Loving Your Body In Every Season
Thank you so much for all of your love and support in my decision to return to blogging. I already have quite a list of topics I’m hoping to write about, and if you have any additional topic requests, I am open ears. I am excited to be back to writing again!
Something I wish each and every woman could learn in their lifetime is to love their body in every season of life. And by “seasons”, I’m talking the ups and downs of life, the changes of life circumstances, pregnancy and post pregnancy, our age, etc. We as women can be so hard on ourselves and what our bodies “should” look like, despite what our bodies are dealing with or going through. Don’t get me wrong, this is hard to do, particularly when we are constantly bombarded by society and media telling us how we “should” look. We always have someone to compare ourselves to because there’s media everywhere we turn.
Through my own journey, I’ve learned to appreciate the woman’s body more than ever. And not only what a woman’s body does, but also what our bodies are supposed to be. We are all different shapes and sizes, but ladies, we as women are supposed to have a little fat on us. Women’s bodies are designed to have fat reservoirs that support healthy hormone function, which in turn affects our overall health, moods, and energy levels. Our nutrition, exercise, stress levels, and hormones all hang in the balance with one another. Each of these things intricately affects the other, and if we aren’t careful, it’ll all be thrown off balance.
As most of you know, this past year has been quite the rollercoaster — both emotionally and physically. My body and hormones have been through the wringer with two miscarriages, followed by a D&C with each of them. Through my recovery, I had to take time off from my routined workouts, so there was definitely a lack of consistent exercise throughout the months, and naturally some changes that occurred in my body. At times, my first instinct is to feel discouraged about how much fitness I lost and the extra fat I gained throughout this year. But, I continually remind myself that my body was in the midst of carrying two different babies within several months. I had two different D&C procedures that my body needed to heal and recover from. Naturally, my body was going to look and feel differently … and that is OKAY. And now, as we attempt to get pregnant again, it is not the time for me to be in the best shape of my life. It’s not the time for ridiculously intense workouts or cutting calories or trying to lose fat. And you know what? I’m totally good with that. I’ve recognized that this is the season I am in, and this is what I need to be doing for my body.
Loving our bodies is not about being a certain weight, looking a certain way, or having a certain body fat percentage. Loving our bodies is appreciating what they do for us, no matter our weight, what we look like, or our body fat percentage. It’s about recognizing and accepting where we are at NOW, treating our bodies well because we love them, and giving ourselves grace when needed. It doesn’t mean letting ourselves go and not taking care of ourselves. It actually means the opposite. It means taking care of ourselves through proper nutrition, exercise, and rest because we appreciate the importance of what our bodies do for us. It’s about treating our bodies with respect, recognizing our bodies’ needs, and graciously delivering those needs.
This doesn’t mean we can’t aim to change our bodies or lose weight or tone up. There’s nothing wrong with that when it’s the right season. It’s also important to recognize that there is a healthy way to do it. At the core of it, it’s loving your body the same before and after, regardless of the changes that may occur.
Ladies, let’s embrace our bodies in the season we are in right now and recognize what is best for our individual body in this season, all with a foundation of gratitude and love for what our bodies do for us. When we have this mindset, we are better able to care for our bodies, love our bodies, and have confidence in our bodies.