The Shape We Know

Yesterday, in preparation for going out with my husband, I decided to go into my closet and find a dress to wear. I knew I had some dresses in my closet that were last worn when I weighed what I weigh now, and they had looked pretty good on me at the time.

But things have changed. My body may weigh the same as it did when I last wore those dresses, but it is no longer shaped the same as it was then. My boobs hang a little lower (the product of having had four more kids since then), but that can be helped with a good bra. The changes to my stomach and waist area aren't so easily helped though. Everything is a lot squishier and lumpier than it used to be. I lost a lot of weight while pregnant, and the effect that the stretching of the extra weight and the pregnancy have had is lots of loose skin.

I tried on each dress, looked in the full-length mirror and thought, "Yuck!"

Was it discouraging? Not really. Instead of thinking, "I lost all of this weight and still look like that?!!", I just felt a larger urge to get exercising. I may not ever be able to get my body back to the way I knew it to be, but I can have a good go at getting it as close to beautiful and healthy as possible.