Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Holy Post Baby Bod Batman

It doesn't matter what city, state or country you live in, there is an epidemic sweeping the globe and try as we may, we cannot escape it. It is the looming virus of the 'post baby bod' epidemic.

As a woman and a mother, I must tell you how incredibly awful this epidemic is. Hollywood and its extension into mainstream society is jolting minds with the notion that our bodies must miraculously morph into Heidi Klum within two weeks post delivery. For anyone who has ever given birth and experienced the miracle of another life transforming your body, you will attest that this concept is ludicrous.

Do we not know better yet? Experts and concerned members of society have been speaking about the grave influence of the entertainment media on global body image for generations now and yet we continue to push our bodies to unattainable extremes. I suppose if we all had our own Gunther or Sven, no job and a nanny, we might be able to get back to a size double negative zero in two weeks. But for most, it is an impossible fete to try and accomplish in such an unreasonable time frame.

As a result, what are we telling mothers? Oh...it's okay that you might get a little chubby while having a baby, but the second the baby comes out, you need to start doing sit ups because we just couldn't possibly have a new mother with a little baby fat around the gut. I hear now not so much about the benefits of breast feeding other than as an effective weight loss tool. Have we lost our minds? The last thing I wanted to do after having my son was think about loosing weight. I gave birth via c-section and had no a difficult, but more challenging recovery...it just took a bit longer for those muscles to recover and strengthen. In fact, I was told not to do any physical activity for at least six weeks. Okay...now how would I get to my double negative zero if I can't do anything besides, gasp, spend time with me new miracle baby?

Here's the thing, we spend too much time focusing on the things that don't matter. Health is important, yes, but worrying about super heroing yourself into your skinny jeans immediately upon birth is unrealistic and frankly its unfair. This beautiful gift deserves your beautiful attention. You can't get those moments back so don't spend them on the scale. And as far as society is concerned, remember, that just because something is splashed across every Hollywood magazine in the grocery line...doesn't make it fact. Don't let anyone, especially the media, tell you how to live your life. I just wish we could leave women and the weight loss issue alone. Enough already people!!!!

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