- Image by Poe Tatum via Flickr
Opting out, you ask? What is that?
Well, I certainly don’t mean opting out of good nutrition, or exercise, or your prenatal vitamin. If you’ve ever stopped by the now-famous Pregnancy To List, you know that’s not what I’m talking about.
One of the most liberating things about pregnancy is the joy of opting out of the pressure, especially as an adult, to keep the body from expanding. I’m not referring here to weight loss in particular, but more that sense you have from the age of 25 on that your upward growth has stopped, and the rest of your life will be an effort to do the right things and hope that you don’t expand a clothing size each year. Even when you have a positive body image, the fear of expanding is there, if for no other reason than an ardent desire *not* to have to buy new clothes. By their 30s, most women have a closet filled with a two to three size range, and do their best to stay within it. We turn down extra chocolate cake, eat the right snacks, take the stairs instead of the elevator.
While pregnancy is *not* the time to overeat – primarily because it will make you really uncomfortable at the end and, if you are like me, your stomach won’t give you enough room to take 10 bites much less overeat – it is a great time to just let go of the worry. You know you are going to get bigger. You know you will need some new clothes to cover the growing belly, especially at the end. It’s fun to just opt out of the entire clothes/weight/age/size dynamic.
In fact, I find the opting out to be one of the most liberating parts of pregnancy. You focus on the quality of your eating and on eating things that make you feel good. That’s about it. If you are one of those people who are able to do this all the time and it has no effect on your weight or clothing size, more power to you. But for those of us who are not so gifted, it is a great feeling. So enjoy it! It’s one of the real perks of pregnancy.
