Family Life

Mum slams her dress attire: 'The truth is, I'm the heaviest I've ever been'

Katey Johnson, mum-of-two took a picture of herself, posing in front of the mirror in a fitted black dress. 

It's the age we live in guys; when we feel good, we take a few mirror selfies, satisfied with how we both look and feel on the inside. 

There was a message behind her picture though, one which Katey thought was important enough to share. 

Believing she has 'no business' wearing the dress which she's pictured in, the mum-of-two reckons it's quite unflattering: "I don't want you to say, 'OMG, YOU LOOK GREAT!' […] I want you to know why I'm wearing a dress I have no business wearing."

Mum was having dinner with a friend, and she may have consumed some prosecco along the way, reminiscing about the time that she had bought the little black number. 

Katey and her husband were taking a trip away, so she had purchased the dress for the trip, wearing it just the once; but it made her feel good. 

"Someone could say that I look a little pregnant in it, because of, you know, that part sticking out in the front. I do look a little pregnant. That's fine."

"Once upon a time I grew two babies in that part sticking out in the front, but I assure you, now it's just where I keep my cheeseburgers and sauvignon blanc."

"When I tried it on I knew the dress wasn't made for my body, but I felt great in it. I don't know why. I just did. I'm not known to wear form-fitting clothes. At all. But I wanted it, so I bought it. And I was proud of myself for it."

But after enduring 40-years of her mind telling her she wasn't fit enough to wear the dress, of struggling to come to terms with her weight, of telling herself she has 'no business' wearing the dress, Mum has decided to take a step toward kindness. 

"The truth is, I'm the heaviest I've ever been, other than when I was pregnant. Another truth is that I've always struggled with my weight and if you've ever struggled with your weight, you know it's not a physical struggle."

"It's about how you see yourself and how you speak to yourself in your mind."

And knowing she can go to the gym and run a marathon doesn't faze her, because right now, this mum is preoccupied with 'keeping her shit together'.

"I'm in the business of raising loving children. I'm in the business of maintaining healthy friendships. I'm in the business of having a happy marriage."

"For 40 years I've stood in the mirror and compared how I look to how I THINK I should look. And it's exhausting."

So when Katey's self-doubt starts peering it's head around the corner, she has taken a stance, deciding to show her doubt where to go, because she's beginning to love herself. 

"I'm not saying I'm giving up. I'll still try to get healthy, here and there. I'm just taking a break from beating myself up. I'm muting the negative things I say to myself, because as it turns out, I care way more about my own comments than anyone else's."

And Katey is a firm believer that if she can do this, then you can too. 

"You can certainly wear a dress you have no business wearing this weekend. If the hard part is talking yourself into it, tell yourself life's too short to worry about things you have no business wearing."

While we think Katey has every business wearing that dress – we completely understand the message she is conveying. 

You do you mums – life's too short afterall. 

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