Post Partum Shopping

Yesterday I decided I was going to spend my gift card to Kohl's. I was hoping to pick up a new bra or two and maybe a pair of capris. I left Hubby and WEB at home for a few hours and off I went. I spent 2 hours there. I think I made 4 or 5 trips to the fitting room with at least 15 items in my hands each time and came out with nothing. I had a gift card for $25 and I figured I would have trouble narrowing down my choices to spend only my gift card. Nope. It was quite the contrary.

I tried on dresses. Everything from regular dresses to maxi dresses, and I'm not sure who looks good in maxi dresses except for preggers mommas and stick skinny girls. I tried on tops, capris, shorts, bermudas, and jeans. The one pair of capris I found that fit, were fairly comfortable, but not on sale. What's the point of going to a Labor Day Sale if you're not going to get a crazy deal on what you're buying? I couldn't bring myself to spend $28 on capris at Kohl's when I could probably go to Old Navy and find something I liked better for cheaper.

Next I figured I'd try my luck with bras. I have been torturing myself wearing my pre-prego bras that are a size too small, so my ta-tas spill out on all sides, and I end up wearing a tank top with a shelf bra under all my shirts to help contain my girls. This is not exactly the most comfortable alternative when it's 100 degrees outside and 90 degrees inside my house. I gathered at least one bra from every brand they carry in my size. Off I went to the fitting room. I tried on at least 15 bras and none of them were even remotely comfortable. The straps had no give in them, so I could barely get my arm through to put it on my shoulder. Yeah, that's comfortable....NOT! The cups cut me off in the middle so I had this lovely bulge of boob spilling out in the middle. My favorite was the bra that claimed it had "side smoothing" that did nothing of the sort and if anything, made my boobs spread out further. I texted my mom and said "Now I remember why I always go to Victoria's Secret for bras...". She said "Yeah. We try to go elsewhere but end up right back there". I've been getting my bras there for over 10 years now and they just know how a bra is supposed to fit me and my ladies. Even their bikinis fit great! The first bikini I bought that cost less than $100 and fit better than my over $100 ones was from Victoria's Secret, which just meant that I got to get more than one that summer!

Overall, it was a weird experience yesterday. I felt like I was trying on clothes for someone else's body. The stretch marks, the jiggles, the muffin top are all part of someone else's body. I'm looking in the mirror and see someone that looks kind of like me, but isn't me. I've been trying to exercise and diet but lose motivation when I don't see the results I want fast enough. My friend, Yvett, jokingly asked me the other day if I was on my pre-wedding diet, which consisted of cereal for breakfast, Slimfast for lunch, a handful of Cheez-Its for a snack, a salad and some chicken for dinner. It seemed a tad extreme for me, but I guess that's the only way I'd get the drastic change I'm looking for, and my body was bangin' on my wedding day!

Of course Hubby was super supportive when I got home and he saw the less than stellar look on my face. He reminded me that it hasn't even been 6 months since I had WEB, that I've already lost a lot of weight, and that he loves me no matter what. He also said that he's still got preggo weight to lose, too. Ha Ha! In an attempt to get us both back on track, this weekend while he was working I purged our kitchen of just about all junk food. We still have chips and a few things, but cookies, candy, and chocolate were tossed, along with a bunch of old stuff we had. WEB and I hit the grocery store Sunday afternoon and stocked up on a bunch of stuff for dinners this week along with fresh fruits and veggies. Hubby has been craving chocolate like crazy but I refuse to go buy any. It was a great way to get rid of stuff and reorganize everything so I knew what we had and could see it. Now hopefully I'll be more enticed by the Yoplait Yogurt Parfaits I bought (on sale and with a coupon!) when I need something sweet, or the carrot sticks when I need a snack.

During some of my downtime on this lovely long weekend, I got to read the September issue of Glamour with Jessica Simpson on the cover, who looks amazing on the cover and I would totally rock her outfit - t-shirt, jeans, and a sparkly jacket that's to die for! There was this interesting article, What Everyone But You Sees About Your Body, that caught my eye. It was a bunch of testimonials from women that work with women and their bodies everyday. It just made me realize how harsh we are on ourselves and our bodies, and in light of my recent shopping experience, I will leave you with this bit of inspiration from the article that Sue Baelen, a licensed midwife said:
"Since pregnancy is such a transformational time, I use the opportunity to plant seeds with expectant mothers. I point out that women's bodies are soft and round for a reason. For example, hips widen to accommodate the weight of a new life. And what we call the pooch - the slight roundness of the belly - stores needed estrogen. We've been poisoning ourselves with unrealistic images for so long that we see these parts as liabilities. But we can create life, for God's sake! So I want all of us, pregnant or not, to embrace the changes our bodies undergo as a part of the natural order of things."