So if you've had a kid chances are you've found pages like 4th Trimester Body Project or Birth Without Fear, etc. these amazing groups celebrate moms in all of their forms, shapes, and sizes. I love it. Every woman, especially those who have made, housed, and birthed a baby, should never hate their body. It's beyond miraculous what the female body can do, the power we are capable of... It blows my mind. Staring at my 7 month old and 2.5 year old it's like "HOLY HOT DAMN!! I CREATED THEM!!!" Like shit!!!! So yes, I'm amazed and in love with what my body has done... Butttt I still desire to get my body to a place where I'm wholly confident, healthy, and strong. Don't hate me, but I have kids and still want to look good in a bathing suit. *gasp* So like anything in this day and age you are damned if you do, damned if you don't. On one side you get the, "stop shaming moms who don't bounce back after baby" and then there's the "stop shaming moms who desire to spend time on themselves and exercise" Why is it always like this?! All it takes is 10 seconds on a comment thread of any mommy related story for the claws to come out. We are always offended. Everything is offensive. Dear sweet baby Jesus!! I'm offended, you're offended, I'm offended... Geez!! Why?! Did agree-to-disagree just fly out the window? Since when did your opinion mean so much more than your neighbor's?! And why in the hell do we have to tell everyone?! Hell, I'm a blogger, I love giving my 2 cents about all things and I have plenty of thoughts about child raising ideals and practices... Sure, I might quietly judge or disagree with another mom for a certain behavior, but guess what?! I keep my freakin mouth closed because that mom is just doing her best! The poor mom who lost her child to an alligator attack hopefully never looked at the comment thread on a story about their situation because the terrible awful things that were said would leave even the toughest skin bruised. She was doing her best. Don't get me started on the Gorilla kid...

I've gotten off topic...

When I stare in the mirror, I'm gonna be honest, I'm like Meh. I don't hate my body, but I am genuinely excited about getting back into my old clothes and feeling happy with my nekkid body. I hesitate to say "get my body back" I don't want that body, I want my -amazing, birthed 2 babies naturally with no drugs, fed two babies from my boobs- body, I just want strength and stamina to chase my kiddos endlessly. I want to be able to pick up my kids until they're teenagers. Slight exaggeration? Possibly.

It doesn't have to be one or the other. We can love our bodies and all they've done and desire to spend time on ourselves excercising and getting in shape. If you're anything like me, the time spent exercising is just as much a mental cleansing as it is a physical challenge. It gets my brain right. Even if it's just a walk or a 10 minute arm series. You'd be amazed what that can do for your soul.

On top of exercise and good old fashioned clean eating, after F bomb I decided to wear my Belly Bandit compression gear for REALS this go around. I had it for after Roc, but was not consistent. Let me tell you consistency is key!!! I wore my Original Belly Bandit, all-day everyday for the first month. After that I tried to wear it for at least 4 hours for the following few months until it [hooray] became too big! I switched to the Mother Tucker corset after that and again wore that for a few hours a day . On top of these tummy products, I decided to try the Hip Bandit because with Rocco it was a solid year before my hips were back down to size. Guys!!!! At 5 months my hip measurement was a half an inch away from pre-baby... NUMBER ONE!!! So yea, if you're wondering if this stuff works. I'd have to say a resounding yessss ma'am. I also rock their Mother Tucker leggings, like, all the time. Just look at my past two fashion posts. I feel so good when I wear them and at the end of the day it doesn't matter what a comment thread says or Instagram or People magazine says, feelin good is all that matters!!