“I was in the best shape of my life when I got pregnant with our rainbow baby. Holding my 8-day-old baby, all I saw was that belly. I felt like a failure when the weight didn’t fall off a month or two later.”
‘Even at 9 months pregnant, I spent a few days a week at the gym. ‘You look FAT.’ I cringed when people wanted to snap a photo.’: Mom of four encourages moms to embrace their normal
‘Sexy is a 20-minute bath while Daddy watches the baby. Sexy is lifting up other women and never being too smart to learn something new.’: Woman challenges definition of ‘sexy’
“I’m tired of girls being led to believe they’ve got to pucker their lips, stick out their butt, flash some cleavage, and put seven filters on their face to feel cute. Sexy is working hard and understanding your strength. It’s understanding the world doesn’t revolve around you. It’s accepting your weaknesses and asking for help. Don’t limit yourself to six pack abs and booty bands.”
‘I vividly remember my husband saying, ‘Babe, it’s time!’ I was AT LEAST 125 pounds overweight. I could barely walk up a flight of stairs.’: Couple join forces to battle obesity together
“I’d tried to ‘diet’ like everyone else, but it just never worked. I ate and over-ate for every reason: to celebrate, to mourn, in boredom, in spite. I was insulin resistant, one Coke away from diabetes, had sleep apnea, PCOS, and lived in chronic pain. I was living life overweight and completely miserable. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
‘Something is wrong with Dad. He’s not breathing!’ It felt like a horrible dream.’: Teen mom faces depression, alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy after losing father, ‘I’ve finally taken my life back’
“My boyfriend wasn’t always faithful and being a scared, pregnant teenager wasn’t easy. My boyfriend and baby’s dad asked me, ‘Can you get an abortion?’ I often put on a happy face for everyone, but at home alone with a toddler, I would lay in bed for hours, not wanting to get up. I wouldn’t brush my hair. I wouldn’t clean my house. I didn’t recognize myself and the people around me.”
‘When my dad whispered, ‘I love you,’ I knew it was more than that. It was a final goodbye. They were ready to let go.’: Woman diagnosed with eating disorder at 13 finally accepts help, ‘I am ready to start the next, better, decade of my life’
“My parents had shed too many tears over me, and I couldn’t bear it to break their hearts again. I felt ready to die, but knew it wasn’t my time. I was weak. I gave up the reigns and opted for inpatient treatment. I was frustrated, and I let this be known. I would shout and hit the walls. I would argue. But gradually, I came to life again. I am no longer held back by my demons.”
‘I was attracted to you before you put on weight.’ It broke me. Now he’s dating a woman half my size and 15 years his junior.’: Woman works to be body positive after being fat-shamed, urges ‘You matter and you are enough’
“My doctor told me, ‘Your weight is why you lost your baby.’ I was destroyed. My weight was the reason my marriage ended and it was also the reason I miscarried. My ex-husband even went as far to accuse me of making up the entire pregnancy. I lost my love, my child, and myself that year.”
‘Your dad thought he could hit me, but you will NEVER hit me. I’ll kill you first.’ She was a 400-pound woman. I was a 9-year-old child.’: Woman survives child abuse and PTSD, repairs relationship with abusers, ‘I was born a SURVIVOR’
“She had me by my pigtails. She cornered me into our closet using a man’s belt to spank me. A friend saw her, and told her if she ever hit me again, he’d tell his dad. Later my mom tried having me committed to a mental hospital. After a 24-hour sit in at the ER, a doctor came in. ‘There is nothing wrong with you, except the fact you need to get away from your mother.’ I wanted a mom who WANTED to be my mom.”
‘A sleeveless shirt would ‘bring too much attention.’ Everything I did was a ‘sin.’ There was no escaping it.’: Woman overcomes ‘unique’ childhood, trauma to find self-love
“I was in his bed, having unprotected sex. I lost my virginity. I was supposed to wait till marriage. Within 3 months of meeting him, I got pregnant. I came home and caught him talking to another woman. I felt betrayed, heartbroken, and utterly lost. I convinced myself to do whatever I had to do to create a life with this man. Boy, was I wrong. That’s when a girlfriend set me up on a blind date with a man named Larry.”
‘Oooh tough week? What happened, honey?’ I was 15. Women I’d never met were commenting on my weight.’: Woman discovers intuitive eating, self-love after struggling with weight for years, ‘My children will see a vibrant, smart, STRONG woman’
“’Really? That’s what you’re going to eat for breakfast?’ I vividly remember holding my two pieces of cinnamon toast in my trembling hands. Every single one of my siblings had already toasted their bread, buttered it, and sprinkled it with cinnamon and sugar. Yet, I was the only one singled out by my grandpa. Age 15, I began attending meetings every week with my mother. Strange adult women would applaud and beam at me. I was given jewelry to celebrate my ‘hard work.’ Women twice my age would ask what my ‘secret’ was.”
‘We won’t charge you for her. She’ll be FREE!’ I was freaking out. We already had 5 children. We didn’t sign up for this. We’re done, right?!’: Mom of 10 has all-natural birth at age 43, ‘We’ve brought 7 lives into the world, and saved 3. That’s worth it!’
“Let’s just say, passion wasn’t an issue in our relationship. We were headed to the movies and had a conversation that I might be pregnant. He asked me to take a pregnancy test in the movie theater restroom. I just swung my arms in a rocking cradle motion as I walked towards them. My family started asking if we were done. My mom even told me I needed to make John an appointment for a vasectomy. Funny story.”
