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Post-Baby Body
This week, Grammy-winner Mariah Carey told Gayle King that she was so disgusted with her “peak pregnancy weight” before giving birth to twins in April that she wore a towel in the bathtub to avoid her husband Nick Cannon seeing her horribleness. "I’m not lying, I promise you!” Carey said. “You think I would let Nick see me looking rancid like that?"
Reading that took me back to my own trips to the OB’s, where I’d take my socks and wedding ring off before weigh-ins, praying I wouldn’t get another “watch your portions” lecture. With each of my three pregnancies, I got bigger faster. Each time, I felt a little less “I’m making a miracle!” and a little more “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.”
But even on my chubbiest day, I could always comfort myself with tabloid photos of pregnant celebrities. Your body gains what it wants to gain during pregnancy, even if you’re a gorgeous superstar. Even Kate Hudson had cankles. But poor pregnant Mariah Carey didn’t have that outlet: If she tried to comfort herself with the latest gossip rag, she was the fat pregnant celebrity centerfold. (Did the beautiful Life & Style shoot haunt her nightmares?)
But rancid? That seems a little harsh (not to mention inaccurate, since "rancid" means "smelling or tasting bad.") Mariah, you’ve got to love the skin you’re in. We spend too much of our pregnancies feeling fat -- heck, we spend too much of our non-pregnant lives feeling that way, too.
Now that Carey’s the new spokesperson for Jenny Craig, I hope she can find better words to inspire anyone with a lot of weight to lose. Do your best to get healthy -- but don’t hate yourself in the meantime. And if you're lucky enough to get a few minutes to relax in the tub, please just enjoy it.
