Struggle with getting dinner on the table? Grab our 5 easy family meal recipes!

Subscribe

Affirmations For Body Image During Pregnancy

As someone who has been pregnant 3 times, I have come to find many affirmations for body image to rely on during stages of my body changing. Maybe these can help you too!

As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases. You can read more here on our Disclaimer and Privacy Page.

I think tips for body image is something many of us have thought about, pregnant or not.

As a society, we put so much (too much) worth into how we look. We attribute weight and physical appearance to health

To some extent, I knew pregnancy would be a big change across the board for my body. My 26 weeks weight gain would look different from my 9 weeks, and from my 39 weeks.

I knew this.

Yet, I’d be lying to you if I said I figured it would all be rainbows and butterflies throughout the changing process.

Pregnant woman with belly sticking out on walking trail

This is just my experience with weight gain this far at 26 weeks pregnant. Not too much different from my first – see my symptoms at 25 weeks pregnant.

Altered Body Image During Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a time when you definitely experience altered body image. I’ve seen it go both ways with clients.

For some, they can handle the body changes because they know it’s for a baby.

For others, it’s too much to handle. They get weighed at doctors’ appointments, and may even be told not to gain “too much weight.”

Therefore, they change their eating habits and end up undereating for the baby. Very dangerous!

It’s sad how body image issues during pregnancy can resurface, and even affect the health and outcome of the baby.

pregnant woman in front of sunflowers

We all have bad body image days, yet we feel the pressure to look and act perfectly fine every day.

As a dietitian, of course, I know the standard weight gain recommendation guidelines for pregnancy. Many of the weekly pregnancy emails I get remind me of the weight gain.

I even filled out information to see this chart, based on the “normal” recommendations.

Body Image and Pregnancy

What if I didn’t fall between the two lines, or as I progress, if I move out of the two lines?

The more I dive into the Intuitive Eating principles and Health at Every Size, the more I know that weight is out of our control.

And some bodies need to gain more or less weight than others.

Yet, the medical community treats us all the same, which leads to many pregnancy body image issues!

Pregnancy Body Image Issues

Many people have body image issues during pregnancy, and here are some reasons why.

Increased weight gain

Of course, we gain weight during pregnancy. We have to, in order to grow a baby and keep it safe.

Much of these pregnancy body image issues are due to the increased weight, bloat and fat that happens as we grow and house an amazing baby.

Hyperfocus on everything

While I’ve never had a history of an eating disorder or disordered eating, pregnancy can be a time of hyperfocus.

  • Is that ingredient safe for pregnancy?
  • Is that food cooked through?
  • Am I eating a proper and balanced healthy breakfast for pregnancy?
  • Is there any alcohol in that?
  • What about sunscreen and lotion – any chemicals in there?
  • Is that too much sugar to eat?
  • Is that exercise safe? Should I not exercise? Should I exercise more?
  • Should I skip dessert?
  • Am I getting enough pregnancy electrolytes?
  • I’m hungry all the time – that’s a bad thing!

These are thoughts that can pop into your mind at any instant. They may even be innocent – after all, you want the best for your baby.

pregnant girl after running

However, choosing the “wrong” foods or eating “too much” can lead you to feeling guilty after eating, which may then lead to questioning weight gain and bad body image days.

This is when we could use positive affirmations for body image the most.

Body weight is a not a prime measurement I use with my clients. I think many of us still focus on numbers, when in reality, what does it mean to be healthy? So much more.

That being said, as women, we’re subject to messages from diet culture everyday.

I started gaining weight fairly quickly once learning I was pregnant. Everyone is different, but my appetite was at an all-time high – like we’re talking marathon training high.

Hence, intuitive eating and exercise is tricky because you may not necessarily feel hungry right after a workout, but you definitely need to eat.

Or, you may feel hungry before a workout and you don’t want to eat a ton before you workout to have runner’s stomach symptoms.

pregnant woman holding belly with bowl of fruit in front of her

Pregnancy symptoms

Many people have symptoms, like food aversions or morning sickness, that may actually lead them to lose weight or gain weight more slowly.

This can also mess with body image!

picture of small belly bump during early pregnancy
7 weeks pregnant

Comparison traps

You may often also find yourself comparing yourself to other moms who are in a similar pregnancy stage as you.

The weight gain has become more gradual since the beginning, but still, there are times when I question if I’m doing everything right.

Hunger and Fullness are hard to decipher

I consider myself a true intuitive eater, but in pregnancy, honoring your hunger and fullness are difficult!

You are basically living in an entirely new body for a period of time, with new symptoms, aches and pains, and hormones that you have to adjust to.

The 35 week pregnancy symptoms differ from those early on and bring about new challenges.

Grab Our Meal Prep Ebook to Finally Conquer Meal Prep in the Kitchen


meal prep ebook

Affirmations For Body Image During Pregnancy

I don’t think it’s an easy process for ANYONE to see the scale going up.

Primarily because all the messages in our culture put such a strong focus on the opposite.

Aside from physical changes, gaining weight is a huge mental process too, as most people who’ve been through it probably understand.

It’s easy to doubt things when it comes to body changes.

I doubted (and still do) my weight gain during pregnancy multiple times – am I gaining too quickly? Am I not gaining enough? Is my bump big enough/not big enough?

35 weeks pregnant baby bump

Focus on these positive body image affirmations during your pregnancy and postpartum time.

These affirmations for body image can take some of the stress, pressure and focus off of your body.

I’ve attributed these quotes when I can find the author. 

  • “I am more than my measurements.” 
  • “Don’t let your mind bully your body.” – June Tomaso Wood
  • “Taking care of yourself is productive.” (Remember that feeding yourself is taking care of yourself).
  • “I am loved. I am enough. I am strong.” 
  • “The way you speak to yourself matters.” 
  • “Positive body image isn’t loving your body. It’s thinking of your body less (or neutrally) because you’re too busy living a vibrant life” – Kylie Mitchell
  • “All bodies are good bodies.” 
  • “I am more than a number on the scale.” 
  • “If we all ate the same and exercised the same, our bodies would still look different.” 
  • “You don’t exist solely to lose weight and be pretty.” 
  • “Your baby needs consistent nourishment.”
  • “Your baby doesn’t care how much you weigh or how big you are.”
  • “Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.” – Marilyn Monroe
  • “My body knows what to do.”

Positive Parts of Pregnancy

A body confidence affirmation for me during pregnancy is that my body needs to feel safe.

A huge positive of my changing body image during pregnancy is growing a healthy human. I need to gain weight to make my body stronger and more stable.

Body Image and Pregnancy

I need to create a fun little “playhouse” for the baby, with enough room for him/her to grow. At least that’s how I look at it.

I want this baby girl to grow as much as she needs to, and I don’t want to hinder or alter that by under-eating or not gaining enough weight.

Things like this have helped with my mindset.

I remind myself that this is new territory – each pregnancy has been different. It’s a challenge to try to listen to my body.

I should be gaining weight as time goes on. That means baby is growing. My body knows what to do.

pregnant woman reading in bed

The number on the scale doesn’t consume me. I’m sure the next few months (as I approach my 30 week pregnancy update) could bring about some uncomfortable changes as I continue to grow.

But, I know these feelings are completely normal as I adjust to a new transition and period in my life.

I’m not going to beat myself up for them because I’m human, and everyone has days where they aren’t 100% about their bodies.

pregnant woman looking in mirror

I’m happy with my bump, no matter how big or small it is. Because it signals strength, life, vitality, experience, and HUMAN GROWTH.

Holy moly, I am so grateful for what my body is capable of. My biggest priority is providing it with everything it needs to work properly.

Pregnancy really is like intuitive eating. When you relinquish control of your body, you will be in a better place. Instead of micromanaging, let it do what it needs to and be where it needs to be.

32 Comments
Join The Conversation

More For You!

Share Your Thoughts

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Like This Content?

Support Bucket List Tummy
  1. Oh my goodness…Thank you so, very much for posting this TRUTH! I am 21 weeks pregnant and body image is huge in this game! Your simple reminder + wealth of insight is just what I needed to read this morning! I absolutely love your website 🙂

  2. Great honest post. Much like marathon training, pregnancy and nursing are such important times to listen to your body. It knows what it needs. I never quite hit the 25 lb gain in pregnancy, but I did gain a few lbs while nursing and during marathon training (when many people lose weight). Our bodies respond differently to different things. Just go with it!

    1. So true that our bodies adapt differently to each situation – which is why I think these preset ranges don’t apply to everyone. I see a lot of similarities in marathon training and pregnancy – I’m sure nursing will be similar!

  3. Such a great reminder! I’m not pregnant but I’ve been through something similar having to gain weight to get my cycles on track. It’s even harder when you are doing something healthy for you but the world doesn’t understand because there is no bump. Well not harder, but each woman’s body is different and created to do great things like nurture and care for children.

  4. This is powerful Sarah; it’s amazing how you just have to let go and let your body do what it needs to do to feed that baby. I love how you described it as creating a playhouse for your little one. I really really want to have more of that mindset about my body going through chances too, even though I haven’t been pregnant. I appreciate your honesty about your journey; I can’t imagine how different pregnancy is; I’ve actually seen that it’s been the vessel for some women to fully embrace recovery.

  5. I think women are their most beautiful when pregnant, Sarah…great post to dispel and negative thoughts about it. Happy new Year to you and Mr Schlichter!

  6. What a great approach. My last child was born 15 years ago and sometimes it’s a little disheartening that we haven’t progressed as a society as much as I would like to see when it comes to women’s body image, esp. during and after pregnancy. You truly must be so excited!

    1. Society can be disappointing some times – I feel like this is one of the things we are behind the times in. I am so excited!!

  7. Great post! I am 29 weeks into my second pregnancy right now. With my first baby, I weighed myself every week to make sure I was on track. I still mostly ate intuitively and just went with the flow. But I was very focused on the number on the scale. This time around…probably because I’m just more relaxed overall in this 2nd pregnancy, I mostly just weigh in at the doctor’s office (our home scale has been out of batteries for weeks and I don’t care at all!) and focus on nourishing my body. I will say that I “bounced back” pretty quickly after having my son and I am a bit nervous about what my postpartum body will be like this time around, but we’ll cross that bridge later!

  8. Beautifully written post about an important topic. I can remember with both of my pregnancies that I was so sick in the beginning that I was so afraid I wasn’t gaining enough weight that I constantly tried to eat more and more, which definitely didn’t help with my morning sickness. I also couldn’t stand when People made comments like “wow are you have twins” or “you are so big, ready to pop?” when I had months to go.

  9. This is such an important topic for everyone to read about! I haven’t experienced pregnancy yet but have many clients who feel shameful about gaining weight during pregnancy and this post touches many of their concerns. You don’t need to go on a diet, especially during pregnancy! Listen to your body and let go of micromanaging!

  10. This is such a great post. I’m not pregnant, and I’ve never been pregnant, but it really resonated with me.

    Being a member of a Crossfit gym, I’ve seen a lot of pregnancies, and I’ve seen quite a few women really focused on how much weight they’re gaining. One girl I was very close with when I lived in Virginia was so hyper-focused on the weight she was gaining that, when I once asked her if she was excited, she couldn’t even answer in the affirmative. It’s like she hadn’t even thought about it because she was so focused on what her body was doing.

    I can’t help but get really angry with society for creating that sort of mentality. Even the strongest women can crumble sometimes under the weight of the expectations that society places on us. I hope that, when I eventually settle down and want to have children, I’ll be in a good enough place, mentally, where I can let the comments and expectations go by without doing me any harm.

    1. It’s a sad process if we can’t be excited about the idea of new life. I see this with clients as well – unfortunately, the weight stigma in our culture is so high that is affects many. Learning to tune it out and surround yourself with positive messages can be so helpful.

  11. Great post and sooo true! I was sick 24/7 for the first 4 months so I lost weight and was terrified. Then, I worried I was gaining too quickly or not enough in the middle and end. My drs were all great and I gained on the lower end of the “normal” range but that was all my body needed!
    Postpartum recovery has been a whole other adventure with weight and much slower than I had anticipated. Not necessarily with getting the number on the scale back down, but just in how my body looks and how fat is distributed now. Any time I was having a hard body image day while pregnant or now postpartum, looking at an ultrasound photo or now looking at her sweet face reminds me of the amazing thing my body did and now continues to do. I grew a human and now am producing life sustaining milk for her. How incredible is that?! Wishing you a smooth last months of pregnancy and I’m here if you want to chat with another mama for any postpartum struggles! <3

    1. I am anticipating post partum to be another interesting learning experience with my body. So incredible that you are keeping a human alive! Thanks for reading, lady 🙂

  12. I love this! I definitely agree that those recommended gains/progressions they give you when you are pregnant can get to you, or at least they got to me sometimes. I had periods in my first pregnancy where I gained really rapidly and was concerned about it. Fortunately, my doctor was awesome and was of the mindset that your body is doing what it needs to for the baby, and sometimes that might mean gaining more or less than what those apps tell you.

    Also, you look some happy and glowy!!!! What an exciting time.

  13. I think this is going to be a wonderful, beautiful article for any pregnant woman – whatever stage they are in – to read. I hope any woman who is pregnant can CELEBRATE their changing body and feel proud of what it is doing.

  14. I’m not pregnant but I feel like this can apply to anyone. I actually don’t weigh myself because losing fat means the number will drop down but if you gain muscle, it could creep back up. I think women need to start thinking in terms of how they feel in their clothes and how clothes fit instead of the number on the scale. Plus pregnancy is not the time to care about how much you weigh!

    1. Absolutely not! It’s too bad that there is so much stress about the weight for some people that it takes away from the wonderful experience.