outfit deets:
shirt- babybird vintage
shorts- macy's
shoes- target
necklace- h&m
Oh hey! Here is my post baby body in all it's glory. Believe it or not it is the same as my pre-baby body. I should say my pre-Rosie body. Pre-Lilly I was pretty skinny... and 22. And even then I weighed about 10lbs more then I did in high school. After Lilly I never regained my "pre-baby body" and it took me a while to be ok with that but here is the deal- I have a woman's body now. If I had my pre-baby body it would basically be my high school body. I was an adolescent in high school.
I have MAJOR beef with the term high school skinny. In case you're not familiar (yeah right) it is a term used in a lot of magazines and different "health" publications (and lots of women) as the end goal of dieting or exercising. To be as thin as you were in high school. DO YOU REALIZE HOW INSANE THAT IS!?! You were an adolescent in high school. A child. Why would anyone's goal be to look like a child? And as a mother of little girls this message kind of makes me feel sick. Are we telling our daughters that you are only beautiful as a child? Is that what we want to tell them that men want? Children? No. Gross.
We mature so much in our early twenties. Physically, intellectually and emotionally. I don't think anyone would ever say "I want to be high school smart." Let's be proud of the women we are. Our minds. Our spirits. And our bodies.
Please ladies, let's ban that phrase from our vocabulary. I want to be a woman. And no matter what size that means for me- I am proud of it.
♥
ps- I want to clarify that I'm not saying that you have to have curves to be a woman. As a wise lady said: it’s my vagina that makes me a “real woman”, not the size of my pants.
double ps- thanks to Rachele for the inspiration.
This has been a revelation.
ReplyDeleteYes yes yes.
Thank you for writing.
You are welcome Rin. Xoxo
DeleteYou are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAw, shucks.. You're making me by blush.
DeleteLove, love, love your post. Go ahead Sara!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jessie! Hope you and Mela are good!
DeleteYES. I love the way you said that we aren't at the same stage emotionally, intellectually etc as we were in high school. It would just be crazy to try to be/want to be as "small" (minded/bodied) as we were then.
ReplyDeleteThis was freeing for me to read today. Thanks.
Thank you Erica!
DeleteGreat great post! Hmm I'd have to drop about 40 lbs to be my weight in hs and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't look the same because now I have curves & boobs.
ReplyDeleteManda you are beautiful just the way you are girl! Xoxo
DeleteLove this! I still am not always 100% comfortable with my post-kiddos body, but you've inspired me to embrace it! So many things shift & change when you're pregnant & that's out of our control! Thanks for posting! :)
ReplyDeleteThings do change but you are beautiful girl!
Deletegreat post!
ReplyDeleteThanks Elizabeth!
DeleteThanks for writing this! I'm at a constant struggle with this issue for a lot of different reasons (having a dance background and being around really skinny girls all the time has not helped), but being healthy is way better than being skinny, and I have to remember that. Daily. What a mental thing women deal with about their weight in our time.
ReplyDeleteSo true! Dancers can have it tough. You are beautiful just the way you are.
DeleteYou look great mama! I'm a size 8 (pre-pregnancy obvs) and love it! Whenever I catch myself thinking about how I wish I could lose 10 lb or something, I remind myself that a size 8 is nothing to shake a stick at! We should always be proud of the body that God has given us =)
ReplyDeleteAmen! Preach sisters.
DeleteI appreciate you adding the disclaimer about how having the size of your pants does not make you a real woman... but as a new reader to your blog, it still stings a bit to read what you wrote.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I am in my mid-twenties and I actually still can wear clothes from when I was in highschool (although I wouldn't since my personal preference in style has changed).
I just ask that other women realize that being skinny does not mean being unhealthy. There are many times where if a woman is skinny, it is not because she starves herself, or over-exercises, or is fighting her body to be a certain size or shape. For a lot of us, this is just our body's weight and we cannot gain more. It is just how our body was made.
Please consider how hurtful it can be to read that 'high school skinny' is insane and implies the body of an adolescent. It is hard enough for me, as a woman in her mid-twenties, to come to terms with being so skinny. I've spent years wishing I had more curves so other women would refrain from giving me dirty looks, rumoring about how my body is so thin, and wishing I could actually go to Victoria's Secret and find a bra that actually was small enough for me. It's taken me a long time to somewhat come to terms with the fact that this... is just how my body is.
Also, I would like to add you look beautiful, and congratulations on baby Rosie.
Deletealso: I meant, "how the size of your pants" not "how having", sorry!
DeleteMandy- I'm sorry if I offended you! My intention was not to say that being thin is bad or unattractive. The "insane" idea is that some use the high school time frame as the ideal body for a woman. There should be no "ideal size" outside of the size that you are. I simply wanted to encourage women like myself who have gone through body changes. It can be hard to accept your size no matter what it is and my aim was simply to encourage those who feel like they have to reach a goal the may be unattainable for them as a matured woman.
DeleteAlso- thanks for the congratulations!
xoxo,
Sara
ps- I've got MAJOR hair envy over here.
You look quite amazing. I'm actually hoping I can bounce back from pregnancy as quickly as you seem to have!
ReplyDeleteI got scolded for my "vagina making me a woman" sentence by a commenter. They thought I was offending the transgendered community. People take me too seriously sometimes. They also scolded me for talking about being skinny which is totally contradicting the "love your size" revolution. I'm not allowed to love my size because I happen to fit into a sewing thimble? I still have meat on my bones, it just happens to be on a smaller frame.
Anyway. You are a beautiful woman with a very lovely size.
That is seriously crazy. We must end this thought that there is only one type of acceptable body. Thanks for getting real!
ReplyDeleteThis post is SO awesome, Sara. It struck such a chord with me I had to go and share it with my friends on FB. Big high fives to you.
ReplyDeleteYOU ROCK! Let's hear it for the post-baby-real-woman bodies out there :)
ReplyDeleteGurrrrrrl you are gorrrrrgeous!
ReplyDeleteI. love. this.
ReplyDeleteYou're beautiful, and you crack me up. :)
ReplyDeleteAmen! Every time I begin a pity party over my weight (still 40 lbs to the 1st pre-pregnancy weight)I google Peter Paul Rubens and feel better. I'm not fat, I'm Rubenesque! =)
ReplyDeleteYou are beautiful!
Thank you! What a refreshing post! I hope my little girl grows up loving her body, and herself, in every stage that she is in. I am the best example she has and I determined to enjoy my body for all its curves and jiggles. :)
ReplyDeleteI've always thought you were beautiful, but even more so now. Your heart and mind (and humor) just adds to the natural beauty God gave you. Yay for Mama bods! :)
Yes, yes and amen. I caught myself saying skinny today and self corrected. I know this is extreme, but I'd like to even eliminate it from my vocabulary for awhile. You look so great and are gorgeous and I agree with everything you said! Love this post, lady!
ReplyDeleteI love this post! and I want your body!!! Sadly, I do have my high school body, and I hate that. I mean, I love my body and all its physical wonders, but I don't feel like a woman. Apparently it's to do with having arthritis from an early age, but I'm seriously considering getting some protien shakes! I really hate being called skinny too, but people percieve it as an ok thing to do, or even a compliment. Urgh. I'm so glad to hear that you "womaned-up" after having you first baby, I pray this will happen to me! I won't want to loose a pound of my baby weight, haha! xxx
ReplyDeleteThank you. I really needed to hear this today.
ReplyDelete