If you have been reading this blog for a while you will know that I am a curvy gal. I have been for a while - probably the last eight years or so, when I had my twins and started eating a pack of tim tams a day - it was the only food I didn't have to prepare and could eat one handed!
This despite the fact that it was my healthiest pregnancy - I was on a no sugar diet as I didn't want to get pre-eclampisa or have to stay in bed, drank about 3 litres of water a day and didn't even look at alcohol. Exercise was a chore - my hips almost gave out on me due to hormones softening everything, and all I could manage was a lap around my local shopping centre - it was air conditioned and being pregnant with twins in Queensland heat in summer is not fun I also managed to to float around the pool a bit, which was lovely as I actually felt weightless for once.
I remember telling myself that I never wanted to be this heavy again. I reached 104 kg. I couldn't walk upstairs, I had bad reflux and couldn't sleep without sitting up on a mound of cushions. I couldn't even get in my husband's low slung sports car.
After giving birth I lost 14 kg straight away, but my tummy was huge and saggy, with a horrible scare from the ceaserian. I wore an elastic tummy band for weeks, and gradually dropped some weight, and got down to about 80kg. Gradually the wight crept back up. Especially when I stopped breastfeeding. I had been eating for three for nearly three years - 9 months of pregnancy and two years of breast feeding, and it was hard to change. And then I could drink alcohol again - in a house with five children, there's nothing like a quiet glass of red with the hubby when the kids have gone to bed!
For the last three years, since turning 40, my weight has been fairy stable - at around 100kg. Yes I admit it. I weigh 100kg (that's 220 pounds for my overseas friends)! As I am about 178cm tall, that puts my BMI at 31 - obese. I am obese. That sucks. The word that is. It's a horrible word. But I am not horrible. I am a nice person - I am a mother, I have a job, I do volunteer work, I help out at school, I smile at strangers and listen to their life stories and I do not drown kittens. You know what I mean! I prefer 'cuddly' - my kids call me their 'cuddly mummy.' I also prefer 'curvy'. My husband is happy with my curves - all of them, even the tummy curves. He has always told me I am beautiful. We have been married 23 years tomorrow, and I have never believed him. Until now.
Thanks to many wonderful curvy ladies out there in blog land, I now accept my body for what it is. It's strong, healthy, curvy, cuddly and alive. It's mine. And because I have daughters, one of whom who is also curvy, I am going to start blogging more about self-acceptance and body love on this blog. I want my girls, and boys, to be proud of themselves and their bodies, no matter what their size or what they wear. I don't want them to be in their 40s before they find self acceptance. I want to find and share blogs that promote self acceptance and body love, as well as fashion and looks and lifestyles - with a vintage vibe of course. And yes, I will try and post more photos of myself.
I hope you'll stay with me.
Deb xx
This despite the fact that it was my healthiest pregnancy - I was on a no sugar diet as I didn't want to get pre-eclampisa or have to stay in bed, drank about 3 litres of water a day and didn't even look at alcohol. Exercise was a chore - my hips almost gave out on me due to hormones softening everything, and all I could manage was a lap around my local shopping centre - it was air conditioned and being pregnant with twins in Queensland heat in summer is not fun I also managed to to float around the pool a bit, which was lovely as I actually felt weightless for once.
I remember telling myself that I never wanted to be this heavy again. I reached 104 kg. I couldn't walk upstairs, I had bad reflux and couldn't sleep without sitting up on a mound of cushions. I couldn't even get in my husband's low slung sports car.
After giving birth I lost 14 kg straight away, but my tummy was huge and saggy, with a horrible scare from the ceaserian. I wore an elastic tummy band for weeks, and gradually dropped some weight, and got down to about 80kg. Gradually the wight crept back up. Especially when I stopped breastfeeding. I had been eating for three for nearly three years - 9 months of pregnancy and two years of breast feeding, and it was hard to change. And then I could drink alcohol again - in a house with five children, there's nothing like a quiet glass of red with the hubby when the kids have gone to bed!
For the last three years, since turning 40, my weight has been fairy stable - at around 100kg. Yes I admit it. I weigh 100kg (that's 220 pounds for my overseas friends)! As I am about 178cm tall, that puts my BMI at 31 - obese. I am obese. That sucks. The word that is. It's a horrible word. But I am not horrible. I am a nice person - I am a mother, I have a job, I do volunteer work, I help out at school, I smile at strangers and listen to their life stories and I do not drown kittens. You know what I mean! I prefer 'cuddly' - my kids call me their 'cuddly mummy.' I also prefer 'curvy'. My husband is happy with my curves - all of them, even the tummy curves. He has always told me I am beautiful. We have been married 23 years tomorrow, and I have never believed him. Until now.
Me off to work in my new vintage style dress |
I hope you'll stay with me.
Deb xx
Very well written Deb! I am also a curvy lady and working in an Environment that is extremely body-conscious it has taken me years to accept myself for what I am. Yes, I want to be healthy, and I am. I exercise 3 times a week and eat pretty well, I´m just one of those who have to starve myself thin (did a few years ago and it was so not worth it). Why can´t we just accept that it takes all shapes and looks to fill the world, and everyone is beautiful in his/hers own way.
ReplyDeleteThank you Angeline. I figure I will be able to survive a few days without eating if we're hit by a cyclone this season! but after all, that's what women's bodies were designed to do - store the fat for the lean times. We are right on track!
DeleteOh I needed this post today! Thank you for sharing your story, and your gorgeous pic. Thank you x
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome! Glad I could help. xx
DeleteAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! You're adorbs, Deb!
ReplyDelete