Love Your New-Mom Body

I just got my new Babytalk Magazine (April 2009) and boy was it exactly what I needed to hear!! It is frustrating after 3 months to still not be able to fit into my regular clothes…but a wise woman told me that it took 9 months to get this way and it will take that long to get it all back off. I’m glad to be back working out…it’s great stress relief and Myra-time!

Here are some snippets from the article:

“At this particular moment in time–four months after the birth of my daughter–I have a closetful of jeans in a variety of sizes, none of which fit. My breasts are so saggy that when I look in the mirror I see Maxine, the old lady on those Hallmark cards who’s always cracking jokes about tucking her boobs into her waistband. And I’m shedding more hair that my golden retriever. In other words, I’m not feeling especially hot.

Boost Your Confidence

Learn to embrace your shape and you won’t waste your precious (and limited!) energy beating yourself up. Plus, studies show that women who are content with their bodies set more reachable goals and are more successful at losing weight.

• Transform Your Mirror Image — Look at yourself as an overall person, not critically at the things you don’t like about yourself.

 

• Stop Mind-Reading — It’s easy to think that everyone you encounter, from your mother-in-law to the grocery clerk, is checking you out to see if whether you’ve lost the weight. Banish that “they must think I’m so fat” mind-set starting now. Most people are so caught up in their own stuff that they probably hardly notice you. And when somebody says that you look great, resist launching into a litany of complaints about your battle-worn body!

 

 

• Give Yourself Time — The year after you have a baby is a wacky, whirlwind phase, so ease up on any preconceived notions you had about when you should be back to your pre-baby weight. The fact is, most moms don’t lose their baby weight at warp speed. Breastfeeding will also make you hold onto about five pounds of water weight.

 

 

• Silence Your Inner Critic — Spending your days mumbling an ‘I’m so ugly’ mantra gets you nowhere. When you catch yourself thinking body-bashing thoughts, stop and write down a counterpoint: ‘I eat like a pig’ becomes ‘My body needs energy to nurture me and my baby.’ ‘I can’t believe I got so huge’ becomes ‘I needed to put on weight to bring a healthy baby into the world.’

 

 

• Kill the Comparisons — Stop evaluating how your body matches up against other women’s.”

 

And when I look at this precious, amazing person…I’m reminded that he is worth it all! Happy 12 weeks to my precious Ridley!