More about the female form

The following post is reposted with permission from the original post at spokeschicken.blogspot.com

Great article: How to Lose The Baby Weight in Just Three Lightning-Fast Years

My favorite line is:
"It is a strange state, indeed: neither pregnant, nor out of shape, but showing a visible history of pregnancy. In spite of weighing more and looking different, I was never healthier than when I was pregnant and just after, in large part to the dynamic shift in lifestyle toward eating well and moving more. But we don't connect health to physical appeal per se, as any healthy person who isn't thin can tell you. And when a body shows signs of use beyond the sexual or athletic, we don't seem to know how to respond to it."

Amen.

Can we talk about how tired I am of the tendency to equate weight and shape with health? Obesity has become a verbal shortcut for illness, but what's wrong with using blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood sugar? I guess it's just a little too easy to hate on flesh and a little too hard to make long sentences.

At any rate, in case you were feeling bad about yourself, here's a new ad from Dove that might make you smile. Granted, most of the women in this video are pretty thin, but the message is sincere.

I'm determined to love my new body the way it is, and I don't care if you think I'm wrong

The following post is reposted with permission from the original post at spokeschicken.blogspot.com

I hate to admit this, because it is so trivial, but I have been feeling bad about my physical shape lately. And that pisses me off. The fact is that I had a baby and my body is going to be different afterwards. In addition, as the author of the piece I'll link to in a moment states, bodies change throughout a life anyway. That's NORMAL and healthy. What's not normal and healthy are all the messages I get from the outside world that tell me I should be trying to get my "body back," meaning that I should, as soon as possible, try to get back to the shape I was in prior to carrying a baby. Prior to bearing a baby. Prior to breastfeeding. Prior to parenthood. And, for that matter, my pre-pregnancy body probably wasn't up to snuff anyway, according to the advertisements everywhere.

To be honest, I was happiest with my body when I was pregnant. I felt radiant. I loved carrying a child in me, and I felt powerful with biology and motherhood. I felt beyond judgment. I know that's not everyone's experience, but I'm glad I had those positive feelings. Thirteen months post-partum, I feel pretty crappy.

The other day, I had a profound experience in yoga. I put my hand on my belly and hummed into my softer tummy. As I hummed at a pitch where I could feel my voice in my tummy, I started to cry. Yes, my tummy was telling me that it feels neglected and unloved by the person from whom it needs love most: me.

So, then and there, I decided to love this new softness. I've been approaching this post-partum body thing all wrong--intellectually. Intellectually, I know that the ads are bulls***. Intellectually, I know how to be cool with where my body is. But intellect doesn't cut it up against the powerful marketing telling us that we can never be thin enough, the marketing that tells us that we're even supposed to want our old bodies back, the marketing that implies there's something wrong with me if I don't want my old body back. Eff that, man. I'm done with that, and I'm setting about to love my softer, motherly belly.

Stop Telling Me I Should Focus on Getting My Old Body Back