Loving my Mid-Century Body and a new direction

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.

Me off to work in my new vintage style dress

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