body image...Before and Before pictures

First of all I want to say that I don't consider myself as having a distorted body image. I know that I've been blessed with some good genetics and in my life time I really haven't had to deal with alot of overweight issues. I will say that it really doesn't matter if you are overweight or skinny...people will always have an opinion of your body type. And it is a rare person that doesn't have some sort of body image issues. In high school I was very thin... and people would ask me often if I had an eating disorder. I would prefer being heavier over being accused of gagging myself. As I've matured, I've learned to accept my body type, the things that I don't like...and focus on the things that I do. Since I am the topic of fitness and "bouncing back" I wanted to post a few before pictures to compare my post pregnancy and pre-fitness body.

The photo was taken on one of my trips with Andy...pre family. I was about 130lbs...I was pretty happy with the way that I looked here. I was about 115lbs in highschool ... it took me quitting sports to gain weight enough to have curves ...thus, looking more like a woman and less like a little boy :)

This photo was taken about 4months after having Max. I was about 155 lbs here. I was a little insecure about my body...but loving the mommy boobs.

The above and below photos were taken about 5 months pregnant with Katy. I didn't gain a lot of weight but I was starting to feel the gravity effects of having children so close together. One thing I have NEVER liked about my body is how I displace all my extra weight into my back. It doesn't seem to matter what I weight I always have folds and creases in my back. I do enjoy being pregnant tho and I think my body image gets better when I'm pregnant because it doesn't seem to matter if you're extra bumpy while baby is on board. I was proud of my baby body with Katy Ro.

The below photo was taken about 32 weeks with Lucy... note my butterfly tattoo peeking out...Andy jokes that it looks like a raptor when I'm pregnant...lol. I must admit that at this point I knew my body would never be the same again.


These photos were taken today... here's a very flattering shot of my back rolls...lol. I know I will never get rid of them completely...but I would love to tone up a bit.

And of course mother nature has taken a toll on the muscles in my stomach. I can usually suck it in and disguise it pretty well in clothes. But to be honest for this post... I really look like I'm 5 months pregnant. See above for reference...lol.

Well, sigh...now that I've laid it all out there... Its time to set some goals. I don't have a weight goal in mind... frankly I have no idea what I weigh. First and foremost, I would like to work on building back the energy that I once had...even just to improve mood and motivation. Image wise, I would like to strengthen my abdominals, tone up my back and arms and put some bulk on my chicken legs. If I can accomplish this...I would be very pleased.

your turn :)