As Stephanie Tanner would say, "How Rude!"

 

It has amazed me my entire life how people so openly comment on my weight. It probably started when I was in Junior High. A lot of girls around me developed quicker (okay who am I kidding I don't know if I ever did develop-ha ha). I felt really self-conscious about my weight back then because I was so all bones and no shape like other girls. Finally when I was about a sophomore in high school I gained some weight. Immediately girls started making comments about how I had gotten "fat". I finally grew into my body and before I knew it I had graduated high school and had put on the famous freshman fifteen. I felt like it was a never ending battle about either being too skinny or not skinny enough. It didn't help that everyone around me had a comment about it.


 Before I got pregnant I was at my lowest weight but probably my best shape ever. However, a lot of people kept telling me that I looked too thin. I was so excited when I started packing on the pounds immediately when I got pregnant. I thought, "good! now that I am gaining weight people will be happy". To my dismay, it was the opposite. I remember going into the doctor's office and him politely telling me that I was "ahead of schedule" with my weight gain. After the appointment I went to the car and cried. At that moment it hit me that I would never be able to please anyone. I was either going to get criticized for being too thin or being too "fat". Throughout my pregnancy I couldn't believe the comments people would tell me. Even complete strangers. One minute someone would say, "Wow! You are seven months pregnant?! You look like you are only a couple months pregnant" and then literally an hour later someone different would say "Wow-you are really filling out".  It amazed me how night and day the opinions were...it really messed with my head. I just wanted to be healthy and have a healthy baby.


Last week (the day I had already planned on starting Turbo Fire) I was at work and a complete stranger came up to me and put her hand on my belly and said "Awww...you are expecting?" I couldn't believe that she was so bold to do that. I gracefully told her that I had just had a baby a couple months ago. 


My point to this story is that there comes a time when you have to block out the voices and the opinions and worry about how YOU feel inside. The important thing is that you are healthy and feel confident. You are never going to please everyone. This is a lesson that I am learning and continuing to learn every day.  I guess I have always tried to live with the old saying, "If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all". Unfortunately, I don't think everyone got that memo.