At eight months pregnant, I’ve got a lot of things on my mind. We haven’t completely finished setting up the nursery; our hospital bags aren’t fully packed; the car seat will need to be installed; the last few items need to be picked up.

D’ya know what’s not on my mind? Getting my body back after baby.

For one thing, pregnant women don’t lose their bodies. Nope! They’re not lost. In fact, through pregnancy, we gain a lot. Like perspective. About how fucking stupid the diet industry is.

And, of course, since it’s both New Year, New You season and because the algorithm I rely on to be successful in my job is working just a little too well, I’m basically drowning in digital diet industry ads and also ads for diapers for both baby and me. Oh, and belly bands. Belly binders. And ads for the diet that isn’t a diet.

My Amazon ads? They’re for fitness equipment and weight loss products.

Skincare ads focus on anti-cellulite creams and lotions that promise to erase my stretch marks.

One such potion will allegedly reverse the stretching that took place and snap my skin back to tautness.

I can buy belly binders for 70% off and this here app will help me get back to my pre-pregnancy shape in no time.

And d’ya know what? I’m not alone. And I’m also not having it.

Women are bombarded with this shit. Day in and day out. The diet industry is a multi-million dollar one that invests heavily in ensuring they leverage the insecurities and societal pressures on women to look, fit, and weigh a certain way.

In 2022, it’s outrageous to me that we’re still battling this. That we haven’t realized that bodies come in different shapes and sizes. That beauty doesn’t have a size. That in this day and age, we’re still allowing society to perpetuate this shit. That women are still told that our value is tied to how small we are.

I wish I knew what the answer was. I don’t. But, what I do know, is I’m tired. Women are tired.

We’re tired of being told we’re not the right shape or size. We’re tired of worrying about how those messages are impacting our friends, our daughters, our nieces. We’re tired of being sold shaping tights and push up bras and padded shorts and would-be magic potions.