I know some people hate driving around. I actually don’t mind it so much. Mainly because I love listening to the radio. Especially my favorite morning show!

104.7 The Fish with Kevin & Taylor in the morning!

Music always puts me in a good mood. Plus, I often find the topics highlighted on the talk shows very interesting. Radio shows are kind of like blog reading in audio format! You get snippets of the hosts’ lives. You get random entertainment. And you get thought provoking conversations. Like a recent bit I listened to on the way to church this past weekend. It really got me questioning…

Can Self-Love Ever Have Negative Side Effects?

Every Sunday morning my favorite station plays a national program that will often have a theme for the week that includes stories from listeners. The theme for last week focused on forgiveness and one man shared his story of forgiving himself.

He talked about how he had always been very overweight when growing up and hated himself plus classmates who teased him. Eventually, he met a group of friends that emphasized loving himself for who he is and not defining himself by his appearance.

Then, he said he adopted that mindset, realized being overweight is “just who he is” and never bothered worrying about his weight anymore. He almost seemed proud that he was still overweight and accepted that part of himself. And I’m not so sure how I feel about that.

You know I’m all for self-love. But I still think part of loving ourselves comes with the responsibility of caring for our bodies. Love yourself where you are, but also love yourself enough to treat your body with respect – which includes fueling it properly and helping it get stronger with some form of activity.

I would much rather someone see his or her worth and value and be overweight, than be healthy physically but depressed and full of self-loathing. I think mental and emotional wellness plays a hugely significant role in health. However, I don’t like the idea of accepting oneself but not having any desire to treat the body right.

I believe we are meant to care for our bodies. We should be able to enjoy a meal stress-free with loved ones and not worry about the calories, but we should also enjoy fresh produce from the natural world and strengthening our bodies to live more fully. I loved the message of seeing the true worth of a person lies on the inside, but not the way it tossed aside needing to care for our physical being. It really got the wheels churning in my head. Obviously. And I would love to hear your thoughts!

ETA: When I discuss “overweight” I should have clarified that I mean at a place where the daily habits are adding up to physical illness or stress on the body. I didn’t intend to imply simply “above average” weight, but instead at a weight with physical health implications.

• What do you think about this scenario?
• And for fun – do you like listening to the radio? Or do you prefer your own music/podcasts/etc?

Guess who turns 9 months old today?

And guess who is on the move and  into everything???

I can hardly believe it’s been nine months since taking that ambulance ride through the “ice storm”. And nine months since I looked like this…

I must say that, as much as I appreciate what my body did for me in bringing baby B into the world, I also really appreciate how fit and strong it feels now. It helps me feel more like myself – not from a looks standpoint, but from a lifestyle standpoint. Plus, why wouldn’t I want this cutie out in the open with me to play with for the last nine months?

Okay, now that I have oohed and ahhed over Baby B enough, let’s get to Body After Baby! I debated doing this installment, because it’s not about making big leaps of progress anymore. I reached my happy weight. I fit into “The Jeans”. I wanted to focus on training for my half marathon and other fitness goals. And I didn’t want to come across as “Look at me! Look at me!”.

But Body After Baby isn’t 100% about losing the baby weight. It’s about showing the full journey of a post pregnancy body the first year after birth. I believe a woman’s body changes and reshapes itself a lot over that time. I want to document those changes and show the real post baby body journey.

So despite not focusing on monthly progress anymore, I still decided to go ahead with two last updates – one at 9 months and then one final one at a year. Here we go.

Month 9 Body After Baby

I notice two things:

a) Yep, I’ve been basically maintaining!
b) Oh dear goodness, girlfriend needs a tan!!!!

I truly believe the mentality that It takes 9 months to make a baby and it will take at least that long to get back to your normal. I also believe having that mentality can make the process more realistic and more achievable overall. It is possible, but it can (and likely will) take lots of time. That’s what I hope to show by sharing my journey.

I’ll be honest – I was a little nervous before checking in on whether or not I have actually maintained. From a personal standpoint, this check-in reassured me that I don’t need to overanalyze my decisions. I have learned what works best for me to balance a healthy lifestyle. I just have to stay consistent and trust my body. Focusing on the feeling of health will continue to carry me a long way.

Thanks again for reading my journey! Crazy to think only one more Body After Baby installment left now!!! Hopefully Braedon won’t work me too haggard chasing after him the next few months.

• Do you remember what you were doing 9 months ago?
• Are you fair-skinned or do you hold a tan longer than a month? More than I can say for myself obviously! Ha!