Battle of the Body: What Mothers Face

This was a requested blog topic:  America's (tainted) view of the Mother's Body.

 I have a couple of websites I want you to go check out before you read the rest of this.

A complete visual guide of mothers and their body-battles

BabyCenter polls 7,000 who "tell it like it is"...the truth about the postpartum body


Check out this comment from a body image expert about what women think about themselves postpartum:

Joan Chrisler, a body image expert who teaches at Connecticut College, isn't surprised. "Lots of studies have shown that women think men want them to be thinner than men really want them to be," she says. "Researchers will show women sketches of female figures and ask, which do you think men believe is the ideal? Men always pick significantly bigger sizes than women think they want." So if your mate says you look great, believe it.

Check out this comment from the BabyCenter article about what OTHER people think about women postpartum:

On the other hand, plenty of other people seem to feel free to offer their critiques of your postpartum body. Nearly half of our survey moms said they got negative comments from their parents, and a quarter got them from an in-law. Even strangers seem to feel entitled to put in their two cents, with 18 percent of moms saying they got hurtful comments from people they didn't even know. 

And now take a peek at this slideshow:

Post-Baby Bellies :)

This is what the media should be glorifying. The women who are "everyday" heroes, not the women who do "everyday" feats (like having babies) and then manage to whittle away their size so you can never tell! Having children is part of those glorious feats that only women can accomplish (giving all due sensitivities to those who need IVF help or use surrogacy). I have said time and time again, that women need to be supportive to one another, especially surrounding something as life and body-changing as pregnancy and childbirth.

One of my favorite natural doctors, Dr. Don Colbert, often quotes this Scripture when explaining why people are unhealthy: "My people perish for lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6. Another version also says "My people are DESTROYED..." We are destroying one another with unrealistic expectations and distortions of beauty. Some women can snap back into their "first" body rather quickly, thanks to genetics or God-knows-what, and that's great! But for the majority of us, it's our first-ever crash course to the world of health and fitness. We learn that along with having that glorious baby comes a glorious introduction to a body we've never known or imagined having. Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we'll NEVER gain as much weight as so-and-so did, only to find that numerous factors can influence difficulties in postpartum weight loss. I had a hard time dealing with the shock of losing my "first" body (can't even remember what it looked like) and beating my body down mentally for being gross and not getting back to "normal." I ended up dealing with thyroiditis, which turned into Hashimoto's after not being diagnosed and treated properly for over a year. I had much grieving over my body and hated it for turning on me. This is how I looked  before and after my first pregnancy:

After my second:

And this is what it looked like when I finally stabilized my thyroid hormone production and started a healthy living regimen:

And then got pregnant for the third time (before and afters):

And current:

No sucking in! Normal standing.

With proper posture and muscular flexation :)

Having again started to work towards more healthy living

You can read about my epiphanies regarding health and loving my body on my facebook and throughout my blog, but it all boils down to the day I realized (after much body-hating) that my body was actually my ally and friend, my ride-or-die boo thang, and my link to life, both my own life and giving life. I learned it was a part of me I had been treating pretty nastily, and if I was my body I wouldn't respond well either. I learned that the body is coupled your spirit, and those cannot be separated to achieve healthy results...

I started following inspiring people on Twitter, and reading a book called "Believing in Myself" (Larsen and Hegarty) as well as going to therapy. When got my mind, body, and spirit (and thyroid!) in sync, and started loving myself and treating myself with respect and kindness regardless of what the media told me or pressure from celebs or awesome-gened moms, I noticed changes. I developed more mental strength and character than I had ever had, and my body started to respond.

America and other woman who are capable of giving life, stop hating on the beauty that is your body and focus on being present with what your body is doing for you RIGHT NOW. It is sustaining you, carrying you, holding in your organs, nursing your baby, allocating nourishment to the proper places, and is housing the whole system that keeps you working. It's a marvelous thing. And it's made for wear and tear. You're going to have it for the rest of your life. So make peace with it, and love yourself better from here on out.

Monica, fellow body-lover-who-sometimes-forgets-these-things-too.