Flat Lay Summer Outfit

Recently I read an interview by Shape Magazine on Olivia Wilde, shortly after she gave birth to her son, Otis.  I’m not going to make fun of the poor kid’s name, because her words on motherhood and the post baby body had me cheering and crying all at the same time.  She bravely put into words how I’ve been feeling these past three months.  This is my first outfit post since giving birth to Issa, specifically because I just quite frankly don’t feel that good about myself yet.  I’m working on it, and I’m trying to be patient, but after really taking Olivia’s words to heart I realized if I wait until I feel like my body is “there”, I’ll be waiting a long time.  I’ll just leave you with some of the quotes that hit the hardest for me.

post baby body outfit ideas

“I believe in a world where mothers are not expected to shed any physical evidence of their child-bearing experience. In that same world I believe there is space for exercise to be as much a gift to your brain as it is your body. I don’t want to waste my time striving for some subjective definition of perfection.”

YES, Olivia.  She also goes on to say, “I’m a mother, and I look like one.”  I completely understand what she means.  Why is it that every cover after a celeb has a baby screams, “HOW SHE LOST IT” or “HOW SHE GOT HER BODY BACK”.  My pre-baby body is never. coming. back.  I may be able to lose the pounds, or shed the inches, but I will never look the same.  Not only has my body given birth to two human beings, it’s also 4 years older.  So yes, my hips are bigger and my boobs are wonky, but why is it a bad thing if my physical appearance reflects the fact that I’m a mother?

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“Listen, baby or no baby, getting out of the house to exercise is a serious achievement. If you’re going to haul your behind to a class, it’s not going to be for anyone else; not your partner, nemesis, mother, or tabloid bloggers—just you. And your special relationship with your own damn fat cells. For me, the bottom line (pun intended) is that the workout is fun.”

After I had Cora, it took me a long while before I got up the energy and desire to go to the gym.  With two little ladies now, it’s been…interesting, to say the least.  I love that Olivia acknowledges how trying it can be sometimes.  It actually makes me want to put in the preparation and build up the motivation it takes to make it to that yoga class or pilates session.  And she’s right, it’s for me.  Not for someone else’s opinion of what I should look like at this point, but because I know it will make me feel better, inside and out.  I know it will eventually give me more energy to get through the day.  Which, if we’re all being honest with each other, is all we can ask at this point.

So if you’re a young mom, a mature mom, a mom of one, or a mom of six, I just want you to know I get it.  I totally understand looking at that muffin top and wanting to stuff a cupcake in your face.  And it would appear Olivia Wilde gets it, too.  She’s just got far better lighting and Photoshop editors than the rest of us.

XO,

A

Outfit Details:

Shoes: Joie

Jeans: Gap

Shirt: Zara

Necklace: Zara

Crossbody: Charming Charlie