Stephanie Bauman – @TrainerSteph7
Back in September when I found out I was pregnant, let’s say there was tears, not so much happy tears as tears of fear. I was scared and not happy with how my body was going to change over the next 9 months. I’m a personal trainer in the fitness industry, where image is everything, and competitions (any type) play a huge role in my life. And I knew when that pregnancy test came back positive that my image was going to change in a way that will make me very uncomfortable and that I will no longer be able to compete in any type of event for the next year. It was a hard transition. It took me until now to have a different mindset about being pregnant.
As I write this I’m currently 27 weeks pregnant. When you read this I might be 28 or 29 weeks, into the 3rd and final trimester. It wasn’t until now that I finally, for the first time in a very long time, feel comfortable in my own skin. Even when I had abs or when I first became pregnant and concerned about my stomach starting to show more, I was not happy with my self image. Even when I had abs I wouldn’t show them off or felt uncomfortable to change clothes in front of people or even didn’t like to wear a bathing suit or just a sports bra. I still wasn’t happy with how I looked (even with abs). I think the reason why I wasn’t happy with how I looked with abs was because there was so much pressure to look a certain way and even with abs I always felt I wasn’t there yet. Or my abs and look wasn’t good enough. When I became pregnant it got worse. My abs slowly disappeared and my stomach started to get bigger. I didn’t like when someone would make a comment of saying they can see my baby bump. Very insecure and just didn’t have any confidence in myself.
What a turn of events! I have never felt so confident in the way I look than I do now! I’m comfortable in changing clothes in front of people to show off the way I look. Because, for once, I’m actually proud of the way I look. Who would have thought, that even a girl who had abs wasn’t proud of it! But now that I have a nice size baby bump, I can say I’m proud of the way I look. I think it makes you realize that image and having abs isn’t everything if you’re truly not happy! But now to see my body change and be able to do what it’s doing I can see how us women should be proud because our bodies are so amazing!!
I don’t think I can tell you why or exactly how it happened. But all I know is that once you have that confidence don’t ever let it go and I don’t plan on ever losing it again. Because our bodies work hard to have abs, they work hard to carry a baby so why shouldn’t we proud!
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