Small Strokes Big Oaks

As long as we’re on the topic of body image, let’s talk about the things I’ve learned about my own body image at 8 weeks postpartum:

1. Leggings are good.

2. Spanx are bad.

3. It was not, in fact, all water weight I was gaining at the end.

4. When people say you’ll bounce back quickly, they don’t mean in two months. They mean in, like, a year.

5. My personal goal is to be able to wear my pants, buttoned, by April. I’m hoping this is reasonable.

6. I’m fairly certain God invented wine specifically for new moms.

6a. I’m also fairly certain that the consumption of wine after 10 months of teetotaling is the #1 reason why I am hanging on to more extra pounds than I’d like.

6b. After 10 months of teetotaling, I will not give up my nightly glass of wine in favor of quicker weight loss.

7. After a full-term pregnancy, I will never, ever call myself fat again.

7a. This is also probably a good practice to get into around my daughter.

8. I get really irritated when people tell me to love my body because it has made a beautiful human being. I can love what my body has done, love my daughter, and still want to fit in my old jeans. These things are not mutually exclusive.

All valuable life lessons, if I do say so myself.