Welcome to Mothership: Parenting stories you actually want to read, whether you're thinking about or passing on kids, from egg-freezing to taking home baby and beyond. Because motherhood is a big if — not when — and it's time we talked about it that way.
The media bombards us with messages about "post-baby bodies" that suggest we should "bounce back" immediately after giving birth. But not everyone's body does that — nor should it. The changes we undergo in order to carry and birth another human being are beautiful and should be celebrated. Appreciating the amazing things your body can do rather than criticizing the way it looks is easier said than done, of course, but one woman recently shared how she's learning to do just that, Cosmopolitan reports.
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After Mia Redworth had her first child, she felt insecure about going up a few clothing sizes. She hit the gym thinking it might help recover her former physique. But soon, she realized she didn't want to. Since Redworth was lifting weights and doing other strength-building workouts, she gained muscle, which also meant some parts of her body got bigger, and she didn't return to her old size. But she felt strong and healthy, so she stopped weighing herself.
"My fitness goals have never been to get back to my body before a baby," she wrote on Instagram. "I'm going to be bigger, I'm building muscle and THAT'S OKAY!"
When Redworth tried on a denim skirt she used to wear before she became a mom, she realized it fit her again — even though she had never returned to her pre-pregnancy weight. Here, once again, is proof that weight isn't a good measure of health. Furthermore, Redworth realized, she didn't care about clothing size, either. The skirt fit more tightly than it used to, but she still felt just as great in it — and healthier than ever.
"Clothing size isn't everything, and although this shows my waist is getting small, because of building my bum+thighs, they're always going to make me go up a few sizes," she explained. And she's perfectly fine with that.
The takeaway? You don't have to wait until you're a particular weight or size to feel good about your body. You can choose to do that right now.
"Don't focus so much on sizes. It's all about if you're happy with the way your body looks," Redworth wrote. "You could fit into any size clothing and find issues with your body. Focus more on loving yourself for you, getting rid of the negativity, and challenge yourself on why a clothing size is so important to you. Fitness becomes much more enjoyable if you aren't constantly putting yourself down."
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