Holding my Stomach In

I have always held my stomach in.  I don’t know if it’s because I taught aerobics for 6 years or because I’ve always had a bit of a belly bulge or if it’s simply a southern thing---being aware of looking one’s best.  (Do most people hold their stomachs in?  I always thought all women did.)  I do know that well before I got pregnant, I could relax my stomach muscles and look very much “with child”. 

Now, when I relax my muscles, I go from looking 4 months to 6 months pregnant.  I’m tempted to do it all the time because I definitely want to look pregnant, but I’m afraid of losing whatever tone I can keep with this bun growing in the oven.

The reason this is on my mind is that I was showing a colleague my belly trick (Relaxed! Taunt!) and she confessed that she had never thought about holding her tummy in on a regular basis.  So yesterday, she came up to me to share what she had learned complete with her own Relaxed!  Taunt! demonstration---and was thrilled to notice how lose her clothes were and how taller she was in the taunt position.  It was a noticeable difference and made her look quite athletic and trim. 

So, yes.  This is what we professors discuss in our down time:  how to make our bellies look flatter while teaching.  You may mock us, but I can tell you right now that the class notices when out butts and triceps shake when we’re writing on the board.  It’s one reason I get a bit antsy wearing short sleeved or sleeveless shirts teaching—wagging triceps.  A.P.  Ain’t Pretty.  How do I know they notice?  Well, when one of my students mentioned that it was good that I had all this cardio training from running marathons, but that I needed to do some weights because my arms were jiggling, I took it to heart.  To at least wear longer sleeves. 

Used/New Baby Books

I just ordered two “new” used baby books from Amazon.com.  Both of them are by the Sears husband/wife team:  the Birth Book and the Breastfeeding Book.  I’ll review them as I get through them.  One thing I like about these books already is that they were half priced from Amazon.com and they haven’t been read.  They have an ink stain on them.  Hence, not for prime retail.  Also we got both books including shipping for less than what Babycenter.com is charging for the Birth Book alone. 

I decided to buy their Birth book because the reader reviews said they did not come off like the “Mominators”: women who advocate natural childbirth with no medicine or you are bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.  It’s supposed to be a fair look at both using and abstaining from pain medicine during labor. 

I'm blowing off yoga this morning.  Slack dog instead of down dog.

7:01:38 AM