I gave birth to my beautiful daughter, Shay,  in early June (birth story coming soon). Besides talking about breastfeeding and sleepless nights, one of the biggest issues I hear women talking about is their weight.

Dealing with your weight, especially after childbirth, can feel heavy (pun intended).
As many of you know, I’m a certified nutritionist and licensed therapist by profession; so, naturally, you might think that my food and mood game is on point.  NOT ALWAYS.

I gained about 40 pounds during pregnancy and I’ve been eating and exercising my way back to post-baby body. One of the last things I wanted to hear was ‘when are you due?’ –especially after working so hard to get in shape over the past couple of weeks.

And so, it happened.

I want to share a story with you about how I had a hurtful experience and how I used my voice and stood up and took care of myself when women, yes multiple women commented on my post-baby body.

This could have sent me down a binge eating black hole, but I transformed my anger into a passion; which turned into numerous insights and inspiration to write this vlog.

P.S. Don’t mind baby Shay having a bit-o-gas during this episode. 🙂

This ElyseUncut is a glimpse into how I deal with negative comments and personal feelings about my body and weight and how I turned them around in three self-care steps.

Keep watching for simple tools you can use to feel good about your body any day.

Now, every body’s body is different and unique depending on your individual lifestyle.  Not to mention, our weight and bodies are all connected to different emotional triggers for us.

My younger self, the Obese Elyse, was triggered that day and I had to dig deep and use my strengths of honesty and bravery to give myself what I needed and here they are in a nutshell: 

-Continue to create meaningful relationships with family

-Say and write positive affirmations about my body

-Accept where I’m at in my journey

Later on, I was able to shake off any negative vibes I had left by dancing to some reggae with little Shay!  All are fabulous (and free) self-care techniques and tools.

After telling this story to one of my close friends, she asked, ‘How did you have the power to come back and actually do something HEALTHY, I would have just eaten or cried for hours!’

I shared with her that I fell back on my why, – it’s to be a strong role model for my daughter, to show her that self-care is #1 and to be proud of your body. I promised myself before she was born that I would never talk negatively about my body in front of her.

It was more about learning a lesson and that lesson was acceptance for where I’m at in the process and journey.

Now, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

Have you had a similar experience like this? If so, how did you respond? If not, how would you have responded if someone made a dig at your body?

How would you have given yourself the care you needed or what strength would you rely on to get you through?

Please share as much as you can! Your story, tip or tool may just inspire and encourage someone else on their journey to health, happiness and feeling FAB and I know it will inspire me too.

Moral of the story: you’re the only one in control of how you feel and talk about your body. So stay positive!

Thank you for reading, watching, participating and supporting.

P.S. Being uncomfortable in your skin is your body yearning for acceptance. When this happens; paradigms shift.

P.P.S. Mantra: Don’t let someone else’s opinion of you shape who you truly are.  For even more inspiring affirmations, click here