I don’t know about anyone else out there, but when I decided to be more body positive for the sake of my kids (in an effort to set a good example for them), I had no idea how hard it would actually be. It’s been a bit of a journey for me, but I’m learning there are things body positive women refuse to say around their kids, and the less I say these things to or around my children, the more I find my own view of myself, actually changing.
I love my mother to pieces, and she did a fantastic job of raising me on many levels and in many ways, but the complex relationship she has with her body image haunts me to this day. I first heard about her diets at a very young age and was, sadly, dieting by the time I was 12 years old. I binged and then dieted for all of my teenage years, and while I managed to get beyond that negative cycle in my early 20s, my challenges with perinatal anxiety and depression brought back many of those demons I had safely assumed I had left behind. I promised myself I would model body positivity for my kids, and I am working hard to keep that promise. It's tough, though, to avoid commenting about my current struggle with my weight in front of the kids. I believe it's incredibly important, however, for my son and daughter to enjoy resting on my currently "pillowy soft" belly, rather than listen to their mom hate on it. Their unabashed love of what I perceive to be an imperfect part of me, is also teaching me how much I have to learn about loving myself.
Which is why, while I am trying to teach my kids how to be more body positive, they're simultaneously (and unknowingly) teaching me how to be more body positive, too. It's just one of the many instances in which parents and children learn from one another, and I'm thankful that my efforts to be more body positive for my kids aren't just helping them grow up to love themselves, but helping me to continue to love myself, too.
So, with that in mind, here are nine things body positive women (or women who are desperately trying to be body positive) refuse to say in front of their kids: