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While we revere the pregnant body in our culture, we have a strange attitude towards the changes that women face after giving birth. Our media outlets are crammed with ‘lose the baby weight fast’ stories, while celebs or athletes who manage to slip quickly back into shape are praised and held up as icons.
This is perhaps the most damaging weight loss narrative out there right now, and luckily, things are changing as more and more women proudly reveal their so-called ‘mom bods’. But what exactly does it mean to fall in love with your postpartum body? Realistically, the ins and outs will vary for every woman, but there are a few somewhat surprising ways to love your body again without all of that negative self-talk, and we’re going to consider them here.
# 1 – Only change what YOU don’t like
As much as people think they can blithely touch your stomach when you’re pregnant, there’s an element of the postpartum period where it feels like you have to change your body to please everybody else. In reality, though, nothing bad is going to happen if you leave that sagging skin, or don’t do anything to reduce the appearance of your stretch marks. With that in mind, you should only take time out to change any postpartum beauty problems that you don’t like. After all, it’s your body, your time, and your choice!
# 2 – Think health, not self-hate
Many postpartum bodily narratives are built around self-hate or negative self-talk. But you’re sure to be busy during this period, and your body has just been through a lot. Far from worrying about the ‘ideal’, often harmful postpartum aesthetic, you should be thinking solely about how to care for your body and help it to heal. This may include changes like prioritizing kegel exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor or embarking on an exercise plan or a treatment like EM Sculpt to rebuild core muscle strength. It certainly shouldn’t mean putting yourself on restrictive diets when you’re also trying to breastfeed, or spending your baby’s naps exercising when you should be using those periods to get some much-needed rest yourself.
# 3 – Accept your differences
Too many new moms resist the changes to their bodies but feel unable to do anything about them. This is something that could get you down if you’re holding onto your old body by, say, continually trying to squeeze back into your pre-baby wardrobe. But, it’s important to realize that your body will never be the same, and that needn’t be a bad thing if you just embrace it. There’s nothing to say that you can’t still look great, you may just need to consider going up a size with your wardrobe or styling yourself according to your new body shape. As soon as you do these things, you should start feeling able to see beauty in yourself again, without having to put yourself through further struggles to reach that point.
Mom’s bodies are truly amazing, and they deserve their recognition. Fall in love with your mom bod at last using these simple pointers!
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