Are you beyond frustrated about stubborn belly fat?
You’ll be shocked to learn what the real cause is, and how to finally reverse it for good.
Do you feel overwhelmed and frustrated? Are you constantly comparing yourself to others or a younger version of yourself? Do you feel like you totally let yourself get out of control with your weight?
It happened to me too…
Dropping off my four-week old daughter at daycare as I headed back to work after an transformative two year “Art Exploration & Make Babies Career Hiatus” was not what I truly desired in my then very stressed postpartum Mom body.
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I was stressed about so many things:
The school year starting again after being gone two full years raising my newborn.
Stressed about leaving my kids with a babysitter, having insane Mom guilt about leaving to go to the store or (god forbid) hang out with a friend because that meant I wasn’t at home. I was stressed about not making homemade baby food, stressed about living with Diabetes, stressed about what other Mom’s were doing or not doing. To put it plainly, I was completely stressed out, and it took its toll on my body.
I knew it was a blessing to have my baby girl, and it was a blessing to walk back into my old job, but…
it did not feel like a blessing to be stuck with an extra 40 pounds on my body.
After my second daughter’s birth, I let those thoughts of self-loathing rule my existence, unfairly, toxically, and obsessively. Not only did the number on the scale not move for a long time, but my pants wouldn’t zip and the side glances I caught of myself in the mirror felt like daggers to my crumbling self esteem.
How you love yourself is a reflection
of how you experience the world
If you took the judgment of your physical body and removed those thoughts from your future, what would your life be like?
Would you wear tight clothes? Would you dance like no one’s watching? Would you adore what you see in the mirror? How would others see you differently if you showed up in this new way?
Looking back, I really didn’t understand that giving to myself meant that I would be a better mother, wife, teacher, artist, observer, learner, mentor, and friend.
I let guilt and stress stand in my way of losing the weight I knew I needed to so I could feel my best.
I kept myself fat so I didn’t have to put myself out there and live my life to the fullest
I kept affirming the old story in my head that if I ever left my baby’s side, I would be a terrible mother.
When we look in the mirror and see a heavier version of ourselves and decide it’s NOT ideal and NOT pleasurable, a terrible cyclical storm wreaks havoc on our entire system. We stress out. Our thoughts of self loathing and defeat become monumental stress. We may eat for comfort or we may punish ourselves and eat tree bark…
Either way, if you are stressed your body is going to hold onto every single morsel that passes your lips – especially fat
What happens is:
Your brain becomes addicted to the stress and sugar cycle and you eat more to calm the stress. Stress builds up as fat around your belly because of inflammation and your body’s natural responsibility to stay safe and KEEP storing visceral fat as protection.
How to release the stress
and let go of your belly fat
The first step is to let go and relax. Let go of being Brady bunch perfect with a fancy apron and homemade cookies, stellar job, PTA president with a smokin’ hot ass and perfect kids who never make big messes. N
Let go of your physical judgements about yourself.
Wear tight Yoga pants to the grocery store
Rock the dance floor and give yourself at least ONE compliment every time you pass by the mirror.
Accept that the truth is that no one is perfect, but lots of people are good at portraying that they are.
Step two is to look at your stress face to face and divide it into 2 categories:
What I Can Control &
What is Beyond My Control
Just seeing that on paper is freeing. Then, look back at the things you can control and start with bite sized pieces. Start proactively addressing your stress instead of reactively. Let everything flow on paper, especially what stresses you out and then find non-food/drink related was to release the stress.
Nourish your body and soul.
I finally discovered that I didn’t need to take control of every second of time my new baby was spending with friends or family. She was happy with and without me and I was done being overweight, stressed out and guilty.
If I would’ve given myself the permission that everyone else was giving me to work out, get a pedicure, grab a happy hour with a friend, sit in the bath and read a book, take myself on a walk or any other number of things that release stress, I could have actualized my ideal body weight a lot sooner and found myself again amidst the madness of my life at the time.
Step three is to identify what you don’t want to feel so you can create what you actually what to feel.
If you are stressed, give yourself permission to stop and breathe.
Inhale what you want to be feeling, joy, happiness, power, accomplishment, confidence, control, love and exhale what you don’t want to be feeling, disgust, judgement, overwhelm, criticism, loathing, or depression.
For 10 deep breaths, meditate and create your world. Then take action!
Get more sleep if that helps you de-stress, ask for help and majorly celebrate what you are doing right instead of what your not.
I have made huge strides with stress in my life, lost all the baby weight and have mastered habit change so it’s never a struggle anymore to make the “right” decisions.
Do the work to let go of your stress and make room for your fabulous new body.
It’s time to take back your life!
Best, Christy