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Sunday, February 24, 2008

A Letter To My Body

BlogHer Letter to My Body!
Dear Body,

Where do I begin? We've definitely had our ups and downs over the years. I remember as a kid not thinking too much about you. I wasn't displeased with you, but I never appreciated you either. On the other hand, you seemed comfortable doing your own thing, like when we went through puberty. You didn't ask me my opinion on it. You just went ahead and did it way before I was ready. I would be lying if I didn't say that at times I felt betrayed by you. At times I also hated you. We got through that though and when I was in high school, I actually felt really good about you. Together we did swimming, fencing and synchronized swimming. You and I also had some great times with my high school sweet heart.

In college I realized that I had been holding something back from you. I didn't want to hurt your feelings. I tried to talk myself out of my own feelings, but you were doing something that was causing me physical pain. My back hurt all the time, and I wasn't really thrilled with the way I looked. After consulting with a plastic surgeon and weighing the risk factors for us, I decided to have a breast reduction surgery. I have to say that I think you were actually pleased by it. Nothing hurt anymore. A weight had literally been lifted from our shoulders. Life was much easier. Even my times at swim meets were faster because it was easier to move you through the water.

Time ticked by. We certainly enjoyed getting to know the Big Giraffe, but overall you were ignored again. Life got busy. I paid attention to you during my engagement and I toned you up so I could look good. After that though, I have to say that you were sadly forgotten. More time passed and I realized I really needed you. I had something that I really wanted you to be part of: having a baby. Once again you came through. And you did it twice. I am thrilled to have had 2 healthy baby boys. Large, healthy baby boys. You even allowed me to experience breastfeeding, if only for a brief period of time. Even though you initially disappointed me by requiring me to have a c-section, I quickly got over it. Out of all the things I may get neurotic about, having a c-section wasn't one of them.

That leads us to almost a year ago. Between being a new mommy and trying to balance my new life, I forgot about you again. The great care I had tried to take of you in my high school and college years by eating properly and exercising were long forgotten. We had grown to be such strangers that I had trouble even recognizing you when I saw you in the mirror. I bought a package of personal training sessions. We showed up - heavier with our abs hanging from two c-sections - to get in shape. It was hard. If I hadn't bought the package of sessions, honestly I wouldn't have gone back. You screamed out in pain. I hated going. For about three weeks I remember every time I moved your were incredibly sore. Yet you still allowed me to push through.

Then in October I got this crazy idea to train for one triathlon which turned into training for multiple triathlons. I was so excited. You supported me even though running has never been our thing. Demands of motherhood made it hard to stick to a good schedule. You were great about allowing me to fit in exercise wherever I could. However, it wasn't enough. I wanted consistency. That's when I had to ask you for the biggest favor, my night owl body. You that has loved staying up until the wee hours of the morning. You that hates getting up early. I had to ask you to start getting up at 4:50 am to be able to work out. At first you hated it, but then you surprised me. You actually liked it better.

I guess that leads us to now. We're still going strong. Thank you.

Love,
Alex

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: When you take good care of your body, you will be amazed at what your body will do for you.
This was written for BlogHer's A Letter to My Body

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Name:Alex Elliot
Home:MA, United States
About Me:Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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For those of us who didn't get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn't always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, to bottle feed her babies formula.

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