How to love your body through Pregnant or Not

    Da...Daa....Daaaaa!!!!!  So  you are pregnant.  This is supposed to be a happy time in your life. You start to take on that glow...  well!  Not everyone! I think that might be more so showing off your happiness rather then a glow. Although for my situation, I was actually glowing from the increase in oil production on my forehead!  One thing about pregnancy that I was not prepared for was the way my body changed from just looking pudgy to, "she might be pregnant" to "WHOLLY MOLEY! Are you having twins"  I swear I heard that at 12 weeks and at 18 weeks I was told, "You must be delivering soon."  So with all these changes in our bodies how to we adjust to the transition?  

  

    After receiving lots of emails on this topic, as well as, dealing with the battle of the Bulge (actually multiple bulges) I decided to write out tips on how I coped.  It wasn't easy with everyone telling me, "Oh, you workout. You wont gain much" or "You will be all belly."  Not sure if they got the memo from my jeans but they stopped fitting after 6 weeks.  Pretty sure my entire body began to grow ASAP!  I started growing very quickly into my new pregnant body despite my efforts to eat clean and workout.  There were many times when I had to reset my mind to focus on the reality of being pregnant rather then.... OH MAN! I had to buy a size Large Maternity Pants (means my hips are a 45-46 inches). 

   

    After my, what seemed like a million, mind reset moments I figured out how I made it through pregnancy loving my body and how you can too! 

How to love your body through Pregnant or Not

Focus on how you feel and not what you weight
    Does your weight really matter if you physically feel good? I quickly realized that I allowed myself to feel a certain way based on how much weight I gained.  I started to get frustrated that my weight skyrocketed because most people were telling me that you were only supposed to gain x amount of weight per week. What I didn't realize is that everyone gains their maternity weight differently.  Our bodies will do whatever they need to do in order to prepare for the birth of a miracle its creating. 

    In order to live an energetic life while being pregnant we must eat to nourish our bodies because our bodies will take what it needs to grow the baby first and leave us with whatever is left over.  I knew I needed to maximize what I could do to feel energized because I had to work to support my family. My baby depended on me to feel good, to get the nutrition we needed, to rest, exercise and think positively.  

*Try putting yourself in your daughters (or someone you cared about) shoes. Would you want her getting down on herself because her body is changing or would you rather her focus on how she feels and resetting her mind to cope in positive ways?  So why should you act differently? 

Wear clothes that fit and don't freak about the size

Omgoodness!!!!  This one is HUGE!  I can't express to you enough to buy clothes that fit.  Stop trying to fit into your pre pregnancy clothes and buy clothes that accent your growing tummy.  It was really hard for me to feel good about my body when I was trying to squeeze into clothes that really didn't fit.  Once I bought clothes that fit my body I could start to embrace the transformation. 

Change your Mindset

Your thoughts are everything. They form your mindset, moods, attitudes and habits. This is why when you lead change, your success is directly dependent on your mindset.  Something I did to help create a happy place in my mind is whenever I had a negative thought I would say 3-5 positive affirmations that would debunk that negative thought.  I've been doing this for 2 years and now its almost like instinct for me to say something positive soon after a negative thought arises.  I'll be honest some days it takes a little more time for me to feel the positive thought but with consistency it creates a happier environment in your mind.  
Example: 
Statement: 
"Seriously! Its been 3 months and I am still in my maternity pants." 
Positive Affirmations: 
"It took me 9 months to gain this weight so I need to be patient. Its only been 3 months" 
"If my daughter were in my shoes would I want her beating herself up" 
"I may be in my maternity pants but I feel Strong."
"I may be in my maternity pants but I am healthy and I'm a great mom"
"I may be in my maternity pants but I've lost 40 pounds already" 

Surround yourself with positive reinforces (be careful to not be around negative mental enablers)
This goes for anyone!  The minute I decided to Detox and divorce my negative friends was the moment that my life changed.  I went from living a dramatic lifestyle to stress free in a matter of weeks.  I had no idea how much being around negative people could change your own mindset.  You can be a positive person but if you surround yourself with people that do not promote personal growth then you will remain a floater in life.  You will just float along without direction, a specific goal or passion.  Divorcing friends is hard but it is 110% worth it.  It has allowed me to set up boundaries that I never had and the time to create new amazing relationships.  

Keep a picture of your ultrasound with you (or something that represents your baby) 
I know for me having a baby has been THE MOST valuable thing I have ever done in my life.  I think we can get caught up in the negative self talk that we forget what is actually happening.  WE ARE CREATING LIFE inside ourselves.  Having a picture to remind yourself of the reason behind the body will ZAP those negative thoughts and reroute you to a place of peace.   

Yes! Stare at yourself naked before you shower and tell yourself 3 things you love about your body.  

This is another big one! At first it was a little difficult but I went from saying, "I'm glad my arms are still small" to "I LOVE my Giant Belly!" To hear yourself say that you love things about your body and to view your body in a new light is a beautiful process. Don't hide from the transformation.  A lot of women told me that they never looked at themselves naked but this is the only time you have to look at yourself as a Miracle Maker. Plus how can you expect (hope) that someone else will find your body beautiful if you can't stand the way you look?  I know for my situation, I was understanding that my body changing could be weird for Brandon but I hoped he would see the beauty behind my body. Not only did he see the beauty but he appreciated the confidence and self love I had for myself. 

*If you go around complaining about your body don't you think that opens the door for other people to look for the "flaws" you are complaining about?  Have you ever thought someone was beautiful and then they mentioned something they didn't like and you were like, "Oh, yeah! I see what you are talking about." When in fact if they had never mentioned it you would have never even realize it.  Your perception would have been, "they are beautiful".  

    So whenever you are having a hard time loving you body try a few of these tips.  All of them apply to pregnancy/postpartum but I feel like these tips could help anyone in the journey to self love. 

*IF THAT DOESN'T WORK THEN LISTENING TO THIS SONG WILL: "Happy"