S
ocialmediahasseentheriseofa
dangerousnewtransformation
trend– postpartum‘before’and
‘after’photos.InoneFacebook
‘support group’formums,I sawa new
mother’stransformationpostwith
300-plus comments.‘Before’wasofher
nine monthspregnant.‘After’wassix
weeks afterthebirth.Shecalledon
others toshowtheirtransformations.
What followedweretwotypesof
response:thefirstwasthoseposting
pictures ofthemselves:forexample,ina
bikini withvisibleabstwoweeks
postpartum;a newmuminthegymina
crop top oneweekpostpartum.
The othertypeofresponsewas
commentssuchas:“Thisjustdepresses
me”, “I’mtoofatandlazy”,“I’llalwaysbe
disgusting”.It washeartbreaking.bethinkdocoaching.com @bethinkdocoaching @bethinkdocoachingAsa resultofthesepicturesbecoming
morecommon,thewayweperceivea
post-childbirthbodyischanging.Our
thoughtsandemotionsarenegatively
affected,whetherornotwe’re‘happy’
withourtransformation.Itishardfor
anymumtolookatthesepostsandthink
thoughtsthatembraceandlovetheirbody.
Thosewhoareatthegyma weekafter
givingbirtharetakinga hugerisk.Itis
notrecommendedtoreturntothegym
untilatleastyoursix-weekcheck-up.
Asa society,if wecontinuetotakethis
path,wearecreatinga generationof
self-loathingmothers,whichimpacts
childrentoo.Whenchildrenheartheir
mothersspeakingnegativelyabouttheir
bodies,theygrowupbelievingthathow
welookdeterminesourworth,whichis
simplynottrue.Howtoempower your body and
mindpositively post-birth- Doa social media detox. Go through your
feedandif there are any posts that create
negativethoughts about you and your body,
hit‘unfollow’. Start following ‘body positive’
accountsinstead. See some ideas on page 103. - Listallthe things your body does for you
- challenge yourself to come up with 50!
- Speaktoyourself like you would your kids.
Youwouldn’t say, “You’re fat and lazy” to your
child,sodon’t say it to yourself. - Seea women’s health physio after your
six-weekcheck-up. - Switchyour focus. Think about how having
a stronger,healthier body will benefit you –
perhapsbybeing able to play with your kids,
goforhikes or grow old with less illness. - Ditchtheword ‘should’ and replace it with
‘could’.When we think we ‘should’ eat better or
‘should’work out more, we are allowing the
expectations of society to dictate what we do.
Whenweuse ‘could’, we give ourselves a
choiceandtake our personal power back. - Don’tengage in negative conversations
withothermums about bodies. Encourage
eachotherand lift each other up. Growing and
birthinga child will inevitably make mental and
physicalchanges to your body. It is your choice
tomakethese changes positive, by actively
seekingempowering thoughts and actions.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Getty
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WELL-THY LOVE YOUR BODY
NEURO-LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING PRACTITIONER AND
WOMEN’S MINDSET COACH EMILY SMITH SUGGESTS SWAPPING
POST-BIRTH TRANSFORMATION PICS FOR KIND, EMPOWERING
THOUGHTS AND ACTIONSThe only post-baby
bod that matters
Ease into