Don’t Ask Me About My Weight

It’s been almost nine months since I had my baby. That’s nine month of enjoying our new life together. Nine months of love, kisses, hugs, and snuggles. Nine months of not dieting. Nine months of just loving my postpartum body.

Often when I meet people that I haven’t seen in a while, one of the first things I get asked is in relation to my baby weight. I started noticing this when I was about two months postpartum. This is what modern society has conditioned us to do. Instead of asking about my baby, her health and development or my health and recovery after birth, people are choosing to ask about my weight.

This picture is of me at 35 weeks pregnant and then at 35 weeks post birth, but I don’t want you to just think of this as a before and after picture. Instead, think of these images as different stages of motherhood. 

On the left is my body while growing a beautiful life inside of me and on the right is my body while still sustaining and providing comfort for this amazing little life after birth. There’s nothing more to it.

I have never been on a diet and I do not plan to ever go on a diet. Don’t ask me about my weight. If you want to ask about my health and wellbeing and how I recovered after giving birth, then that’s a different story. If you are actually concerned about me as a person, not a number, then I’m happy to talk to you about it. But don’t ask me about my weight.

I don’t like diets for many reason. Mainly I don’t like them because so often the reason for dieting is to achieve some illusion of beauty conditioned by society rather than being healthy and happy in your own body. I especially think that after growing life and giving birth, the last thing a woman should be asked about is her weight. It is just simply not a priority.

Having a baby is hard work and too often it seems we don’t give ourself and our body enough credit. Each woman is different, but we are all truly amazing for growing such a beautiful little life inside of us. Some women bounce right back to their pre-baby body while others take more time. I gained almost 70lbs while pregnant, and guess what? I loved every minute of it!

Being pregnant and experiencing this amazing little life growing inside of me has given me a different outlook on life. I now have this whole new appreciation for my own body that would have only happened through this experience. Since giving birth I haven’t given much thought to losing weight or fitting into my old jeans, it just hasn’t seemed like a priority and I don’t even get the whole point of it. Why are we as a society so focused on losing weight after birth when really we should be focused on the only important thing – our new precious little baby. It makes no sense to me. You are beautiful! You are amazing! And you should be loving that new postpartum body of yours because it helped provide a safe home with nourishment and love for all those months. 

So that’s what I have been doing; loving my body! I’m still not back to my previous weight, I don’t know when or if I’ll ever be, and it really doesn’t matter. Don’t ask me about my weight. Don’t ask me if I’m on a diet. All that matters is that my baby is healthy and that I am healthy. That’s all that matters to me and that’s all that should matter to you. The rest is just a number.

XOXO