by Alexandra Tooley

Created on: May 19, 2009   Last Updated: May 22, 2009

I think if a woman feels pressured to lose weight quickly that is partially their own insecurities and a need to have society view them in a positive light. It is the same reason women get breast implants, liposuction, nose jobs etc. because they think it is somehow going to improve their quality of life. If a woman is truly confident in herself and loves herself she will not feel pressured to do anything.

After my pregnancy I did nothing to try and lose weight, although I was nursing which burns a lot of calories. During my pregnancy I gained about twenty pounds which is around normal, and pretty much is gone once you deliver the baby so there is not much weight you have to lose later that. If you overeat during pregnancy because you believe you are eating "for two" than yes there may be more weight to lose.

I personally loved my body when I was pregnant because of the curves and because it made me feel like a woman, and I knew what my body was carrying inside it was the most beautiful gift in the world. Weight really should have little or nothing to do with the birthing experience. Maybe for some women it is an ego thing as they see covers of magazines every day about how some celebrity or other managed to lose the weight quickly.

They feel that they need to "keep up" or something with these celebrities and their lifestyles, but that is just not the case. The pressure that women might feel is pretty much brought upon themselves, whether it is from family members, society or their own personal self-evaluations.

It also may have to do with what body sizes we in America find attractive. While in some countries, more full figured women are found to be attractive, for some reason here in America we find bony and underweight women to be portrayed as the standard of beauty that all women have to obtain. I have been on the smaller side and I have to say that when I did gain some weight, not only was my boyfriend at the time a lot happier, but I noticed that the overall attention I received from men increased dramatically.

My boyfriend at the time later told me he hated it when I was skinny as it was like cuddling a bag of bones! So to all the women out there I would say that you should enjoy your pregnancy and love your body for what it is-something that creates life. Women who embrace that do not feel pressure to lose weight as they are not trapped by societal norms and values but do what makes them happy, which is what we all should be doing.

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