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44,813 followers
23,256 fansEmbracing This New Body. {giveaway}
This is me at my 6th grade graduation. If this outfit doesn’t scream 1980′s, I’m not sure what does. Hose and heels at 11? Um, okay.
I grew up very thin. Probably too thin. It didn’t matter what I ate or the amount of calories I consumed, I still stayed thin.
In high school, I barely broke 100 pounds. I remember actually wanting to gain weight because I didn’t feel feminine at all. I literally had NO curves, while girls around me looked like women. I felt awkward at times, but I was still pretty comfortable in my skin. I mean, it was all I knew.
I stayed very thin throughout my teenage years and early 20′s. When I dated my husband at 22, I was 110 pounds, which for a woman of 5′ 5″ was WAY too thin. My husband called it my “12 year-old boy” body. Hey, he still married me.
When I married at 23, I was up to 120 pounds and loved it. I actually had a womanly shape and actually felt a bit sexy. It rocked.
Then, at 24, I became pregnant. My body started changing. Drastically.
I remember bawling at the first sign of stretch marks. They continued to multiply as my stomach grew and I bawled some more. My butt grew and my face puffed up. It was….different.
Although I knew pregnancy was a beautiful thing, I did not feel beautiful in the least. My husband loved my bulging belly and tried to lift my spirits, but I just couldn’t see it.
Then my son was born. It didn’t take long for me to stop thinking about myself, especially my vanity issues. The stretching and growing was worth every scar and tear.
Though my body was very different after my first son’s birth, I seemed to slim down fairly quickly. My stomach would never be the same, but it was worth the transformation to have this awesome kid around.
Eight years went by and we decided to have kid #2. I was much more confident this time around, worrying less about my appearance and more on embracing the process. It still didn’t prepare me for the aftermath of birthing 2 kids, though.
I soon found out that it is true what they say about gaining more weight with your second pregnancy. I was also much older this time around, 32, so shedding the pounds after I had my second son was extremely difficult. For once in my life, I had to be careful about what I ate and it was SO HARD.
Today, I am around 135 pounds and still getting used to this new body. Though I know 135 pounds isn’t a scary weight for one to be at, it is still very different than what I have known in my life. I am trying to embrace it. I know beauty comes in all different shapes and sizes, and this in no way excludes me.
Last summer, I did the unthinkable. I posted a photo of myself in a bathing suit. Online.
And? It was liberating. And scary. But you know what? It’s me. So there you have it.
Since I do have to watch why I eat these days and add more exercise into my daily routine, I often turn to technology for help. (hey, I’m a blogger, what do you expect?) The Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone offers a ton of apps in the Marketplace that help moms like me stay healthy, like:
- My Fitness Pal
- Total C25K
- Weight Tracker
- Calorie Tracker
- Calorie Watch
- Water Log
- Control Your Weight
Learn more about the Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone (the phone I have been using) by visiting www.microsoft.com. Also, try out the Windows Phone demo on Facebook.
Do you often struggle with your post-baby body? Share with us in our comments section!
To enter our contest, please follow the instructions in giveaway section below. Don’t want to enter the contest, but want to leave a comment on this post? Feel free!
GIVEAWAY
We are giving away a new pink Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone to one lucky Mom Spark reader!
To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter form below! Good luck!
Contest runs between August 17, 2012 and ends on 11:59 p.m. Eastern on August 21, 2012. To enter, use the Rafflecopter widget above. One random winner will receive 1 pink Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone which must be used with AT&T only. For a complete list of official rules, CLICK HERE.
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Windows Phone and is the third of three posts. Thoughts are my own. Read Mom Spark’s full disclosure here.
Spark!
Amy Bellgardt is a wife, mom, lifestyle & travel blogger, social media strategist, nerd and founder of Mom Spark. Amy also manages 
The XBOX live one! My boyfriend doesn’t always have time to play his games and being able to play some on the go would be a nice gift for him.
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Girl you have nothing to worry about, you look great. I have been in the same boat I wait 95lbs in highschool and I thought I was bad at 126lbs because I cant get rid of the muffin top.
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the microsoft office because I will be able to open and edit word documents on my phone
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I guess maybe it’s a blessing that I was a touch overweight and not super happy with my body BEFORE I had Evan, lol. I am definitely noticing that it’s harder to lose weight now that I’m older and have had kids, and yeah, it can be a struggle.
I’m losing weight right now, hoping I can just get to a healthy, reasonable weight.
You look fab btw!
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Mom Spark replied: — August 17th, 2012 @ 1:31 pm
Thank you!
It is SO much harder to lose weight as you get older. It is also tough having a job where I have to sit.
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I like that you can listen to music on your phone!
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That may be the worst Photoshop job I’ve ever seen of you on the surfboard
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Mom Spark replied: — August 17th, 2012 @ 4:58 pm
Hey, thanks! It’s meant to be funny.
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I like the music
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Spotify is cool, plus the photos on the Bing search are always amazing!
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Wow, you look great Amy! I was the same way always around a hundred lbs. Boy have times changed. 135 looks fabulous on you but I’m 5’3″ and 131 is making me look way to squaty. I’d be happy if I could loose about 15 lbs.
Thanks for hosting the giveaway. I’m crossing my fingers.
Hugs…Tracy @ Cotton Pickin Cute
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I love that you can make groups then text, chat, email with a single touch. I didn’t even have a “smart” phone until I was about to have my daughter two years ago. I wanted to be able to send photos of her from the hospital to a group of people all at one time so that no one in the family complained that they heard last. I made two groups – family, then friends. As soon as the baby was born, I was out of recovery, and she was in my room with me, I took a photo and send it out to my groups. It was a bit of a mess, but mostly worked for people.
I agree with Tracy! You look amazing! I am still struggling with losing my baby weight. I did a great job of keeping my weight down while I was pregnant, but I have eaten everything in sight since then. I weigh more now that at my heaviest pregnancy weight.
I’ll get motivated soon and get my weight back down.
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I love being able to customize it so I can put whatever blog/site I want!
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I love the Facebook tile. It is super cool that you can have peoples pictures tied to the info.
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I love the Microsoft Office and the music.
Blessings…Tracy @ Cotton Pickin Cute
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M office I love word and work with it a lot!
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I’d love to take Spotify wherever we go.
Thanks for the chance.
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I like the Microsoft office because you can type documents.
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The spotify makes it great for me since I listen to it daily.
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i love the screen you can put your friends pictures on it and all the info is stored in one place I also like the chat thread and that you can attach directions etc to it.
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Facebook tile
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Love the facenook app.
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what is not to like? I love the music tile and fb tile
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I think the Microsoft Office tile is cool. You never see Office on phones and the ability to be able to work on Office projects from my phone would be fantastic.
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Im a big fan of the Microsoft tile.
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You really do look great and that is a cute swimsuit! And my favorite tile is the one for facebook because there are so many bloggers I follow on there.
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I like the Facebook tile
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I like the xbox live tiles because you can keep track of your friends gamer scores
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the face book. the kids can use it while driving places
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I like the Threads feature because you can send a single conversation across multiple messaging services!
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Microsoft Office
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I like the Microsoft Office tile. Thanks for the giveaway.
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I like the Spotify that rocks!!!
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Microsoft Office!
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Easily finding the apps and games that you need is really cool! I like that a lot.
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The facebook tile
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My favorite Live tile is the Microsoft Office one.
I would so love to win a Windows phone!
THANK YOU!!!
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facebook bc i can enter giveaways and talk with friends
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the facebook tile so I can easily see what everyone is up to.
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I am so challenged when it comes to phones and I watched the entire vid and still have no clue what a Live Tile is lol. I did fnd it really neat how the Threads worked with it carrying over the conversation from one place to another!
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My favorite so far is the messaging.
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Office, without question!!
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I think the Family (contacts) tile is great so you can get updates from all in the group instantly!
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messaging tile- so that I can keep up with what is going on up to the minute
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My favorite is the facebook tile.
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Twitter
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My favorite is the Facebook Tile so I can stay updated with friends and family!
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my favourite one is the calendar tile because if I do not see what I have to do. I do NOT do it!
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I like the Microsoft Office tile… it would really be nice to sometimes make quick documents on the go.
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Did you pick a winner?
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Mom Spark replied: — August 26th, 2012 @ 2:36 pm
Winner will be announced soon!
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