Learning to be Proud of my Body {and the accounts that helped}

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proud of my bodyThe other day, a girl that I don’t know very well asked me if I was pregnant….I am not. {insert eyeroll here} I sarcastically replied, “No. But thank you.” Knowing her, even the little that I do, I know she didn’t mean anything by it, and she may have even been looking for a way to connect in a new work environment. For a fleeting moment, I felt myself get upset, felt myself critically look at my body and think,”Wow, do I really look pregnant?! Pregnant enough that someone I that doesn’t know me, or my situations feels like they can safely ask?”

Then something happened that caught be off guard. I knocked that thought right out, and I actually started to feel really great about myself. Turns out, I am proud of this body I have. This body that carried two little guys and brought them into this world. My body is strong and beautiful, mom tum included. I wasn’t even really mad or embarrassed. It wasn’t about not caring what someone who is basically a stranger was thinking, more about being okay with the answer being no. 

 It goes without saying that we live in a world that puts a large emphasis on how we look. A lot of us are guilty, myself included, from time to time of falling down the social media rabbit hole of pretty people. It is so easy to look at those perfectly presented people and get down on ourselves. On the flip side, social media also has given a place for a lot of body positive people. A place to see real women of real size doing real things. Taking pretty pictures and wearing pretty clothes and living their lives just how they want to. Without even realizing, some of these amazing women have completely changed my outlook on how I view what I want in life and how to be happy with the person I am on the outside as well as in. They made it okay to be okay with my body.

Just recently I did a complete overhaul of who I follow on Instagram. If an effort to comply with my negativity detox I am attempting, I wanted to purge things that bring me to a negative place, and only look at things that make me bring me joy. I stopped following any account that made me feel bad about myself and stuck with people that I love and truly make me happy.   

Some of my favorites:

Jenna Kutcher:  This amazing woman hosts The Goal Digger Podcast… She is one of the most positive and honest people I have come across. I just find myself drawn to her over and over again. Plus after a long and very open struggle with infertility, she is now pregnant and venturing into this crazy world of motherhood. She is often criticized for having a “hot husband” but the love between them is really breath taking, and they are able to laugh together and roll with the punches.

The12ishstyle (Katie Sturino): This girl is a true New Yorker and the owner of Megababe—a line of products geared towns putting an end to boob sweat and inner thigh chafing. She is always calling out designers for their lack of sizes for everyone. She isn’t afraid to tell you exactly what she is thinking and is unapologetic, in a very good way.    

Simply Sadie Jane: a former nurse and mama of three, Sadie is so open about the life struggles that come with not only being a wife and mother but being a woman in general. She really shows the beauty that life can bring, even when things get tough. She gives a very real view of motherhood and the struggle to balance it with a healthy lifestyle, not to mention her littlest son is the cutest little (big) thing.

Sonoran Lauren: This girl! A former NPhx blog contributor, a realtor, a mama to two fabulous little boys and a Phoenix local. This girl does her thing! If she is not selling the cutest lil’ phoenix local homes, she is sharing her funny conversations with baristas or cleaning up local hiking sites. She just had a special place in my heart.

As I get older it had become more and more important for my mental wellness to surround myself with positive people, I am trying to get to a place where I am true to myself for not only me, but my family.Turns out, I am not as far off as I thought. 

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