A few months ago, I talked about a very personal struggle I was having with my post baby body. And at the end, I promised to continue to share in my journey to love myself again. Well I am holding myself to that promise, even though these posts are honestly the hardest for me to write…
To get us all back on the same page and briefly summarize the first post, I was having a hard time reconciling the body I saw in the mirror as mine, after a whole year had passed since having Jack. I might have been very naive but I thought it would slowly start to return to what I considered “my normal”. When it started to become clear that that was not going to happen, I pledged to make my body, and more importantly, my health, a priority.
Fast forward to today and I can admit I still have work to do…business stuff has bumped the body stuff down on the list of priorities, especially with how busy things have been as of late. I haven’t been very good about sticking to any sort of workout routine, for instance. But we are all busy and life will never slow down (if I’m lucky right!)…so there has to be more of a push for balance on my part. I CAN say though that I have been better about drinking water (yay), I started to take more vitamins (double yay) and I’ve been making a lot more healthy smoothies to start the day (which Jack also loves)! I have read some amazing books on healthy habits and eating, and I fully intend on reaching out to my nutritionist friends for support.
These are all small changes that have contributed to feeling better overall…which is ultimately the most important part. However, even still, the self doubt crept in. The problem areas remained problematic. When I wrote my first post about feeling uneasy in my post baby body, it was mainly about my stomach…staying persistently stretch marked, sagging and bigger than I would have ever imagined. Again, this is where women typically say “but you welcomed a baby into the world” “you are so lucky” “think of what your body did to become that way” and yes, those thoughts have all gone through my mind. I wouldn’t change my journey and I am forever grateful to my body for allowing me to welcome my son. But, when I got an offer of help, I couldn’t say no.
Looking back at my first appointment at Hemingway (who I introduced you to in the last post), I now wonder what lead to me saying yes… Curiosity. Wanting to know what it was like to try something so new and different. Ability. When would an opportunity like this ever present itself again. Confidence. Would something like this help me gain back a bit of self esteem. The offer was to try a little thing called Sculpsure.
Now I don’t want to make this post a big sales pitch on this particular treatment so if you want to know all about it, read this. Rather, this post is about me and my personal experience. You’re probably wondering if it’s painful? Honestly, yes! I had moments where it felt like pregnancy contractions though I should mention they had it cranked full blast and for the most part, I could tolerate it while one of the technicians chatted with me. Then your next question may be what was it like after. Post treatment, I was told to drink lots of water and massage my stomach (fat cells are naturally absorbed and removed from the body so it helps to do these things). I did have some what felt like bruising symptoms after the first treatment. But the second time around I felt nothing at all.
And then, you’ll probably want to know if it was worth it. 12 weeks after that second treatment (yes it takes time for your body to break down the fat), we snapped some photos to check out the difference. I’m sure the transformation would have been even bigger if I’d been more religious with my eating and work out routine, but what matters is how this has changed my outlook. It’s given me that little boost I needed and laid the groundwork for the next chapter. And to me, that’s a great gift to have been given.
I am very grateful to the staff at Hemingway for being so lovely, understanding and knowledgeable. I’m really happy that they were a part of my story. And now going forward, I am making one big promise to myself…To stop verbalizing any negative thoughts I have about my body. If I don’t let them take up space in the room, maybe they’ll stop taking up space in my mind. Who’s with me? 😉