In my mid- 20s, after overcoming (most) of my issues with dieting I reached what I felt was a healthy attractive size. Then two years ago I took a job that was much more sedentary (I went from walking or riding a bike to work and standing on my feet all day to driving to work and sitting at a desk all day) I gained 10 pounds. For the longest time I was beating myself up about it, telling myself I was too lazy to lose that 10 pounds again and being really cruel to myself, and then I realized that maybe the reason why I wasn’t losing weight was because deep down inside I just didn’t want to! Like you, I “felt hot” and liked they way I looked (in my opinion that’s 90% of the battle) but I felt like I wasn’t supposed to feel good about my new body because although it was just as curvy and pleasing as my “old” body, it happened to be slightly heavier. I DIDN’T HATE MY BODY, I WAS DISPLEASED WITH IT BECAUSE I THOUGHT I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE.

Once I realized that I was able to be a lot kinder to myself. Now I’ve discovered that weight gain and loss is a natural part of life. As somebody with a history of ED it is hard to accept that a gain or loss of even a few pounds isn’t a relapse, but if you’ve worked on your issues you need to understand that you are in control of having a healthy life and it doesn’t have to be. I know that now in the summer when I bike and get outside a lot my weight naturally goes down closer to that old “ideal” weight. Likewise, in the winter when I go into hibernation mode I naturally gain some padding. That’s OK with me now.

You just had a baby three weeks ago… so now is WAY too early to start agonizing about not fitting into your old clothes…. or to start giving them away. Focus on being healthy right now, caring for yourself, and adjusting to motherhood. Later when you feel ready to be more active you may naturally lose some weight… or you may not but you may still discover that your body is strong and beautiful and attractive in new ways that you haven’t yet discovered. Remember, don’t give into those old ideas that tell you a number is what makes you healthy and attractive. If you like what you see when you look in the mirror and you feel healthy then there is on reason to change.

But yeah, I have the kind where you wake up all at once because it hurts so much and you literally cannot think of anything else than trying to make it stop.

TR: Yay, that would be lovely :) and yay, social networks! I’m doing some meetups and thinking about volunteering, but I probably need all the help I can get XD

BC-wise, I was on Alesse in early college but it killed my libido and emotionally flatlined me. I didn’t get angry or depressed, but I didn’t get happy, either. Off the Pill, I become a raging bitch during my period (whoever mentioned kicking people with steel-toed boots for improperly done dishes, I am right there with you!), so after a year of that plus a pregnancy scare, I went back on for a couple of years. I had several varieties of Pill depending on what doctor I went to, and none of the names stand out as being especially good or bad for me. I went off the Pill again in February because we’re hoping to conceive in the next couple of years, and oh joy, Bitch Week is back. So are the cramps, but BC seems to have permanently shortened my period and reduced the cramps to a Day of Hell.

Whenever I’m asked what the most important tool is when starting to sew, I always answer “my extensive and colorful vocabulary of curse words”. Because I use them more than even my seam ripper.

Sewing is fun and a great hobby and I encourage everyone who wants to learn to do so, but like anything else, it’s a skill that takes practice and time. I’ve run across a lot of folks who think that it should just come naturally without effort, and it’s not like that. Especially when they figure out it should be called measuring and pinning and ironing and seam ripping rather than sewing, because sometimes the actual sewing takes the least amount of time!

Learning to sew doesn’t mean you have to go all the way to mastering tailoring, either. Sewing on buttons or raising hems can be mastered easily, and there’s nothing like changing the buttons on a jacket or blouse to really change the look of it.

This happens to be one of my pet subjects! :)

Same here. Initially I had an extended period of spotting and a little moodiness as I adjusted to the hormones (they say its effect is purely local, but I don’t believe it, and my doctor agreed with me.) But since then it’s been fabulous. I love it.

Re: sewing — YES! I have just had it with poorly fitting clothing. Occasionally I will find some really high-quality garment at the Goodwill, but I can’t afford that sort of thing otherwise. I can’t even afford most poorly-fitting clothing (I’m thinking Eddie Bauer, for instance.) I really don’t have that uncommon a shape — I’m a pear with a thickish waist. I have a few things that fit beautifully and are just really flattering. So I know it’s possible. All I can think is that the clothing manufacturers don’t have incentive to put the money into designing well-proportioned clothing, because people will buy it regardless, if they don’t have any other choice. Well, that stops with me. I wish we could empower our entire culture to start making their own clothes, then the manufacturers might get a clue.

I do all my hemming by hand, not that I’m particularly good at it; but everyone in my family, including my husband, is shorter-legged than the pants we can find. I’d love to find out how to make it not wrinkle up.

This thread has made me realize how lucky I’ve been with birth control. I started on the pill (a generic tri-cyclen) when I was 15, it worked fine, I went off it when I ran out of insurance at 19, and went back on early this year. It still works fine. I think I’m a little more moody pre-period, and a little more hungry overall, but that’s the worst I’ve experienced on it. It’s changed my life, seriously; I have some female plumbing issues that have required surgery in the past, and the pill really helps keep the symptoms and the icky stuff at bay.