Get the girls out! A Bella Bathers Giveaway

A winner has been chosen for this giveaway (Shelley: see in the comments below). Thanks for entering

So I was lucky enough to receive some GORGEOUS swimmers from a lovely reader of the blog and her business Bella Bathers. And they have been sitting on my desk for well over a month, staring at me, waiting for me to put them on. I was meant to get a spray tan and I was meant to stop eating custard tarts and I meant to go for a run but I did none of those things, so there they sat.

And then I was like ENOUGH. I read Nikki’s post last week on getting your body ready for the summer season ahead…as in…do you have a body? Well then you are ready! Right? RIGHT!

It’s funny as women the love hate relationships we have with our bodies. I have always gone from feeling like a fat mole, so then exercising like mad for a few months, and then a gradual rise to that fat mole (so NOT a fat mole but my own limits of fat mole if you know what I mean?) with the cycle lasting about a year. Before I got pregnant with Mags I was in pretty good shape, going to the gym and then I put on a bit of weight at the start of my pregnancy, slowing down thanks to a VERY strict ob who weighed me every week, to eventually only putting on about 8 kilos in total. Which was a big deal for me, having put on about 15-20kgs with Daisy and Harps. I lost a far bit of weight after Mags was born (I have always been lucky to drop it all pretty quickly initially) and then slowly it creeps back on as the custard tart consumption remains the same whilst the calorie outtake with breastfeeding slows down.

So now 7 months post baby my body is less than ideal. It’s flabby. It’s riddled with stretch marks. It’s dry and scaly after months of hibernation. And it’s pasty. Totally ready to be exposed in swimmers! NOT.

But you know what? I totally do not give one shit.

That flabby body of mine, well it grew a baby in it, has enjoyed waaaaaay too many delicious baked goods and carbs which I have LOVED, it delivered a whole human all by itself and has been feeding a growing baby for almost 7 months. How cool is that?!

Who cares if it’s not perfect? Once I can be bothered to start moving again and stop shovelling food into my mouth (when my personal fat mole limits are reached) I’ll get it back into a better place. But for right now I’ll be damed if it gets in the way of me enjoying summer with my kids. Of going to the beck, of swimming in a pool or just laying in the sunshine and reading.

So here are the swimmers, the gorgeous ones that I was lucky enough to get. There’s no spray tan (didn’t get organised enough), no fancy hair or make up (man I wish I had done that!), this is me, HUGE knockers from breastfeeding, a gut way too big in the backyard with my white and bruised legs, hair awry, exactly as you would see me at the beach.

Not giving one shit. Sorry Bella Bathers, this may not sell you any swimmers at all!

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Sophia One Piece $145

This is THE SOPHIA seriously how cute is the little skirt? I love that the skirt covered the widest part of my hips. The top was little low for my enormous knockers at the mo but how much fun?

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Marilyn Raspberry One Piece $145

Apparently I scrunch my nose too – just like Maggie!

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I LOVE this one. I mean the red colour is cute and my boobs are a little more covered up. I would happily whack this on and walk down the beach without anything else on, maybe except a cute baby on my hip.

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And lucky for you guys Bella Bathers have given BabyMac readers a $20 discount on any orders. Just enter the code BABYMAC for the discount (valid till the 31 December 2015).

And because I want YOU to start not giving a shit, I am going to buy someone a pair of swimmers too! The Milky Bars are on ME! Think of it as a Christmas pressie from me to you (Bella Bathers were generous enough with the reader discount and patient enough to wait for months without having to give more stuff away). Just leave me a comment telling me about how great YOUR body is. Not all the negative stuff you usually think about, the GOOD stuff. Those strong legs that walk you. The boobs that feed your baby. The brain that helps you be successful in your job every day. The body that can still function on NO sleep.

Leave a comment below to be in the running. Open till AEST Sunday 13th December 2015 so you can get them in time for Christmas! Open to Australian residents only. You can read the rest of the T&C’s here.

You’ll love this…I was looking on my camera roll trying to work out which photos I could use (taking photos of yourself can be TRICKY) when I saw something that made me laugh out loud.

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There’s no wonder I’m not beach ready…the first photo of the day on my camera was of baked goods. Rows of Italian doughnuts. Ha!

Leave a comment below to be in the running!
And Happy summer to you all!

Comments

  1. Beth you look fabulous! What lovely swimmers and a banging bod to go with!
    And also, tell us more about these Italian donuts…? 🙂

  2. My body is damn great!!! It’s housed 4 beautiful babies, kindly allowed me 4 c sections and fed all those 4 babies for no less than 8 years. My strong legs carry me all day and these wonderful hands allow me to work as an Embalmer caring for the Deceased. I’m pretty lucky to have this body I think! Miranda Kerr may not agree but she also misses out on Krispy Kreme so her opinion is invalid! Xx

  3. Love the swimsuits. Your rocking your post baby bod in the red polka dots & the Sophia one peice is too cute to not wear ! Hope I can look as awesome n confident as you in it with my post 6 mth baby bod ! It’s funny how you have a cute bub n dress them up in the cutest cossies n often neglect yourself …you look fantastic and really deserve to show off those swimsuits !

  4. I love these bathers! I have been procrastinating getting into the pool and beach with kids for years. Missing out on so much fun!

  5. Oh those black spotty swimmers are my dream ones. Totally loving the gathering across the tummy. You look fab in both.

    I have a love/hate relationship with my body too (I wonder if everyone does). I’ve managed to shift almost 10kgs this year but for some reason it is clinging to my midsection. So frustrating. I’m pretty impressed with how despite my lack of sleep my body still manages to drag me out of bed to do the morning routine. This morning it started at just before 5. I’d have to say my favourite feature is my back. My back would look hot in those swimmers ?

  6. “Tree trunk legs” run in my family….on both sides my parents would happily remind me. In school I hated that I would never look like one of the girls in a dolly mag and I always have trouble buying jeans; but my legs have shaped my life. They are large and strong and helped me compete in national sport, climb mountains in Nepal, run from trouble and towards love. Now each day I use them to chase a toddler and lift a beautiful baby; who both have inherited the family “gift”. I am very proud of that.

  7. Those red bathers would look adorable accessorized with a nudie baby in a frilly sun hat perched on a hip! For me, my favourite body part are my arms and shoulders, strong enough to carry a tired babe, soft enough to give the warmest hugs and padded enough to rest a weary head. How amazing our bods are!

  8. Ooh I would love a pair of togs please Beth. My saggy baggy, recently weaned bajoongas, twice birthed body is getting flaunted in the sands this year for sure. The past few years I’ve covered up; funny about the uneven boobs (leftie flushed with a milk supply to rival a cows), been nervously preggy the year before when the acupuncturist said avoid cold water to keep baby safe and growing and the year before that when the leg holes of daggy bathers were strangulating my upper thighs like the tip of a knitted balloon. So yes, I’ll parade on the sands this Summer. I’ll be proud of the storms my bod has weathered and how it has housed two little boys. But the bathers would be for me- to make me feel confident as I strut

  9. Hi
    I am mother of five beautiful children just recently giving birth to twin girls and even though my body is not perfect it’s mine and I’m ok with how it is stretched saggy skin and all
    It birth five incredible children incl 9 week Old twins girls a women’s body is a incredible thing hey x

  10. Kellie Collett says

    You’re actually hot in the red ones, go girlfriend!

    So my body and I have had our ups and downs, eating disorder as a teenager…yo-yo weight for 15 years and to be honest I’ve never loved “her”.

    3 baby girls later, started working with food, stopped caring about my weight and started loving life and I finally feel I have settled into somewhat of a happy place…she’s been good to me.

    It is actually amazing how good life can be when you actually live and stop the body weight or naughty food focus. Plus, how fucking important is that mindset for our girls!!!

    Love you long time Bev x

    • Kellie I cried reading your comment. My beautiful twin 16 year old daughters spent a month in hospital being treated for anorexia this past year and as you know only too well it is a long slow road to recovery. As someone who has always been pretty comfortable in her own skin I was shocked to the very core of my soul that my girls would suffer from such a horrid mental illness that saw them starve themselves until their heart rates were so low they almost died. We now take each day and each meal at a time and the road to recovery is slow and hard. So this week when my GP commented that by fabulous double d shelf of booz was quite ‘grissly’ I didn’t blink an eyelid – well ok I did breathe in for a second and picture them as two chewed up fatty tails on lamb chops, and I did think of saying ‘your boobs would be grissly too if you fed twins for 18 months then backed up for a third baby a few years later’ but grissly boobs aside I guess the point of this ramble is to say thank you Kellie for giving me hope for lovely girls and that Beth I vote for Kellie to get the swimmers so she can strut her stuff for her girls this summer and be the positive role model all our daughters (and sons too) need. Wishing you peace and joy this Christmas and always x

      • Hats off to you for feeding twins for 18 months. I truly hope your daughters recover from such an awful illness, it must be excruciatingly hard for you to watch.

        I love my body for housing twinnies for 9 months and feeding them for a year. Despite my empty boobs and awful c section scar I couldn’t be happier with my beautiful bod and babies.

        • Thank you Eve and kudos to you too for going the full 9 months with twins then feeding them as well. Twins are the best aren’t they? Double the cuddles even if the boobs do take a pounding! My lovely girls were born at 29 weeks so they have had battled for their survival before and they are thankfully getting stronger each day. My Christmas miracle will be having them home and watching them eat Christmas lunch which is pretty much what happened 17 Christmases ago when we brought them home for the first time on Christmas (they have had a birthday since their recent hospital stay). Wishing you a joyful Christmas with your beautiful babies x

  11. Loved this post so much. Laughed out loud so many times. So, had a baby 11 weeks ago, 2nd bub and 20 kilos heavier than my youth, huge jugs from feeding, and at the risk of being a smug leggist, I have awesome shapely calves, after preggy cankles and I love em!!!!

  12. Really Love both those cosies you modeled, you look fabulous.. This year I’ve gone all commando and shed some kgs thanks to a big change in mindset and getting off the couch more often. What I love most is how my body shape has changed and now really love my arms and butt
    I think when you feel good, you see good
    Just got to stop eating those damn fruit mince pies

  13. At 49 I left husband and 3 teenagers at home in Qld last month to do a hiking trip in the Blue Mountains with some lovely lady friends. I was never a sporty kid, and until recent years have never really been into fitness at all, but right now I am feeling pretty proud of this old body. We had the best time, did some long days (22 k one day, how’s that?) and lots and lots of steps and climbing. Bring on 50 I say, with hopefully many more hikes to come!

  14. You look gorgeous lady! Yay for body confidence and not giving one rats. I’m def on Team Ruching – it really is a girl’s best friend and polka dots are always an excellent idea. x

  15. I’m thankful for (and quite like the look of) my arms and hands. Strong enough to hold a 6, 4 & 2 year old (not all at once!), embrace my husband, stir a million pans of porridge, learn to do wonky crafts, hold books while I read, and rock some coral nail polish when I can be bovvered…

  16. Love the spots on those bathers!
    I love that my body just keeps going and despite me not looking after it that well I’m rarely sick.
    A new pair of togs would be wonderful!

  17. Hear me roar! Love these togs and Beth you do look amazeballs in them!!!
    I’ve got three little boys from 6 years to 11 months and i think it’s people with a strong voice like yourself that can be the change to teach us all to love our bones again!

    Hali.?

  18. Hi Beth, I love love love those swimmers and you are looking amazing in them.

    I’ve struggled with my body but am learning to love and accept it. I’ve had many surgeries due to being born with my insides a ‘bit different’. I was told I couldn’t have children but have been incredibly lucky to have three beautiful children in the last four years (the last one born just a few day after Mags!). My body got us through three difficult pregnancies and produced three beautiful bubs – how incredible is that?! How could I not love this body???

    I would love the red swimmers to hit the beach this summer. I may not have lost my baby weight (by the way, how many years can we use the term baby weight for?! ) but who cares when I’ll be wearing those swimmers! X

  19. My body is amazing! I may not be happy with certain parts of it, it is mine. I have housed, birthed & fed 3 beautiful babes, been & going through mountains of grief & stresses (losing hubby to cancer & having young kids amongst other stuff)done the weight fluctuations, have a hole in my heart the list goes on lol. Honestly I’m just happy to see some swimmers that may be able to hold my size 12HH boobs in (can’t find bras or swimmers it’s been a major stress of mine for many years). I will be looking into these. My body has put up with a lot I have a lot of respect for it.

  20. Love them both, but your face is glowing in the Marilyn pics! You obviously feel great in it. Just gorgeous.
    I love that my body is still holding it together while things are not so great inside some days. My legs still walk, my arms still cuddle, my fingers still type, my eyes still twinkle and my mouth still smiles. My body keeps on keeping on. Love it.

  21. I love the red ones too! Too long have I been putting off actually going into the fitting room to try on new togs. Like everyone else, my body has changed so much post birth but I’m so proud that I’ve been able to feed my little boy for so long. Hey, the girls might need more of a lift than they used too, but they do their job just right!

  22. Laura Powers says

    Great bathers suit all shapes and sizes exactly what my frumpy self needs after having my two boys.

  23. My body is imperfect but AMAZING!! It has given me two wonderful children, is keeping my mind whirling and me going with months of broken sleep, has carried me through some down times when everything has been just hard, is now (trying) to get me fit again by Cliff-Young-shuffling.

    I want to be a positive role model for my kids, especially my daughter, so am trying so very hard to love the lumps and bumps and rolls (!!) and stretch marks. And after making children and choosing to have no more, now it’s my time to shine. And to not care what anyone else thinks. Some days are easier than others, but I perservere.

    I’ve taken my kids to the pool twice already and not cared! And am pretty proud of myself! It is time for new bathers, to help me love me more. So thanks Beth for the giveaway, for the positive afirmation, thanks Styling You for the initial kick and Bella Bathers for the discount – I’m heading there now!

  24. My body has been a source of stress for me for a long time. When my feet packed up on me, requiring multiple surgeries to alleviate the pain, I became unable to do much in the way of weight-bearing exercise. I gained weight. The obvious solution was swimming, but, that involved swimwear which was NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! I’ve since had 2 beautiful boys and I owe it to them to:
    1. Get in the pool and play with them.
    2. Show them what an average, post baby feminine body can look like, and show them that it’s a source of pride, and daddy still loves it.
    3. Not project my body image issues into them.
    So, this summer, I’m going to swim, dammit. And if Greenpeace assemble to push me back into the water each time I try to emerge, then so be it.

  25. I have a body.
    It’s summer.
    I have a summer body.

    Love the raspberry ones. Would love the chance to win some. Might even fake tan the legs, or not.

    Merry Christmas to you and yours, Beth.

    PS what’s the sizing like please?

  26. There is so much to love about bodies that have grown babies and fed them. There is also so much to love about bodies that haven’t.
    Enjoy your beautiful body in your beautiful bathers with your beautiful girls.

  27. Ha ha ha, you totally crack me up Beth. Love this and I think you are looking pretty hot for someone who eats loads of custard tarts…. how the hell do you get away with that? Swimmers look great – love that little frill and you look great in that red dotty number. Thanks for keeping it real.

  28. Those red ones are fabulous!
    I was never the biggest fan of my body but never really gave it much consideration and just went about my busy life with 2 munchkins – until two years ago on the October Long Weekend when I got very sick and almost died. In the 8 months leading up to the day when I almost dropped off, I was really sick and lost a lot of weight – like 35 kilos. I was about 44 kilos (less than my kids), barely functioning and I have never received so many compliments in my life!! ‘You look great’, ‘how did you do it?’ And ‘fabulous!’ Every single day. The focus on appearance is so messed up ? Two years on, I’m now healthy, functioning, have put on most of the weight and couldn’t care less! I can eat, spend time with my kids, go to work and basically be alive! Appreciate your bodies people – imperfections and all – they’re amazing!

  29. You know Beth, I’m probably old enough to be your mother but I relate to your words and experiences so easily. My babies are now 26 and 23 but my issues with my own body even now probably hark back to pre-baby days. We’re so silly aren’t we? We’re healthy, mobile multi-taskers, yet we all give ourselves such a hard time. (Thank you negative self-talk.) I’m an enormous 5′ tall and don’t really fit much into anything we see on the shelves nowadays, but swimmers? I could probably do that! Ironically, my husband and I live about 2 blocks from a very famous beach and I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve swum at it. Maybe gorgeous swimmers will give me the confidence to try again. ?

  30. Andrea Hall says

    Oh the love hate body feel…I have it! I have long felt my body is not up to wearing a bikini and when I wear a one piece I generally strip down at the last minute and throw myself quickly into the sea like Migaloo the white whale.
    My body at 35 allows me to care for others as a nurse and this often means eating on the run, making bad food choices due to long hours and not having the energy after 12hr shifts and night duty to exercise… oh and the stressful environment means wine consumption on days off!!!
    I have been attending PT twice a week because I realised ‘enough’!!! Look after me!’.
    We are having a getaway in Janurary and my beloved has stated he’d like to see me wear a bikini because he thinks I have a beautiful body…awwww! After looking at Bella Bathers they may have just the one. I might even be brave enough and send you a photo of me in it.
    Thanks Baby Mac

  31. My kids say mum grab your togs (they are real Queenslanders!) and let’s go to the lake – we are lucky to have a beautiful freshwater one closer than the beach here on the Sunny Coast. And I used to get the beach chair and cover up and sit a long way back and hide behind dark glasses. And then Nikki pointed her “get into your togs now – do you hear me stick” my way too. And I felt it and it wasn’t too bad … So I now buy lots of tops and bottoms from those great retailers who sell separates and I march my middle age mum body (riddled with Hashimoto like SY too) into that lake and laugh and have fun like everyone else who doesn’t give a Sh*T too!

  32. Well my rack maybe a tad saggy and droopy, but I’ve given birth to 2 babies in less that 2 years and have been breast feeding since May 2013, so I’m not doing to badly.

    My brain and my body are the two greatest gifts of life and it’s my duty to love and care for them.

    And wear pretty bathers 🙂

    Have a great day, Beth!

  33. Oh my goodness, those swimmers are so cute!!! You look fab miss Beth!
    Our bodies do indeed rock!
    My body has grown two babies. It has brought them into the world two different ways. It has sustained them with magical boobie milk. But it’s also walked 100km for oxfam with only 1 blister! It’s swam, run, climbed, danced, cycled and pretty much made the most of what it can do! Thankyou body for being such a badass!!!

  34. Hi Beth,

    I just wanted to drop by to say that you look amazing. I particularly love the red swimmers on you.

    I turned 50 this year, and like most of your readers, my body has grown babies and endured cesarean sections, been battered and bruised by life and is now changing again as the menopause starts to creep on. But I’ve lost a few friends to cruel diseases along the way and my way of honouring them is to enjoy my life and not to stress about silly little things like a flabby tummy. I’m healthy and if anyone wants to judge me for my cellulite – well stuff ’em! Life really is too short – pass the pastry plate!

  35. After years of struggling with body image I’m finally in a good place. Strangely this has come about through a cancer diagnosis and gruelling chemo regime. My body successfully grew my beautiful healthy baby, while it was apparently riddled with tumours. But it kept her safe. Now it is responding well to chemo and I am amazed at the ability of my liver to regenerate itself. It’s been a totally new perspective on my body.

  36. Beth thank you for your post, you should be proud of your fabulous body as should every woman.
    My body can make eyeballs and nobody can say that’s not amazing! I’ve produced two pairs so far. There’s nothing else to say is there?

  37. Hi Beth,

    I’m blown away by your post and the the responses from so many women who relate to body confidence, while also acknowledging the privilege of that same body to care and nurture a new life and others. We need to be more kind to ourselves, be healthy and love the skin your in. I started my business Aquacove for that very reason…I want women to embrace their real bodies and feel stylish while on the beach, swimming and spending time with their children rather than feeling they need to cover up in an unflattering rashie top. As your last reader commented, “stripping down at the last minute and throwing herself into the sea”, it sounds funny but so many women can relate to this, including me.

    I would love to give your readers a special Aquacove offer for December/January and also provide a complementary Swim Wrap as a bonus to your lucky winner. Please email me so I can send you the coupon code. My mission is simple; To reach women on every beach in Australia!

    Keep up the amazing writing. Thanks for letting us into your life.
    Regards
    Roslyn

  38. Well done you!

    What I love about my body….. Ummm, well my calves and earlobes??

    But, this is the year for attitude change. I have grown four beautiful children in my wobbly belly, including twins! And my now gorgeous 11 and 9 year old girls, with their completely lovely, long legs want to know why I never go swimming with them, or bother with swimmers at the beach. I have to do this for them. So they can understand that beauty doesn’t come in one shape or size, and if I don’t think I’m good enough, then no one will. And they are very gorgeous swimmers!

  39. You look Fab!! Loved this post and I will join in the convo to say that my different sized – post BF boobs are quite the talking point with hubster at the moment, but I still have my nice, broad, bony shoulders. Always proud to get them out in a singlet and summer dresses!!

  40. Love it Beth! You’re real and make the rest of us comfortable enough to do the bathers without giving a shit! And you’re right, why should we. Love love love the Bella Bathers. They look fab! I’d love a pair. Very cute.

  41. Oh how I would love new swimmers! Especially ones that know how to hold my giant E cup size breastfeeding boobs without them floating on top of the water! I’m still donning my maternity swimmers which have housed two big babies and are stretched so much that my toddler can fit his whole head underneath them! Beth – loved your post and you look fab!

  42. Ah, new cossies are the best! Those ones do look splendid! The little frill on the black ones remind me of the sort of cossies I wore as a toddler – according to the photos!! I have never had a problem with putting on the cossies and going for a swim – thank goodness. At the moment it seems I’m back past my peak pg weight and my baby will be 7 in March. The cossies still go on! Indeed I’m thinking about cracking out the two piece again and summonsing my inner older european woman, there are a few around here that totally give no shits about having their rounded tum on display. So, it seems I don’t have body confidence issues!! Enjoy getting those swimmers wet at the beach and or pool soon!!

  43. I love that my body has grown 2 babies, I’m proud of my tigerstripes! I’m also pretty happy with my brain that hasn’t lost too much to baby brain!

  44. My taste buds are awesome! I want them to taste those doughnuts and tell me if they taste as good as they look!

  45. Thanks, Beth. Perfect timing, I was actually thinking I might attempt to tackle the shops today for some new post-baby bathers, getting myself ready for our holiday in January (the first in 3 years!).

    I guess like everyone I’ve had the odd issue or two with my body over the years. I’ve always kept it hidden behind baggy clothes despite being a healthy weight. But after giving birth to four kids I realise just how awesome it actually is! It’s hard to believe what it has been through and I am now so much more confident in myself because of it. I have a body and I am beach ready – Bella bathers look like the perfect cossie to spend the summer in.

  46. Beth, the cossies are beautiful.
    Reading the comments from your readers brings back many memories of always thinking I was too fat to wear a cossie for years. I wasn’t, but it was this damn ‘image’ thing that us gals become obsessed with, especially after we have had our bubs.
    Sadly my own body obsession of not remaining a certain size, lead to my daughter suffering Anorexia as a teenager some 16 yrs ago, so Jacqueline’s comments about her twin daughters had me blubbing. That is the hardest road to walk, when you see your own child virtually starving themself to a point where their body is breaking down. It has been a long ongoing road to recovery for her.

    Now at 66, 2 kids, 3 grandkids later, I buy the lovely cossies, go to the beach and finally accept my body. Life is too damn short to waste worrying about what others will think of us.
    Love your body ladies, and thanks Beth, for bringing an incredibly important subject to the forefront.

    • Dirtgirl I hope one day my daughters can think just like you do now. It is such a long hard road (as so many things in life can be) but worth every fight. I tell my girls that Anorexia is a bitch but I am a bigger bitch and my job is to keep slapping down the Anorexia and the negative thoughts until one day they will be strong enough to slap the Anorexia and the horrible voices that are part and parcel of that hideous illness for themselves. Each time they do manage to do that is a blessing and I hope your daughter continues on her lifelong recovery journey as well – sounds like she has just the mum to help her along the way x

  47. I love my 60 year old body. It has weathered a few storms, punched out two boys and loved a man for over 41 years. I have been looking for a pair of swimming togs for ages and the red ones really do it for me. Yep, let’s embrace our bodies – flabby bits and all.

  48. We are just loving reading these comments. Ladies – no matter what bathers you wear – we hope you feel fabulous, special and unique like the amazing women that you are. xx

  49. Looking fab in those bathers, Beth! Love a good skirt to help distract from the post-baby bulge. My little man just turned one this week (!!!) and in November, for the first time ever, I took my breastfeeding knockers and post-baby hips to the beach in a bikini! And not one f*ck was given. I am inordinately proud of this fact and that I am teaching Miss 3 not to care too. We were doing lunges on the beach together in our bathers, “making strong legs, Mummy!” Pity the other beach goers…

  50. I’m O.S so I can’t enter, but just wanted to say you look great in both Beth! You are too hard on yourself. So get out there and enjoy that beach and those baby girls of yours this Summer. I’m freezing in the Northern Hemisphere, so can only dream about beaches from my couch…. Liz XO

  51. I love my body because, even after 20 years of binge eating, sporadic exercise, fad diets, 3 pregnancies, 3 breastfed babies, my body has never let me down. It forgives me every time I fall off the wagon and lets me try again. And after 20 years of of body loathing, this year I’ve finally decided to give back to my body and have taken up regular exercise and less shoving ALL THE FOOD in my gob. I finally feel strong and fit and healthy in a way I never have before, all because my body refuses to let me down. And instead of rewarding myself with edible treats, I’ve been buying beautiful clothes and my first bikini since my honeymoon. And wearing it proudly. Woo!

  52. I have never owned a beautiful bathing suit – always just plain black – it would be Bella to own one of these! (my chocolate poodle is also called Bella 🙂 My body is like most – lumps bumps & bits & pieces that we are not happy with – but it also allows me to care for my Husband who is unwell from a heart condition. It allows me to work full time & my body puts up with my own lack of self care & it still carries me forward 🙂 How awesome is the Human Body!!!

  53. Oh I LOVE you in your new bathers. I have a feeling this is going to be one of your most loved posts ever. You look divine. How good are your knockers? And you legs. Hot mama. I have recently lost my bathers. How the hell did I do that? Nude sunbathing. Not likely. Ooh Ahh left them in my boyfriend’s car? Not likely either. I am just a muddle headed wombat and left them and my rose gold Havianas somewhere. :(. I have always thought I have cute feet. I have chubby toes and my husband and kids tease me about them but I think they match my other chubby bits and I like em.

  54. I can’t enter as I’m in NZ but I think you look awesome! Love the red 🙂

  55. Julie Harris says

    Beth

    Thank you for this post. You know what is really funny. I saw you in that blue dress this week and almost cried. I thought Beth has just given birth to a baby and look at her legs. Why do I still look like shit when my kids are 11 and 9. We are always are own harshest critics.

    As for my body I had anorexia at 19. First year of uni. I wanted to control something as my mum had died years before and my Dad was never home. Off dating new women. I wanted my Dad’s attention. It didn’t work . Note to self an eating disorder will not bring your father back to you.

    I learned to love my body the way my husband did and later gave birth to two beautiful children, put on over 20 kilos both times. But lost most of it. Until 18 mths ago my husband lost his job. We had to sell our house and start again with our own business. I was majorly depressed and gained weight.

    I am now 42 and the day before my 43rd birthday I am walking 30K for Coastrek. In an effort to fundraise for the Fred Hollows Foundation and to put my body to good use. And to learn to love my body again.

  56. My body is tough! Last night gave birth to my third kid – 8lb7oz baby boy, posterior, induced and no drugs (begged for them but it was too late). Screamed my fricking head off but I did it! Reading about you and Mags has been so awesome as I’ve gone through this pregnancy – I think you rock those bathers!

  57. I work with teenagers. Our end of year activity was a school trip to the ocean baths. My first thought was dread of them seeing me in my bathers… and then I thought NO! I am a role model to all these students helping mould them into respectable members of society who are confident in who they are mind, BODY and soul. I should be embracing all of me, and not pushing my (irrelevant) body image insecurities onto them. I need to empower them. And empower them I will… in appropriate swimwear 😉

  58. katie clews says

    You look fabbo in those bathers Beth, go you girl to not giving a shit!..Love the red on you… super sassy….

    My body is dimpled with cellulite, but hey, it’s just right and it is a body that is strong to be able to hold my loved ones tight.. Too many Lurpak laden salami sandwiches have been consumed, so I always knew my body would be doomed.. But who gives a hoot? We can wear our spotty togs with pride.. Get out there, show it off, shake it off and we may even get a wolf whistle to boot 🙂

  59. These bathers are amazing! The Marilyn *swoon*

    My body feels the strongest when I hug my girls. And even stronger when my husband hugs me. It doesn’t matter if I lift weights at the gym, run miles and miles, or eat an entire tray of fruit mince pies, these guys lift me up so I can conquer anything.

  60. My body is currently in “fabulous 2-years after baby number 3” shape. That is:
    1. Nice and squishy which makes me an extra cuddly mama;
    2. Marked with beautiful scars that show Ive been blessed with the privelege of carrying my 3 beautiful babies to term;
    3. A gold medal champion at managing life with no sleep, as it has now been about 10 years since I last got to sleep without interruption from another human being;
    4. As strong as it needs to be to wrangle babies, toddlers, prams, and a million bags of supermarket shopping in and out of the car for 10 years, and to dance and spin like an aeroplane on the grass whenever it is called for;
    5. As free and easy as I’ve ever been in my life because at this point in my life I realise that I’ve got it pretty damn good.

  61. Amazing!! Post baby bodies are amazing no matter what size. My body is certainly very different to what it was 10 years ago. Four babies later (number 4 is just 3 months old) I’m slowly learning to love the lumps and stretchy skin flappy bit.

  62. Oh Beth the red swimmers are my favourite too!! Very Marilyn Munroe-esque! And would be the perfect addition to my summer wardrobe as I am becoming a new mum come autumn and plan on spending most of the summer combating the heat floating in the water and struggling to find swimwear appropriate for the ever expanding breasts and belly!

  63. Oh I love Bella Bathers! I discovered them last Summer and suddenly fell in love with my curves! Something I’ve always covered up!!! I’ve done swimming lessons through out the whole year in them. The confidence I have wearing them has been sooo great that at swimming lessons recently – as I was getting changed – I didn’t realise I’ve worn them out and they’ve turned see through on my butt!! ? bahahaha!!! Can’t bare to part with them but what a flattering style! A must for all mums – you looking freakin fab btw!!!

  64. Those togs are totally hot and so are YOU! I’m so down with the philosophy that beach-ready-body means a body (that we all have) at the beach. Size and shape be damned, we’re all bloody lovely in our own way. xoxo

  65. Kylie Rogers says

    Those swimmers are adorable! You look amazing 😀 I got sick of missing out on all the fun with the family due to my insecurities, so I get my girls out whenever I want now.

  66. Love your posts Beth, unsensored warts and all, so thank you! And so kind of you to buy one of us a pair of gorgeous swimmers too!

    Definitely not at the loving my body stage just yet but I know I need to go easier on myself and be a positive role model to my little guy.
    I’ve never really thought about the things I like about my body and it’s a hard one to answer but like many other of the lovely ladies who have posted here I am super proud that my body could grow and nurture a healthy divine baby boy and watch him thrive after feeding him for a year. It’s pretty darn impressive if I do say so myself! We really do need to give ourselves more credit.
    Time to focus on me before going for round 2 eek!
    Ps I live locally so you’d save on postage if I was to win, wink wink ha ha!!

  67. You look gorgeous espech the red polka dots.

  68. You look gorgeous! And you’ve inspired me to not be all “when I get my body back I’m going to be so much happier/hotter/whatever”. If it never comes back I’ll have wasted my best years hiding! So thank you!

  69. natalie wales says

    Well I’m pretty AmAzed with my body…and my mind….at 37yrs old I had a hysterectomy…having not been able to have children, this was pretty devastating to say the least. Now at age 42 I’m happy to report I’ve survived! The grief, the pain both physical & emotional was breathtaking….but I’ve made it to a peaceful happy place…..thank you for your blog Beth…I love coming along for a glimpse of motherhood….you’re living my dream…and I’m happy for you ?

  70. Oh my word, I just had a look at their site & the Marilyn in cornflower blue is so gorgeous ! I try not to dwell on the negative bits of my body. It is all too easy to think if only I had……..& then list in your head all the bits you would like to improve. Looking at the big picture I have a body that has kept on plodding along for 47 years. Legs that have paced the floor, arms that have rocked countless babies, boobs that while not huge have made a comfy pillow for a sleepy toddler. My body has never grown & birthed a baby but it has loved & cared for many. It may not be perfect but it is perfect for me 🙂

  71. Beth – You Rock. That is All.

  72. Coad Alison says

    I’m so glad you’re happy with your body, you look fantastic!

    After two babies I’m happy with mine, some days I wish it were a little leaner, but mostly I’m happy with it. I’m grateful that it’s strong enough to get me through the day; physically, mentally and emotionally. Although my tight shoulders are definitely calling me to have a nice hot soak in the bath tonight!

  73. Hi Beth,
    I have loved following your pregnancy and now Maggie journey, you always manage to put a smile on my face with your ‘realness’ and perfectly honest outlook on life — I’m 29 and am in the final stretch of my first pregnancy (boxing day due date — the joy!) and continue to be amazed each and every day at just what our bodies are capable of – I’m sitting here in the air con in the stinking hot Brisbane weather, feeling our bubs kicking away which never gets old and even though I am feeling all the nerves about the journey ahead and the next lot of changes my body has in store, I think all women are pretty bloody fabulous. Here’s cheers to all of us!!
    Merry Christmas to your beautiful family as well!
    ox

  74. Beth..love the red bathers on you! Check out your legs!!

    I have had my ups and downs with my body. After having 3 babies, a few years of breastfeeding and getting older it feels like your body is not what it used to be. But you know what? After a tough year of unexpected ill health and acute renal failure after some random virus I am just so happy that my body is slowly recovering. I can walk down the street without getting puffed, in fact I can actually go for a run and feel like I have loads of energy. So for me this year I am just so grateful that my body is “working” as it should and I can do activities with my boys that I couldnt earlier in the year. 🙂

  75. Not for me, but for my mum. She’s a beautiful woman, inside and out and after having five kids, and raising us all pretty well (if I do say so myself) she’s my biggest inspiration and role model.

    She teaches us every day to love the body we have. No matter what.

    She’s gorgeous and never really gets the chance to buy nice stuff as all her money goes on us kids, especially my three brothers who live at home.

    I think this would mean the world to her.

  76. Beth

    I LOVE how your posts speak to so many. You unite a bunch of individuals who may never meet but live life a little differently because you share your honesty with us! Thank you! Now where do it pick up those donuts on Sunday when we are down?

  77. Used to hate my height as a kid- I’m really very tall . So tall I fact when we went out to under 18 dances my friends would meet back at me Like I was a landmark…yes really! & I was always slouching trying to look less conspicuous. You can imagine how well that went, it was like a giraffe trying to hide behind a pot plant .

    Now I embrace it- striding along one pace to everyone else’s two.
    Helping nanas reach the pickles off the top shelf at the super market 🙂
    And yes in crows my friends still use me as a meeting place.

  78. Isn’t it awful that we have to justify the way our bodies look???? Some wonderful comments but I feel sad that we as women feel we have to give the backstory as to why our bodies look like they do! I do this too & then I get angry with myself for doing it.

  79. My brain, tired, frazzled at times forgetful (drove off and left a kid at school once!). Wish i could blame it on kids, always been that way but darn it my brain is amazing! Two university degrees, keeps a thousands balls in the air/running a BUSY family and household. My brain manages to care for my beautiful friends, mama’s who need love, acknowledgement and someone to care. My brain is amazing!

    P.S. love you Selby, I’d be lost in life (and crowds!) without you!

  80. My son is 6 and I’m still wearing my maternity bathers!!! After bucket loads of ivf and weight gain blah blah blah I’m finally ok with how I am. I’m healthy, I’m ok, I love food!!!

  81. Your legs are so skinny! Isn’t it funny, one woman’s fat mole is another’s dream bod.

  82. Katrina Bryant says

    After being brave and wearing a bikini on holiday (without the kids), I realised that no one really cares about whether my tummy is a little jiggly or my thighs have seen one (ha!) too many cupcake… My almost 2 year olds favourite thing is to play ‘wibble wobble jelly one plate’ with my tummy 😉 So I’ve decided to just be okay with it, not that it’s an instant process! I don’t want to pass on my body issues to my girls so it’s a good motivation to get over it 🙂

  83. Rowena Bass says

    At the ripe old ( young)age of 52 , I’ve learnt to work with the body I have. My philosophy is to accentuate the positive and camouflage the negatives. Before pregnancy I was a 14b, but breastfeeding turned them into a 20 and they stayed that way. With the right bra I have a great set! I don’t have many wrinkles, not due to clean living, more like good genes and my son says I have the neck of a 25 year old! Those genes also gave me veiny legs but fake tan helps in that department. I admit it took a long time to accept my body is aging but my mind and more importantly attitude is as sharp as ever. And best of all my husband of 30 years still thinks I’m hot.

  84. You rock Beth! As all of us women do! Whatever size we are. Embrace life and brace your body, we only get one. And tell all others to shove it. Love the fril!

  85. Aaaahhhh the good ole love/hate body relationship!!! I have finally found in my forties a certain sense of peace with it. I do not seem to give two shits about not having a perfect body any more. I love food, I love grog, I don’t love what too much of them does to my gut rolls but hey I don’t stress about it. I reckon for my age my slightly doughy too soft body goes all right.
    You look hot in those swimmers mole! x

  86. Thank you, Beth! We had IVF in July/August and the hormones were fine but I put on a lot of weight. I was dreading coming home to the Sunshine Coast this Christmas (we live in the UK) and wearing a bathing suit. But your post made me realise that although my body tried valiantly, a little bubba wasn’t meant to be and this weight shows the effort. My mind needs to give my body a break! I am going to walk onto that beach loud and proud! You look gorgeous!

    • Can I vote for Susan?

      I’ve loved every single reply but this one really touched my heart. Susan- you are completely awesome.

  87. I love your attitude girl! I have a squishy body, and people excuse it because they know I’ve had triplets. The truth is that I lost quite a deal of baby weight and then put on a little more weight because of the good times. I’m so thankful that I can enjoy food with my family without obsessing on my appearance. Perhaps what I love most about my body is my bent back. I’ve got a very pronounced scoliosis and I have to be very careful about which swimwear I chose, because my hips are uneven and the bends can give a bit of peekaboo access to areas I don’t want to expose. But guess what? That hump means I’m a survivor and that I’ve got grit to endure the pain and still choose to be happy!

  88. Know what makes you look fabulous? Your ‘I don’t give a shit’ ‘tude! Seriously, nothing makes a person glow more than being comfortable in themselves – although I confess, a cutie-patootie baby totally makes that glow a bit brighter! How do I know? Because my bubba boy is about a month younger than your little Maggie, he is my third bubba and the first to successfully breastfeed! I take immense pride in his chubby thighs and rosy cheeks because all I can think is “I made those!!”
    As far as my own chubby thighs and rosy cheeks go, I can gloat that I made those too but the baby version is so much cuter. That being said, this busy bod has birthed 3 children and taught me to trust it implicitly after birthing baby number two by the side of the road with nothing but instinct to guide me. It’s the wet season here in the NT and to have a pair of swimmers to strut in while I take my 3 kidlets to the water park and have fun WITH them would be awesome ?

  89. Never ever say you are not beach ready! You look stuning

  90. They are just gorgeous – love them both and would love to hit the beaches this summer in a pair!

  91. Can I enter the competition with ONE lonely boob? After my mastectomy this year it has taken a while to get used to my new shape. Unable to have reconstructive surgery I’ve grown to embrace my body instead. I’ve fed my children, I’m still a part-time sex goddess. What’s not to live?

    I love the red swimsuit with higher neckline. I’m an expert at sewing a liner inside bra cups to hold my ‘fake boob’, as my granddaughter calls it. Yes, I lost weight during chemotherapy, but it’s not all its cracked up to be. I’m alive and that’s what counts.

  92. You know what’s good? Doughnuts. Italian doughnuts. You know what else is good? Eating them with gay abandon and enjoying those delicious endorphins as you eat…. My body has enjoyed many a doughnut, has basked in the endorphins of enjoyment and used that energy to frolic through life’s adventures. Every single part of my body is good: the funny saddlebags that arrived after a few months of first meeting my love as we enjoyed loads of delicious meals together in those blissful courting days, the squiggly stretch marks that appeared on my boobs after breastfeeding my two babies. The bumpy cellulite that provides wonderful padding on my bum. The tan lines on my skin from living in the stunning warm tropics of northern Australia. Even the deep lines near my eyes are good – they remind me of the battle of sleep deprivation that I thought would never end but did. My body is good because my life is good: delicious, full, rich and just so so good, a bit like an Italian doughnut!

    • CONGRATS SHELLEY! You are the winner of the giveaway! I hope you enjoy your gorgeous new pair and have a wonderful summer in them! Here’s to many more Italian Doughnuts…I loved your comment! Thanks for entering x

      • Hooray for Italian Doughnuts, hooray for Bella Bathers and hooray for BabyMac! Thanks Beth – I can’t wait to get my hands on these gorgeous swimmers and splash about in our pool this Christmas…. They would look perfect with a glass of champagne I think!

    • Love it!! Woo hoo Shelley. We hope you enjoy your new bathers. xx

  93. My body grows people
    My body eats food
    When people dis it
    Well that is just farking rude

    I didn’t mean to rhyme – my body is amazing I just wish my brain would remember than #terriblememory

    I just want to play with my boys at the beach with some body confidence. Not in boardies or under a towel.

  94. Absolutely adore these swimmers, and the post! I ‘sucked it up’ myself this week, and bought a new pair, and went for a swim in the OCEAN!!!! With my family!!!! Didn’t sit back and watch as always, actually freakin did IT!!!
    Love the red ones especially on you, nice and bright!
    Thanks for sharing, as always, was timely for me.
    Go you! xxx

  95. You look amazing!! And now I feel inspired to look for a pair of swimmers for myself ? I can’t remember the last time I wore swimmers …. It’s usually a pair of board shorts and a big tshirt!
    My amazing body has carried three big baby boys, fed them for over a year each and now plays soccer with them, trains and lego on the floor, and even hoping to swim with them this summer!

  96. I’ve been ogling the frilly one shoulder one piece suit since SYs post went up. I really need a new pair of swimmers that flatter and not accentuate the wrong parts. It’s hard to find something to breastfeed in too. Fingers crossed!

  97. Well thank you for pointing me in the right direction for new swimmers. Being in western NSW I am far away from stylish options for swimmers and online is a complete lottery. I am still in the odds and ends I have worn over the past 5 years of being pregnant and recovering from 3 kids. My arms are by far the best bit of me thanks to lifting those chubby bundles and I plan to put them to good use following your #onething this week and get sorting the minefield of kids clothes my spareroom has become.

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