I wanted to share these photos with you guys. The left is exactly one year ago when I was getting ready to head to the Arnold Sports Festival and the right was today at 39 weeks pregnant in the same room (no filters on the pics).
I know so many of you who follow me are women and that means that pregnancy will or has happened at some point in your life. The thing that I want to show here is that your body IS going to change a lot during pregnancy and that’s ok! Obviously my belly is huge, but I also have increased body fat in non-belly areas. I have some days where I start to feel down about my changing body. When I start to feel like that I really try to remind myself that this time in my life isn’t about having the perfect little body, it’s about creating a perfect little body inside me.
One thing I have found that has really helped me a lot to deal with all these body changes is to stay active and focus on eating healthy, whole foods. That way when I start to feel down about my arms and butt getting bigger or my decreased muscle I can at least try to focus on the small things I am doing to stay healthy – even if it seems like so much less than I used to be able to do, it helps me stay positive about all the changes.
This post ended up really long, but I basically wanted to get across that as women, our bodies get to go through something incredible and create another human life. Let’s embrace the beauty of that, enjoy the time while we have it, and love ourselves for all the changes you see in the mirror ♥
Your friend,
Natalie
10 Comments
Thank you for this. It is so helpful to me at 39 weeks. I started as a size 0-2 and have gained 50 pounds! I workout nd eat healthy but the body does what it wants to protect my growing little girl
Hi Brooke! You are welcome! I gained around that much too with this pregnancy even though I was eating healthy and working out. It can be tough at times, and once your little babe gets here you just have to keep reminding yourself that your body will get back to normal, it just takes time (my belly is huge and super squishy right now one week post partum!). Good luck with your new babe and congratulations!!
Love this! I also gained 50 lb with my most recent baby. It will come off though, especially if you were active and healthy during pregnancy. It just takes time and consistency. I just found your blog through pinterest and am enjoying catching up on all your posts!
Hi Natalie, I recently started following you and I love your posts and how real you are! I am 14 weeks pregnant with my first little babe. I’m fairly small and really active (running is my love).. like you I barely worked out in the first trimester, only the last two weeks have I been able to get out and run again.. and even then its only 3 days a week instead of 6!! I am truly finding it hard to accept my big hips and big behind, but reading your posts really do make me feel better!! Thanks so much for all you do, you are truly inspiring!!!
Hi Natalie,
I love your pregnancy posts. I feel like I haven’t discovered a whole lot out there on fit women who become pregnant. I’m 6 weeks along right now and it’s good to see the validation that yes, I can be this tired in the first trimester even if I’m not showing. And I’m so glad you posted about your post baby body. I’m sure I’ll need a reminder about not being too hard on myself in the future. Thanks!
Amber
Hi Natalie,
I love your pregnancy posts. I feel like I haven’t discovered a whole lot out there on fit women who become pregnant. I’m 6 weeks along right now and it’s good to see the validation that yes, I can be this tired in the first trimester even if I’m not showing. And I’m so glad you posted about your post baby body. I’m sure I’ll need a reminder about not being too hard on myself in the future. Thanks!
Amber
P.S. Do you have more posts on the progression of your pregnancy by week?
You’re my savior with these. This is so new to me (26 weeks) and I really just want to know what to expect. Thank you so much!
Hmm it appears like your blog ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what
I submitted and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m sill new tto everything.
Do you have any points for inexperienced blog writers?
I’d definitely appreciate it.
This website was… how do you say it? Relevant!!
Finally I have found something which helped me.
Thank you!
Thanks so much for this post, Natalie!
Since this is my first pregnancy I’ve definitely gone through stages of disbelief at how big I feel and acceptance that it’s all going to go back to normal post-pregnancy. Thanks for the reminder that our bodies change because we are taking care of growing baby! I’m eating healthy and keeping as active as feels comfortable, so I’m trying to stay confident that eventually I will get me pre-pregnancy body back.
Erin