I saw a picture of myself yesterday and became obsessed with how big I looked. My son is 10 months. I'm lighter than the weight I was before I had a baby. I got married a year ago. And yet, instead of remembering all of these awesome things, I became consumed with this obsessive thinking that everyone has to see my progress. I've been around a group of people twice that have commented on others around me who had also just had babies, saying how great they look especially for having a baby. Because they said it to them and not me in front of me made me feel very insignificant, especially since I work very hard. They didn't intend to make me feel forgotten but it still made an impact on me. I may not look the same as they do but I definitely look better than I did before I got pregnant. That's my own accomplishment. I recognize it and no one else has to. I've always had a slight obsession with making sure I stay in shape, even as a little girl. Small comments from adults made this worse. Some never realize the impact of their words. I remember a measuring tape being brought out to measure our waists. I have a natural hourglass figure and back then, I didn't realize that. I thought I was just big everywhere. I didn't want my waist to be measured. I didn't want anyone to measure me and comment again about how I was too curvy. So, I took off on my bike in an effort to lose the curves. They may have meant no harm but the impact lasted a while. We are all so different. Weight loss is not linear. Sometimes it stalls in certain people for a while because we have to get past our set point (more on this later). And to expand even further on that, you don't even need to feel pressure to lose weight! If you're happy and healthy, I'm not insinuating you need to lose weight at all. The scale fluctuates with MANY different factors: bloat, water weight, undigested food, food intolerance, etc.
I am strong. I work out almost everyday. I eat healthy but I also don't obsess over eating healthy. This is part of living abundantly to me. Living abundantly means not stressing over counting calories or how much I weigh. We are our own worst critics. No one else obsesses over our weight in a picture like we ourselves do. Even if they have a passing thought about our weight, it doesn't consume their entire day like it consumes ours. Live abundantly. Don't stress the weight gain or slow weight loss. If you don't want to lose weight, don't feel pressure to. Just live a healthy, happy, abundant life.
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