Friday, April 8, 2011

This Moment: Belly Flab


Oh, man, this is kind of painful.  Hopefully it will hold me accountable and help inspire me to eat less sugar.

Basically, this is what eating cookies every day looks like.  I eat very healthy and make sure to meet my nutritional needs, but I have a serious sweet tooth. 

I have no words for this one.


Well, at least my arm looks ripped in this one.

16 comments:

  1. Not that I am at all agreeing that your belly is flabby, but let me tell you when the almost-18 month old baby flab REALLY goes badly.....when you have another one on the way. Oh my, it's bad.

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  2. o. m. g. Stephanie, either you're in my head or I feel as if you might have noticed my belly flab today! This was my exact thought process today! I was totally thinking about how I need to kick my sugar habit and that hopefully committing to the 5k will help me get rid of the flab!

    PS. mine's worse than yours.

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  3. I just have to wonder how you would feel if you saw your little one standing in front of a mirror pinching her baby fat and going, "I think I need to lose a few." Maybe you should find motivation in what you want your body to accomplish and how you want to feel, not how it looks. This really seems to be an unhealthy attitude for both you and your little girl, because she will pick up how she feels about herself from how you feel about yourself.

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  4. @Cassandra (and everyone really)... thanks for your second comment, I wasn't exactly sure what you meant by your first one, but the second one is very clear!

    After I posted this, I was worried that some people would get the wrong idea about why I wanted to get rid of my bell fat, since I didn't explain it all.

    So let me be clear, I do not have poor/negative body image. I do not walk around my house, pinching my belly fat and looking at it in the mirror, nor do I complain to my husband or daughter about my belly fat. I never stand in front of the mirror and say " I need to loose a few". If I say anything at all, I would say man, I hate that I am addicted to sugar and having such a hard time quitting, even when I know how bad it is for me and for Penelope (she is getting all that sugar in my breast milk and I feel horrible about it!).

    My issue with my belly fat, is not because I feel like I should be thinner because of societal pressure to look a certain way.

    My issue with my belly fat, is that I KNOW it is an outward manifestation of me eating too much sweets (and possibly too many carbs, but Tara's review of my food diary on Monday, should shed some light on that).

    If I ate no sugar and my belly still looked like that, it would be a whole different story.

    I want it gone, because I want the root of the problem gone, which is eating sugar. The reality of belly fat is just that. Once I stop eating sugar, the belly fat will be gone. It has nothing to do with unhealthy attitude. It has to do with me realizing this fact and realizing how bad sugar is for your health and wanting to do something about it.

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  5. Stephanie, I'm glad you clarified your point. It didn't occur to me to think this was a post about a poor body image. I know how health conscious you are, not only in terms of physicality, but also in terms of your mental and emotional health. I, too, try my best to be healthy but also have a weakness for sweets. I'm proud of the progress I've made in terms of a healthy lifestyle thus far, but see my belly flab as a reminder that I need to work a little harder and fully commit to ridding my life of the things that are bad for me and my little one. I appreciate your honesty and the realness!

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  6. I get it... you're just trying to hold yourself accountable for a goal you have to eat better. That being said, I am so jealous that yours is a "fixable" problem. I have zebra stripe stretch marks on my belly that aren't going anywhere!

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  7. I know this post is in the name of being healthier but i have to admit I'm disappointed to see a post like this. I grew up with a very healthy mom who was always thin and yet constantly called herself fat and would poke at her "problem areas" with disgust. Why are we women so hard on ourselves? What if you cut out sugar completely and are still unable to lose those 5lbs?Our bodies are different after giving birth and they carry weight differently. I look at my post-baby body and yes, it looks different than before...i won't be wearing a bikini, well, maybe ever again haha. But then i look at my healthy beautiful baby and realize that my body is the reason i have her. How can i be upset for one moment! I don't mean to be combative. I just think we owe it to our daughters (and sons!) to focus on the positive and not waste time being upset by our bodies.

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  8. Stephanie, you did a wonderful job clearifying your intent. I am around you enough to know that you would never effect Penelope's body image other than possitive. I think this will be a great example of the effects of sugar when everyone reads the food diary post.

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  9. @Tara... thanks!
    @Holly...did you read my response post?!!
    If I cut out sugar and my stomach still looked like that, then there would be no post! I would know that my body was just going to look like that for whatever reason and I would have no issue with it.
    Also, for the record, my stomach has always looked like this, pretty much since I got my period. So this is not a post partum belly. This is a sugar belly.

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  10. I have the same evil sugar addiction and my stomach looks about like yours... great ab definition but with a nice little layer all around... arrrg.

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  11. thanks for sharing! I am in the same boat, but without the excuse of being a mama :) I am great about avoiding sugar during the day but something about the evening makes me crave cookies! They are my weakness, and I know I would be in better shape if I could shake that habit....

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  12. Round 2: I had a huge long reply, and Blogger decided not to post it :/

    While I can see the side that many people are taking on this post, I never in a million years thought this post had anything to do with poor self image, or would negatively impact P. I have the same belly "flab", and have on and off for the past 6 years through 2 pregnancies. I am ready to make a change for a healthier me, and I think that is just as good for our babies to commit to a healthier lifestyle, as many other factors that contribute to their well being. You have such a positive spirit, and I could never foresee this being something negative for P. I think it's great that you have the confidence to post this and make a commitment towards a goal. I see this as nothing more than your desire to succeed, as you do so well.

    As a child, I was always taunted and teased for being TOO "skinny". Anorexic jokes left and right. I was a dancer and always very active, and those words hurt just as much as I can imagine "fat jokes". I think it rocks that you posted this... it shows your confidence, honesty, and drive.

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  13. One more thing... I also measure my physical body health goals in pounds, because I think that is the quickest and easiest way to say it. I too, would like to lose "5 pounds", when in all actuality, I rarely step on a scale, and I have no idea what 5 pounds would look like lost. Maybe that is where others are getting hung up? I went to the gym today for the first time in ages, and while running, I thoroughly thought out my goals... And yes, it is much easier to say to myself, "I want to lose 5 pounds" than "I want to get my mile at 8 minutes, run a 5K without dying, tone up my muscles, and trim the belly". Again, I have been reading your blog for a looong time, and you have never complained about your body's appearance, and have no second thoughts about taking your prepregnancy fashion designer skirt and chopping it up for P to wear, b/c that size may be over. Thumbs up, again :)

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  14. Thank you so much Maureen! Its nice to have people like you, who know me personally, vouch that I don't have poor body image or effecting Penelope in a negative way.

    What I really should have said instead of loosing my five last pounds, was beat my addiction to sugar.

    Thanks again for taking the time to write a comment!

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  15. I read your response post! I should've read it before i posted my comment but I was reading this post on my phone and it didn't show me the previous comments :/
    I understand your purpose for the post more now, thanks for clarifying :) like I said, my sisters and i grew up with a poor example for body image so I get defensive for women who struggle with that. Your blog is always so inspiring and uplifting for women/moms, I just took this post the wrong way.

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  16. @Holly, no problem at all. I am glad you guys said something actually, its a very important topic and we should be talking about it more. Setting a good example for body image is something that is very important to me as well, because of the way I was raised (in my house, being pretty was far more important than being smart...I am the daughter of a very successful model and beauty queen so I am sure you can imagine what that was like!)

    Hugs to you!

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