Thanks for the update- so glad you and baby are ok!! Health issues definitely put body image stuff in perspective. I always remind myself to be grateful for my health.

Hi [@Letizia]! Nice to see you back. @skwigg thanks for tagging me. Congratulations on your pregnancy! I think it’s super normal to struggle with body image while your body is changing. While some people might be able to lean into the whole thing, others struggle. I personally struggled. Having babies put me back into dieting mode to lose the weight after baby, but I have enough background of intuitive eating that I “diet” in a way that doesn’t mess me up. I did purposely keep on weight for breastfeeding my second son, but didn’t like how my body looked, and started dieting as soon as I weaned him at one year. I don’t really have advice but I can commiserate. This too shall pass and is very normal. Keeping in mind that it’s all temporary and your body is meant to go through these changes, could help.

Hi [@Letizia] ! @skwigg thanks for tagging me. Congratulations on your pregnancy! First off I will say it isn’t nice to come on here and shame Letizia for her feelings about going through body changes as a result of pregnancy. This should be a safe space to share and not feel judged. Everyone is different and reacts differently to these body changes. We are constantly attacked by diet culture and then expected to let it all go while pregnant? Doesn’t compute. I did struggle with gaining weight while pregnant and retaining weight while breastfeeding. Those worries didn’t go away just because I was growing a baby. Having babies put me back into dieting mode. I did purposely keep on weight for breastfeeding my second son, but didn’t like how my body looked and started dieting as soon as I weaned him at one year. I stopped intuitive eating after I gave birth to my first son 3 years ago, and haven’t resumed it since. My need to get back to my original body trumped my desire to continue intuitive eating. So I guess I’m not a happy eater success in that way, which is why I don’t post on here a lot. I don’t really have advice but I can commiserate. This too shall pass.

That’s great. Health to me is a combination of feeling great from the outside and inside. When you want to feel great, you don’t want to restrict or starve yourself and you don’t want to overstuff yourself to the point where you feel like crap either. I definitely live in the middle ground now and it feels nice.

That’s great. As part of “caring”, I would also add for myself that I even consider tracking calories part of my balance and self care right now. I never thought I could experience food freedom within the confines of tracking. But it actually gives me knowledge and education to make decisions on what I’m eating, and for my anxious brain it gives me a sense of control. Its all about how you read and treat the numbers, not the numbers themselves. With the Fitbit I found myself going into obsessive territory so I took it off. I’ve continued calorie counting for months now because it doesn’t make me crazy, and I like the sense of order it gives me right now in my life. When I feel it’s not serving me anymore or that it’s impeding my journey with food, I’ll stop. My point is that you have to make these decisions for yourself, without boxing yourself into categories (caring/not caring).

Oh, by flaw I meant I can see the flaws in diet mentality, not my body! Sorry about that. also re weight gain by intuitive eating. I can’t believe I forgot that whole part of the story! Thank you for reminding us of your journey and how it wasn’t about effortless weight loss the whole way.

Skwigg it’s nice to hear your perspective on gaining body fat because I’ve always seen you as the effortlessly skinny person whose experience I can’t fully relate to because you never had to deal with gaining weight through intuitive eating. Your intuitive eating made you lose weight. Which isn’t a good or bad thing, it just is. So thanks for sharing the other side and how you dealt with it!

I can soooo relate to this discussion at this point in my life. All the “shoulds” are telling me I should be working on getting my pre baby body back, and I am working on it to mainly fit into my clothes, but at the same time I am realizing that I love my body. This is the first time I’ve truly loved my body while being at my highest weight. When I was at my lowest adult weight from dieting, I saw myself as being too big and wanted to lose another 10 lbs. it’s so strange how perspective changes everything. I have friends who look gorgeous to me but hate their bodies simply because they are bigger than they used to be. I refuse to spend my life hating my body and wanting to be someone else, just because this particular society decided that smaller is better. I have to admit I have a long way to go in full body acceptance and stopping dieting, but I can definitely see the flaws and stop myself from doing anything too crazy. Self love and self care always comes first.