When I was six months postpartum, I felt this incredible need to get my body ‘back’. Not only had I not lost any pregnancy weight, but I added some because of the insane sleep deprivation and lack of self-care that every new mother goes through. I conned myself into believing that if I ate less or stuck to a whole foods diet, the weight would come off faster. So I did this and before I knew it I found myself in a binge-restrict cycle that is always the outcome of a strictly regimented diet.

As soon as I realized this, I stopped what I was doing and started practicing total body acceptance at my current size. I shifted to eating from that mindset, rather than from the belief that my body wasn’t good enough. I now know that eating as if my body isn't good enough, will always keep me locked into believing that, MY BODY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH.

I’m sharing this because the pressure to lose the baby weight almost immediately is very real. As new moms, we need to know that we are still valuable in ways that do not depend on our bodies and our weight. Some mothers may lose the baby weight right away, but for most of us, that’s just not the case.

We don’t need a diet. What we need is time. Time to learn this new way of life that doesn’t allow for much self-care but needs it more than ever. Time to adjust to a new almost foreign body. We need time to reorient ourselves to our new identities and eventually, we will come back to something different and far more amazing.

Mamas if you don’t have the energy for anything but feeding your baby and laying on the couch while eating whatever is in front of you, I’m giving you permission to do so NOW.

Here is the truth. Everything with time will always change, if, we give ourselves the space to be exactly as we are.

Soshy Adelstein is a mama and Certified Health Coach helping women from all over the world change their unwanted habits with food and fall in love with their bodies. Check out her website, Embody Nutrition, and follow her wisdom on Insta @bodyposimommy.