitely care less about it, and I don't obsess over it anymore, which is a good and bad thing! I feel like my priorities have shifted to less superficial things (good) but by that happening, it's too easy to let myself go (bad) and become weak and unhealthy (worse). So while my body image is definitely better than before (when I had a pretty smokin bod!), it's harder to stay motivated.
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Post baby, I was okay with it being flabby and stretched. I gained a ton with nursing and stress. Now at 18 months pp, I'm happier with my body since going on WW. I plan to continue eating healthy into the next pregnancy, possibly using WW since they do account for pregnancy and nursing.
I'm tired of eating better and being more active and still not being able to fit in my clothes, to buy normal shirts at the store... to just look at myself in the mirror and not think I look horrible. I'm having a pretty hard time with my pp-body.. but I am making a pretty big effort to not be negative about myself around LO.
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