Lindsay Woods: I did not ‘glow’ throughout my pregnancies. I sweated. Profusely

I push 5ft 2ins and a smidge on a good day. When I’ve eaten all of my vegetables (I will not be swayed by any person who submits proven scientific evidence to the contrary).

Lindsay Woods: I did not ‘glow’ throughout my pregnancies. I sweated. Profusely

Let’s call a spade a spade; I’m short. The sting from this glaringly obvious fact is not eased by the presentation of another glaringly obvious fact; that both my mother and brother rival in stature some sort of woody, perennial plant with a lofty, elevated trunk. I derive my Lilliputian measurements from my father’s side.

Over nine years ago, I had my first child. Instead of growing vertically; I naturally grew horizontally. My girth expanded outwards in a perfect rotund 360-degree sphere.

So utterly round was my shape that I appeared to merely have feet attached to my son’s temporary abode. I did not ‘glow’ throughout my pregnancies. I sweated. Profusely. 

However, not for one single second did I feel my size or indeed shape defined me. I did not feel pressured in any way by this troubling modern-day development to ‘snap back’. For those unaware of the vulgar sentiments of this term, it denotes a woman’s ability to regain her pre-pregnancy shape within mere weeks. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with regaining your pre-baby shape.

Neither is there anything wrong with NOT regaining your pre-baby shape. The problem lies with attributing a heinous term to a worrying phenomenon where women place unnecessary pressure upon themselves during a period that, for many, is fraught with emotional turmoil. The solution is simple; we need to stop talking about it. In its entirety.

If you want to eat the cake after a fraught day of trying to cajole the apple of your eye into taking just one nap, just the one so you can shut your eyes for all of five minutes; well then, you goddamn eat the cake and you eat it good!

If your release is running until your knees buckle just so you can feel like yourself again; then go for it. Do not however, feel the need to conform to some unrealistic ideal of how a woman’s body should appear.

Spoiler alert: There is no such thing as a perfect body. There is only your body. So, get to loving it!

There has been a considerable backlash of late across all social platforms. Particularly in relation to the promotion of unrealistic body ideals. It is equal parts alarming and distressing.

Alarming in its very nature to think that vulnerable individuals will look at these heavily edited images and conclude that they are anything but that; photo-shopped pictures to twist and mould the subject’s body into a marketable fashion.

Yet also wretched, that the subject themselves feels the need to employ such drastic measures to perpetuate the ‘perfect’ ideal. Ask yourself, when did we begin to fully tolerate this juggernaut of falsehoods? Answer: It has always been tolerated.

The upshot of this is the various movements that are now gathering momentum across socials; the body positive movement being one such example. It’s not about being taller, shorter, thinner, wider; it’s about being content with who you are.

I’ve carried an extra jiggle in my wiggle for a number of years now and if and when I decide to lessen the jiggle, or not, it will be because it is my decision. Not because I was coerced into or felt pressured to conform to a contorted image.

The entire sentiment of this movement can be simply summed up in one word: Positive. Be healthy but don’t deprive yourself, be happy, be content, be positive.

At the beginning of this year, I declared via my own social platform, that this would be the year of the ‘Engager’. I stand by that.

There is a perceptible shift in the air. People are debating, encouraging and waking up. To engage with someone is to talk and to listen.

It is being kind and sharing stories. It is not discounting someone based on their physical attributes. It is also not endless promotion and selling.

It is both an encouraging time and a hesitant one. For me, it feels as if everyone is waiting to exhale. Loudly. 

I look forward to a day when our entire focus will not lie upon or physical appearance as people. I hope my children will see that day. I also hope that social platforms will have evolved to allow them to engage and connect with others without being made to feel anything less than the individuals they are.

I hope that change will come swiftly and will continue to gather that rolling momentum. I hope. Above all, I will be positive.

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