Teh One Who Knocks
03-01-2016, 12:08 PM
By Valerie Siebert For Dailymail.com
A self-proclaimed 'fat activist' has revealed that, despite being always comfortable with her 'fat' form, she suffered from a hit to her self-confidence after pregnancy.
Katie Tastrom Fenton of Syracuse, New York, writes in a new essay for xoJane that before becoming a mother she 'could talk forever about how I love my fat body' and had been 'confident and happy with my body for as long as I can remember'.
Going into the pregnancy, Katie says that she had worries initially over her size, but only in the sense that she would have to be extra careful about gestational diabetes and other aspects of her medical care. But one thing she hadn't counted on being a problem was her self-esteem.
http://i.imgur.com/jOcEG2D.png
'I figured that I was already fat and if I got more fat, so what?' she remembers.
After a 'blessedly unremarkable pregnancy' Katie gave birth via C-section and, after healing post-birth, found that her weight had stayed virtually the same as before her pregnancy.
But things were not the same. In fact, she says: 'My body was completely different.'
Before becoming pregnant, Katie was comfortable with her hourglass shape with a wider waist and a few stretchmarks spread about her body, but post-pregnancy, she found that she was saddled with deep, dark stretchmarks and a big belly that hung over her pants.
'None of this is atypical in people who have just had babies,' she writes. 'What really threw me for a loop was that I was bothered by it.'
http://i.imgur.com/vXrPRX9.jpg
While she admits to having felt insecure at other points in her life, her feelings around her changed body were different. She couldn't shake them.
However, being of a resilient sense of body positivity, Katie went about working to accept her new form.
First, she took to the web and browsed for photos of women in just her situation, confidently showing off their post-baby bellies. She shopped for new clothes that flattered her form, and, to prove to herself that she had nothing to be ashamed of, she posed for a photo shoot.
'I worked with a friend on a photo shoot where I wrote "MILF" on my belly and wore only granny panties and old sports bras,' she shares. 'It really helped me feel beautiful and confident with this new shape.'
As she began sharing more images of her new body on social media, she began to feel like she was adding herself to the conversation about body acceptance, and it started to work.
'Adding my body to the mix put the final nail in the coffin of my discomfort with my belly,' she says.
But while she admits that she will not always love her new belly, she pledges to keep up the work of seeing herself in a positive light.
Katie concludes her essay by explaining that she wrote it for other 'fat people' who may be blindsided by the changes in their bodies after pregnancy - but also for those lacking confidence in their shape no matter what. That: 'even the fat lady that posts stretch mark belly pics on Facebook had to work through some s*** first'.
A self-proclaimed 'fat activist' has revealed that, despite being always comfortable with her 'fat' form, she suffered from a hit to her self-confidence after pregnancy.
Katie Tastrom Fenton of Syracuse, New York, writes in a new essay for xoJane that before becoming a mother she 'could talk forever about how I love my fat body' and had been 'confident and happy with my body for as long as I can remember'.
Going into the pregnancy, Katie says that she had worries initially over her size, but only in the sense that she would have to be extra careful about gestational diabetes and other aspects of her medical care. But one thing she hadn't counted on being a problem was her self-esteem.
http://i.imgur.com/jOcEG2D.png
'I figured that I was already fat and if I got more fat, so what?' she remembers.
After a 'blessedly unremarkable pregnancy' Katie gave birth via C-section and, after healing post-birth, found that her weight had stayed virtually the same as before her pregnancy.
But things were not the same. In fact, she says: 'My body was completely different.'
Before becoming pregnant, Katie was comfortable with her hourglass shape with a wider waist and a few stretchmarks spread about her body, but post-pregnancy, she found that she was saddled with deep, dark stretchmarks and a big belly that hung over her pants.
'None of this is atypical in people who have just had babies,' she writes. 'What really threw me for a loop was that I was bothered by it.'
http://i.imgur.com/vXrPRX9.jpg
While she admits to having felt insecure at other points in her life, her feelings around her changed body were different. She couldn't shake them.
However, being of a resilient sense of body positivity, Katie went about working to accept her new form.
First, she took to the web and browsed for photos of women in just her situation, confidently showing off their post-baby bellies. She shopped for new clothes that flattered her form, and, to prove to herself that she had nothing to be ashamed of, she posed for a photo shoot.
'I worked with a friend on a photo shoot where I wrote "MILF" on my belly and wore only granny panties and old sports bras,' she shares. 'It really helped me feel beautiful and confident with this new shape.'
As she began sharing more images of her new body on social media, she began to feel like she was adding herself to the conversation about body acceptance, and it started to work.
'Adding my body to the mix put the final nail in the coffin of my discomfort with my belly,' she says.
But while she admits that she will not always love her new belly, she pledges to keep up the work of seeing herself in a positive light.
Katie concludes her essay by explaining that she wrote it for other 'fat people' who may be blindsided by the changes in their bodies after pregnancy - but also for those lacking confidence in their shape no matter what. That: 'even the fat lady that posts stretch mark belly pics on Facebook had to work through some s*** first'.