Mommy Pouch and All!

8/21/2015 4 Comments

Mommy Pouch and All!

About 5 years ago I lost over 100lbs. It was an amazing feat. Many people ask how I did it and marvel that I have kept it off. I too have great emotion around it. I am grateful and find strength in knowing that I have slayed the beast of obesity. I have adopted a healthy lifestyle which includes awareness around the amount and types of food I consume and I thoroughly enjoy a very active lifestyle. Many people also marvel at how my physique seemed to have bounced back after losing so much weight. I explain that resistance training has been a dear friend of mine. However. "The Mommy Pouch" is alive and well.
The Mommy Pouch is a name that I have given to my mid-section. It has caused me angst and shame. No amount of core exercises can erase stretch marks and sagging skin from 3 children and losing over 100lbs, but the bigger issue is not stretch marks and sagging skin. The bigger issue is what I would tell myself about my Mommy Pouch. I would tell myself that I was not worthy of love and would wonder if I would be loved truly. Now, this wasn't a conscious conversation. I would first feel shame whenever I saw another female with children that didn't have my same issue. I would immediately feel less than. I would also feel shame and frustration at noticing my Mommy Pouch through my clothing. At the heart of those feelings was the thought of my unattained perfection.
Choosing a new, loving and empowering perspective: My Mommy Pouch is a visual reminder of life. It came about with the pregnancy of my first born. My first born is an amazing young man and I don't regret carrying him and what my body went through in order to produce his life! I subsequently had two more beautiful lives nurtured in my Mommy Pouch. I birthed, nursed and added life to three beautiful babies with these sagging body parts Lol. There is no shame in that. I love me. I accept me and am learning to accept my beautiful imperfections. I love how I care for my body inside and out. Perhaps I'll never know the joys of actually seeing my six pack underneath the stretch marks or donning a skimpy bikini but I love how strong that I am internally and externally. I also thoroughly believe that when I marry again my imperfections will be loved and embraced by the right man for me. Mommy pouch and All....I like me. I love me!
If this post has resonated with you please feel free to comment below. Also share what loving and empowering words you tell yourself when you feel shame around your body image. Our words have power.

4 Comments

Carla Jones

8/21/2015 05:53:25 am

My dear friend, please think of this the next time you need to change your negative thoughts: The worse person anyone can lie to earth is ourselves! Remember that your physical appearance is not who you are. Just as it wasn't when you were 100 pounds heavier, it still it's now. Know that your mind set the absolutely the most valuable part of who you are! I applaud you for checking yourself when you realized you were having negative thoughts about yourself! This is something I'm currently working on myself. I also have midsection I haven't been able to get rid of and I've never given birth to a child. Instead I have IBS and it seems to be hereditary. I have lost weight, down to 152 lbs. and my stomach sit parallel to my breast which is not cute in the clothes I want to wear. I'm now researching how to dress around it where eye just go straight there and not get disgusted every morning when it's time to get dressed for the day. I'm a work in progress and I wish the best thoughts for you as I'm working on giving myself because I now understand that my thoughts become my words, and my own words can hurt me! Have a fabulous day, on purpose!

Anitra Rice

8/21/2015 07:01:01 am

Carla, Thank you for your kind words and for sharing your own personal struggles. We can be our own worst critic and silencing our inner critic is a daily accomplishment worth taking on. A healthy self-image is like you've stated not contingent upon our weight or our midsections. Our value lies within. Our thoughts are real things that produce real effects in our lives. When love is at the root it binds our wounds and heals our pain. Loving ourselves unconditionally is essential. I will definitely have a wonderful fantabulous day, on purpose! I pray the same for you my beautiful friend! :)

Sarah chapman

8/21/2015 12:55:06 pm

Beautifully said. Thank you for speaking about this topic. Even though from the outside I look great for birthing and nursing 4 babies. But when alone in a Mirror my body is all saggy and scarred up. I have been struggling with loving who I am and trying to accept this newest version of me after baby #4. And rewrite what society says I need to look like and know in my heart that I am beautiful to god and that my stretchy saggy skin is a sign of one of the greatest gifts which is to bare children. I believe it is something that us woman need to unite in and change the way that society makes us feel about our bodies for our next generation.

Anitra Rice

9/20/2015 02:53:55 pm

Thank you Sarah for sharing so vulnerably. I couldn't agree with you more with women uniting in speaking about this and encouraging each other in loving ourselves including our bodies fully. God bless you in your personal journey. You are beautiful inside and out! Hugs.

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