Hi Suze_C,

Next time your DH expresses concern about your baby's potbelly, you can reassure him that it's probably due to her skeletal structure. Babies of your daughter's age have more extreme curvature of the lower spine which pushes out the tummy and gives them that cute little belly.

You sound like a terrific, loving mom. Congrats on your little, monkey. She's lucky to have such caring parents.

Digwig

I read this post and was nodding my head the whole time. I've been on both ends of this spectrum. When I was a teen i constantly felt overweight - about 30 lbs overweight. No one ever went over a height/weight chart with me to show me that I was actually within a healthy range. In fact even at one point I STILL felt overweight and according to BMI calculations (that I can do NOW) I was UNDERWEIGHT. I still had a bit of a pooch on my tummy (a genetic present I'm guessing) - and so I still felt FAT. Of course this could just be the run of the mill teenage angst about body image? However, I've also experienced the other end of the spectrum too. When I started gaining weight I noticed it. I could see it. At a certain point though I stopped seeing it. At about 180 lbs I stopped 'seeing' in the mirror how much I gained. It wasn't until I saw photos of myself that I realized I no longer LOOKED 180lbs. Yet every day when I get up and look in the mirror - that's what I see. When I reached 245-250 lbs I finally realized - umm no I've gotten much BIGGER than 180 but I still didn't truly SEE how big I'd become. I think I was really only seeing myself at 200lbs (so my body image was lagging behind in size) Even now when I'm on my way back down I don't think that I REALLY see what other people see. Once in a while when I'm at the gym in workout clothes and a catch a glimpse in the mirror I think maybe, just maybe I catch a true glimpse of myself. And indeed I think if I was taking pictures of myself I might see the 'true' image. What I see in the morning in the full lenght mirror - is not the same person i see in photographs. My self perception of my size is still distorted only these days it's distorted smaller rather than larger. Which makes me wonder what I will see in the mirror when I reach my goal weight - will I be able to see it? I worry that I will not - that my body image will still be distorted - either up or down. I guess I won't know till I get there! :/

I would find that highly offensive too :/ Of course I was highly offended at the questions asking whether or not I was diagnosed with depression in x many years when I was filling out forms for life insurance as well. I also realized at that moment how much power a physician had over my life. They COULD misdiagnose. The thought that this could happen to someone really bothered me. Your height/weight chart for your employer's insurance company bothers me also. What allowances do they make for the extremely fit employees who's muscle mass put them into the 'obese' category for BMI (I'm assuming the height/weight chart is a BMI type chart)? Makes you wonder. Even regardless of the fact that the chart could be an innacurate tool for predicting possible future health issues, it's still an offensive idea. What's next? people whose familys have a genetic predisposition for disease will have to pay higher health premiums? :/ It's a slippery slope for sure.

Thanks Digwig, for the kind comments about my mom skills~ After all, there isn't much more I am able to do , so I do my best at being a mom... I am hoping that by taking off some of this weight, that my pain lessens as well.
I know also, the shock at seeing how big I'd actually become with gaining all this weight. I have always been somewhat camera shy, and when I seen myself just 2 nights ago on a recording my hubby had made of our daughter, I was again shocked. I was sitting crosslegged on the floor next to her, and because of my stomach's size, and how I was sitting, it looked like my legs started at the knees,... I didn't like seeing it... BUT it was reality... and I know that I am doing something about it... I also had my friend take some before pics last Thursday, of front,side and back views, and I didn't like that either. But I am going to need something to show har far I have come when I get this weight off!!! I wish I would've taken pics 3 1/2 wks. ago when I started Induction.,... but oh well. The important thing, is that I am ON MY WAY to a smaller me!!

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I have a two-year old and I know what it's like to have a terrible shock when you see video footage or photos of yourself with your baby. I have always seen myself as smaller than I actually am (I think this might come from only examining myself from flattering angles in the mirror. If I don't like what I see, I shift positions until things improve ) At 247, I think I thought I looked about 200 (boy, was I wrong) and at my current weight of 185, I seem to see someone who weighs around 160 in the mirror. At least the gap between the imagined weight and the real weight seems to be narrowing.

I have my husband take front, back and side shots of me every 10 pounds, so that I can see the progression and also get a sense of what I really look like. I usually feel disappointed, but as I get closer to being overweight rather than obese, I'm feeling more pleasure when I look at the photos. I had two NSV yesterday. My napkin stayed on my lap through an entire meal because it was finally resting on a more horizontal surface (my legs)...my stomach used to tilt the napkin vertical and cause it to fall on the floor. Damn gravity! I also climbed all over the jungle gym with my daughter and felt like a kid again! Woo-Hoo!

Once my daughter was born, I knew I'd have to really become serious about losing weight. She deserves a mom who can keep up with her and will be a good example to her. I don't want my daughter to grow up with a diet-mentality. I want to teach her how to eat a healthy diet, love her body and understand that there's more to who she is than what she looks like. As a child, my mother tried to send that message to me, but it was a case of what she did not matching what she said. I watched my poor mom battle her weight throughout my childhood and because she spent so much time and energy on it, I definitely came to believe that being thin was crucially important. Why else would my mother put herself throught what she did? As a result, I went on my first 1000 calorie a day diet when I was 11 years old and wanted to be 5 lbs thinner!

That's why I want to remove dieting as an issue from our household before my daughter is old enough to start internalizing negative messages about food. I know that I wouldn't have ever reached 247 on the scale if I hadn't been on countless lo-cal diets. 50 of those pounds were directly related to low-fat dieting. I've struggled with anxiety and depression for many years, and only managed to correct those problems by adding fat (crucial for brain function) back into my diet! I want my daughter to understand that food is her friend, that the proper diet will give your body the ability to accomplish anything. Rather than seeing food as the enemy, I want her to see it as a tool to power her dreams!