How to get your body confidence back after pregnancy

Delivering your baby changes your life in some dramatic ways. You’ve spent months carrying your child and powering through the painful consequences of pregnancy, but the problems don’t stop there.

Your body goes through some physical changes that might not have the most positive impact on your self-esteem. These changes might be a natural part of life, but they still influence how you feel. Not only do you suddenly find yourself with a bunch of new responsibilities, but you also don’t exactly feel good about your looks. Changing this is crucial if you want to be comfortable in your own skin after giving birth.

1. Ignore the judgement of media

Society puts a lot of pressure on women to look their best, no matter their age or the current state of their body. When you’re pregnant, you don’t exactly have a say on what happens to your body. The extremely fast growth of the baby will do quite the number on your stomach, not to mention the hormonal differences that will influence your entire body from head to toe. Pregnancy takes quite the toll on your body and people won’t have a lot of understanding for your post-partum looks.

Everyone likes to have a rockin’ bod, even after something as stressful as pregnancy. This is why a lot of magazines stress the importance of “getting back” your looks a certain number of days after you’ve given birth. Unfortunately, this isn’t how it works. You don’t decide when hormones stop affecting you and you most certainly can’t muster the energy to exercise out of thin air. Working out is difficult enough without having to recover from pregnancy. Not to mention, you also have to take care of your newborn bundle of joy. This amount of stress doesn’t need to be supplemented with additional pressure to look good. Embrace your body for what it is and give yourself time to relax.

2. Let your words echo positivity

The words you choose to describe your body are a crucial part of the recovery process. Your body just went through with one of the most stressful events it could possibly experience – creating life. When you use negative words to describe your body, you’re going to find that it’s going to negatively affect your view of it. Words themselves have meaning and choosing the right ones will make you feel better about yourself.

Some creative women look at their pregnancy as a kind of battle. The stretch marks that they’ve earned from this battle are christened “battle scars” instead. This gives them more meaning and it gives the mother a much better perspective on the marks themselves. It’s much less of a negative connotation, while also being completely true to its name.

The words you pick in your head are just as important. People might remind you that you need to get your body “back on track”. However, what kind of “track” is it supposed to get back on? Life is the only track that matters and pregnancy is one important stage of life that it just went through. It’s not like you want to take it all back. Instead, embrace the changes as they come, since they’re just another normal part of life. The real lesson is that your body never strayed away from the track it started on.

3. Pick your clothes with comfort in mind

Clothing that doesn’t match your body isn’t something you want in your new wardrobe. After the effects of pregnancy, you might find certain pieces too tight or too loose, depending on the parts of your body that they previously covered. Unfortunately, this means that you need to go shopping for some new clothes.

Above all else, make sure that comfort is your first priority. After all, wearing tight and ill-fitting clothes is the last thing you want at this time. You want to let your body relax and make you feel good. Find yourself a couple of comfortable tops, some jeans or colourful pants, and leggings that will help you get to the store in a jiffy. You’ll need those quick trips to the store any time the baby needs something.

4. Make the changes that you want

A positive outlook will do you a lot of good, but it won’t give you the body that you truly want. Despite pregnancy and the various changes surrounding it being natural parts of life, you still might want to make some changes in order to look even better than you did before. Unfortunately, even with additional time and effort dedicated to exercise, certain changes seem to be permanent. Luckily, they are actually far from it.

A lot of women turn to surgery after a particularly demanding and tiring pregnancy. This allows them to undo some of the changes that came with pregnancy without having to lose a lot of time out of their busy day. Those who feel that their bodies need a few changes here and there find that surgery is the best way to permanently improve their physical appeal. A postpartum mastopexy procedure is a great way for mommies to regain vitality in their breasts. Breastfeeding and hormones significantly affect them at this is something a lot of mothers end up being insecure about.

Liposuction is a quick and effective way to lose a lot of the unhealthy fat that might be piling up under the skin and near vital organs. The slim look is just another benefit that goes along with it.

5. Revitalize your body

Between all of the responsibilities that surround your newborn munchkin, you probably can’t find the time to think, let alone consider doing anything new for yourself. However, it’s extremely important that you work on your health in this difficult and trying time. A lot of people confuse looking good with being healthy. The two are often connected, but they don’t necessarily have to be.

A big part of being healthy is having enough energy and vitality to go about doing your daily activities. To get this kind of energy, you might want to partake in some daily physical activities that aren’t too taxing on your body or your mind.

Something as simple as walking around the park and basking in the sunlight could do the trick. You would be surprised at how well a simple walk can affect your body. Very light sports should also be effective. You want to partake in physical activities before you lose the habit of exercising. Contrary to what you might think, working out actually gives you more energy than you expend. You feel more revitalized and energized than you did before, simply because you’re giving your body the workout it deserves.

Even just ten minutes a day of doing yoga or home exercises would benefit your body in a great way and lead to positive effects. You don’t have to aim for a beach body with your workouts, just strive to feel healthy and you’re going to end up with great results.

Conclusion

Every mother has the right to feel good in her own body. Pregnancy shakes up your body image quite a bit, which often leads to a loss of self-esteem. However, you can always work on your body and state of mind to help you cope better with the changes and improve the way you look. Stick to these ideas and you can be sure that your confidence will shoot back up and you’ll look at the mirror in admiration just as you once did.