As women, we each deal with body image. We are told what our bodies should look like, and made to feel bad when they don’t meet the criteria. The media bombards us with images of new moms who easily bounce back to their pre-baby bodies within weeks, and the rest of us are left feeling like we haven’t “recovered” until we do the same.
I don’t want to recover from motherhood. I want to relish every second of it, even those that include stretch marks. I am changing my perspective, and the conversation that I have with my body … and you should too.
– Instead of “Those stretch marks are terrible,” say “I couldn’t have my baby without you.”
– Instead of “Why aren’t you back in a size X?” say “You worked so hard in the past 9 months.”
– Instead of “Your tummy could be firmer,” say “My heart couldn’t be fuller.”
– Instead of “Why haven’t you lost the weight yet?” say “It took 9 months to get here.”
– Instead of “I can’t believe I’m in a size X,” say “I look good in this!”
– Instead of “My significant other will never want me again,” say “Who wouldn’t want me? Look at how powerful my body is.”
– Instead of “Yes, I’ve still got some baby weight to loose,” say “I had a baby, isn’t that amazing?”
– Instead of “Why can’t you do this?” say “Wow look at what you did!”
– Instead of “I’ll never wear this again,” say “I earned some new clothes!”
– Instead of “I”m hideous,” say “I’m incredible.”
