Mariah Carey, her post baby weight loss, and why we care.

picture via Mirror 

I was browsing the Internet yesterday and came across an article about Mariah Carey and her post baby body.  Normally I just skip past these types of articles, if I read them I feel sorry for myself and ask, why not me?  Then jealousy ensues and a pity party is next.  But this time I clicked on it.


She had lost something like 30 pounds in three or six months, I don't remember exactly, which was basically all her baby weight.  She accomplished this through the Jenny Craig weight loss system and was obviously successful.  She did make two very good points that I am going to share because I 100% agree with them.  One is diet is the key to success.  Meaning, what you put in your mouth is the biggest factor in dropping pounds, not how much you sweat off via exercise.  And the second was her size, she claims to be between a size 4 and 6, and she refuses to focus on the scale but rather her dress size.  We all know if she said she was now 140 or 150 pounds society would still deem her as fat.  It is important to focus on the victory of dropping those unwanted pounds rather than what your weight is.  I believe that was her point in the article.

Now to get down to why I am writing about this.  First off, I read this article and did not succumb to the pity party or jealousy I mentioned above.  Which was a victory for sure, and an affirmation that Christ is moving me in the direction I need to go and I am listening.  I read it like I would read anything else on the Internet, with a large grain of salt (since after all it was about a celebrity), and quickly moved on, not letting it affect my attitude the rest of the day.  I reminded myself that if I wanted that have her body or weight loss victory I would have to take everything that comes with it, and that is not something I really want or desire.

But this is the part that struck me today, why oh why are we as women and as a culture obsessed with celebrities post-baby bodies, and why do they have to be just as skinny if not skinnier after they have the baby.   It irks me that we are so body obsessed.  Having a baby is a miraculous beautiful gift, yet all society wants to focus on is how mom looks after the baby.  And after having a baby myself, I know what a post baby body looks and feels like.  Yes, I wanted to get back to my prior weight as soon as possible because I did felt like a fat slob, like someone had snatched my body and replaced it with something foreign.  But what if you never get back to your post baby body, does that make you any less of a women?  And less of a loving mother?  Why does every freaking celebrity have to flaunt their new and improved figure across the cover of every magazine?  Why does it matter?  Like seriously, it is supposed to be inspiring when they have a full time trainer, a nanny, and a nutritionist, along with gobs of money that all help them get back to their normal size.  Let's get real folks, most new moms I know barely have time to take a shower.

Now I know none of this will change, it is just the way of the world and the lies that swirl around it.  And we (as believers)  have to fight the urge to want to scream out in rebellion against society and give it the finger, or just the opposite, follow along with what they are saying as if it is truth.   Neither one of which is healthy.

As a girl who just recently figured out where my body image issues stem from,  I do not need to go down that route anymore.  The route of why me, and constant comparison.  I have to fight that battle every time I walk into the grocery store, turn on the TV, or skim the Internet.  However, I am not fighting it on my own, I am not fighting with my own energy, He is leading the charge and the change.

I am more than what I see in the mirror, I am more than I think I am.  And what does that mean?  It just means I have to remind myself of who God sees me as, not as I see myself.  Every time I want to compare myself to some random weight loss champion, I have to remind myself of who I am.  I am not a weight loss champion, I am not a champion of anything, nor will I ever be in this world, because this world's standards always shift and change like the wind.  However, if I grab a hold of the truth in the scripture below and believe it with my whole being I can then realize who I am and by who's strength and standards,  I am a champion.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written, 
For thy sake we are being killed all the day long: we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.  
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us."  
-Romans 8:35-37 Revised Standard Version