When a woman becomes a mom, she goes through a transition both mentally and physically. It’s beautiful and special but, often, the pressures that society puts on body image can be damaging to a new mother’s self-confidence.
While eating healthy and working out can do wonders for a new mom’s energy levels and body composition, there are some parts of your post-baby body that, try as you may, aren’t going to look the same as before. Take stretch marks, for example.
Australian Fitspo Sharny Kieser has worked hard for her fit body. Yet she still felt she couldn’t wear a bikini anymore, for fear of revealing her stretch marks.
“If I was ever invited to the beach or a pool party, I’d always decline,” Kieser shared. “On the odd occasion I couldn’t avoid it, I’d stay inside, helping with the food or the cleaning.”
As a mom of six, Kieser wondered what the point was of working out if she could never wear a bikini. She struggled to feel comfortable with her scars until one day when she overheard her husband, Julius, talking to some friends about why Kieser should be proud of her scars.
He only saw her scars as beautiful reminders of her strength and sacrifice in motherhood. Hearing her husband talk about her stretch marks this way radically changed how Kieser looked at them herself.
“I looked at my stretch marks and I felt pride,” Kieser wrote. “I felt love. The love of my husband and the love of my children. Each one of them had been nurtured and lived behind those scars for nine months. I felt pride. I felt love. I felt love for myself.”
In 2017, Kieser posted an inspirational picture on Instagram of herself dressed in a bikini with her stretch marks proudly on display. Her caption is so encouraging; it challenges you to rethink the way you view these beautiful scars.
Don’t forget to share Kieser’s inspiring story with a friend.
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