We want to take a quick moment to address the MILF reference in our title last week. Our column is of course edited and that title was not the one we came up with. It may have driven traffic, but it also caused quite an uproar, and we want you to know that our goal was to give all the moms out there lighthearted advice on mother's day about how to treat themselves and their bodies well, not to make them feel like they have to eat or look a certain way in order to be a "MILF." We want all moms to feel sexy and desirable, not for them to think that in order to be hot they must strive to look like they just walked off the set of Desperate Housewives. The point of this column, our books, and everything that we write is to make women laugh while boosting their confidence, because the truth is that most women - no matter what they look like or what size they are - share the same insecurities when it comes to food and body image.
So this week we'd like to focus on some beautiful celebrity mothers who have discussed their own struggles to accept their changing bodies before, during, and after pregnancy. This issue has been coming up in interviews a lot lately, and while we think it's sad that such gorgeous women should ever feel insecure about their lovely pregnant bodies, we do think it's good for all of us "regular women" to see that even the most perfect looking specimens on the planet feel the same self-doubt as the rest of us mere mortals. Hopefully, this will help all women realize that even if they try every fad diet on the planet and end up looking like their favorite celebrity, they will most likely still feel the same lack of confidence until they manage to find it from within.
For example, in this week's People magazine, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon looks gorgeous in a bathing suit only seven months after giving birth to twins, and admits that after having the babies she signed up for a 1,200 calorie a day low-carb diet delivery service, which helped her drop thirty pounds in five months. While it's good for women to see that the weight didn't magically fall off of Garcelle, we hope they don't adhere to this extremely low calorie formula - especially if they are breastfeeding! Perhaps this is what Salma Hayek was referring to when she told Oprah that the idea that breastfeeding helps you lose weight is a myth, unless you are simultaneously starving yourself.
Speaking of starving yourself, a few weeks ago Jessica Alba told People that her pre-pregnancy diet consisted of breakfast, no lunch, and a salad for dinner. As scary as that is, Jessica went on to say that when she first found out that she was pregnant, she was nervous about having to eat more food. We can understand that watching your body change can be daunting, and we applaud Jessica for being so honest about her issues with food, but we hope that her insecurities aren't continuing to cloud what is really important - the hungry baby growing inside of her. And we hope that women who read interviews like this don't try to emulate celebrities by adopting this type of unhealthy Hollywood diet, and instead decide to embrace their own bodies for what they are. Clearly, Jessica Alba's body is unrealistic even for Jessica Alba, so it is ridiculous for anyone else to try to live up to this ideal.
While so many moms are clearly struggling with their pregnant and post-baby bods, we want to give props to hot mom Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who expresses an extremely healthy attitude about her body in this month's Fitness. She explains that since giving birth to her son six months ago, she's finally gotten over some of her insecurities. She says, "Before, I always tied a shirt around my waist when I [ran]. It was ridiculous. Here I am, trying to wean my daughter from her blankie, and [I'm covering] my rear like my own security blanket." Elisabeth also conveys a newly found balanced approach to exercise. She says, "I'm finally learning to enjoy exercise because of how it makes me feel, not because I'm afraid of how I'll feel if I miss it." We hope all of you moms out there will take a note from Ms. Hasselbeck - stop hiding behind your own security blankets (whatever they may be), start embracing your bodies, and find things in your life that you enjoy for the way they make you feel.