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I’m obsessed with looking at all of these
perfect pregnant women on Instagram.
It makes me feel like crap. How can
I stop these feelings of inferiority?
Social media, we all have such a love/hate relationship with it.
It’s both addictive and annoying and it can totally change how
we view and feel about ourselves. As a single gal, it’s easy to
suffer from FOMO ( Fear of Missing Out ) as you click through all
of the photos of your friends partying in Ibiza over the holidays.
Once you become pregnant and then a mama, social media
voyeurism becomes a monkey on your back and you’re brought
to a whole new level of feeling inadequate.
If you’re anything like me then your feed is loaded with countless
opportunities to become crazy jealous. All of those lovely fashion
bloggers and celebrities looking gorgeous in their body-con
maternity dresses, surrounded by Abercrombie model-looking
children in their perfectly renovated kitchens - it’s enough to give
even the most self-confident mama-to-be bump envy.
Social media is not going away. In fact, there will only be more and
more channels for us to gaze upon. Instead of falling into the trap
of comparing yourself to every seemingly perfect celebrity mum
influencer you see, try imagining them in their regular day to day
lives, not the ones presented for you in the staged and filtered
photo you see on your feed. What you’re not seeing is the tantrum
their toddler threw right before, or the 20 minutes it took them
to squeeze into their skinny jeans, or the huge debt they had to
undertake for their brand new chef’s kitchen. Just remember, no
one’s life is perfect and you never know what’s going on behind
the scenes. These influencers get paid to project a perfect image.
Enjoy the photo for its entertainment purposes, but repeat back
to yourself: It’s Not Real!
It also helps to limit the time you spend on social media. Give
yourself a set amount of minutes to scroll through Instagram, but
if you truly can’t self-discipline and find yourself wasting hours
on social media, you can set a timer on your phone and when it
goes off, it’s time for you to put it down and go for a walk.