But why? Accepting My Post-Baby Body

I am now a mom of three small children.  Whoa!  That was unexpected.  One of the hardest things for me has been accepting my post baby body.  But why?  Why can’t we accept the amazing thing our body just did?  Why is it so hard for moms to come to terms with how their bodies have changed once we are holding our beautiful, perfect, amazing babies in our arms?  Why? 

I don’t think the answer is the same for everyone.  For me, it was knowing I was the fittest I had ever been when I got pregnant with my third beautiful baby.  I had worked so hard to get to that point.  My original goal was to work as hard as I could to maintain that during the pregnancy.  I got sick for about nine weeks with a ‘bronchial thing’ as my doctor called it.  It made it very difficult and painful to breathe. My fitness took a hit.  A bit one.  On the good days I could walk at a super slow pace.  This was not a way to maintain fitness.  Eventually I recovered from that and then the third trimester hit.  Again, it was hard to breathe and move.  Really hard. 

I have been wanting to get back to fitness and in the meantime, I’ve been ashamed of how my body looks.  But why?  If this isn’t how a body is supposed to look after having a baby?  How IS it supposed to look?  This is how my body looks. The fitness will come in time.  Will my body change as I get back to fit?  Probably.  In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy each of my children who came from my body. 

Almond Crusted Chicken

This instantly became one of my favorite recipes.  I love it and make it all the time.  It's from the Hammer and Chisel nutrition guide.  I'm pretty sure you'll like it too! 

Click the image to make it bigger.

Motivation

Motivation is key for the journey to a healthy life.  My motivation has morphed along the way. First it started with me being in a really deep, dark, hopeless place.  The possibility of crawling out of that place one burnt calorie at a time motivated me.  It was is a daily struggle.  It's hard.  So hard.  Fitness is just plain hard.  It hurts.  The pain makes it so easy to think you should just stop.  I mean after all, aren't you doing this to feel better?! 

It didn't take too long before I started seeing the number on the scale get smaller.  OK.  Now we're on to something!  This might have been worth it after all.  Then eventually, my motivation came from success.  Knowing my starting point and knowing I was actually not only losing weight, but becoming more fit, became my motivator. 

Then eventually, my success in itself was my motivator.  Why would I ever do anything that would put me back where I started from?  Hard work pays off and knowing I am working hard day after day motivates me.