A new mother has shared pictures of her post-𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 stretch marks and curves, in a bid to inspire other new mothers who feel pressured to get back into shape.

Kristyn Dingman, 27, from Peoria, Arizona, shared the images, after seeing new mothers Photoshopping their bodies for social media posts.

The mother-of-one, to 16-month-old Benjamin, shared the images, which also show inspiring messages on her stomach, including ‘Empower women’ and ‘This is post-partum’  – to try and combat the pressure on mothers to snap back into shape after giving 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡.

However, trolls have told her she is promoting an ‘unhealthy lifestyle’ and that she will never find love – despite being married to her high school sweetheart.

Kristyn Dingman, 27, from Peoria, Arizona, shared the inspiring images, after seeing new mothers photoshopping their bodies for social media posts

A new mother has shared pictures of her post-𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 stretch marks and curves, in a bid to inspire other new mothers who feel pressured to get back into shape.

Kristyn, who struggled with body image in her teens, said: ‘Out of my group of friends, I was the biggest. As a teen, I worked in retail stores that were popular for young boys and girls, and I always felt as if I couldn’t wear most of the items I was selling.

‘I constantly compared myself to the people on TV or the women on magazine covers and wondered why I didn’t look like them or why I wasn’t as pretty as they were.’

‘I was insecure and always felt like I was being judged by my looks. As long as I can remember, I was always stepping on a scale to see what the numbers read or compared my waist size to my friends. Living in Arizona, it is hot here and being in shorts and a tank top is regular.

‘Even when it was 115 degrees outside, I was still wearing jeans to cover my body. I always had curves and thought they were something to be ashamed of.

Kristyn with her son Benjamin , who is now 16-months-old. She says she embraced her body when she was pregnant with him

Kristyn started to share raw pictures of her post 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 body after getting fed up of seeing Photoshopped pictures of new mothers on Instagram

When Kristyn and her high school sweetheart husband, Jeremy, 27, found out they were expecting a 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 in 2017, her shame towards her body turned to awe as she saw how much her body can change.

‘I could physically see my body changing so much and convinced myself that postpartum depression was going to be my new reality. I had a completely opposite reaction to my postpartum body.’

However, after the 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡, she learnt to love herself for keeping her son, Benjamin, who is now 16-months-old, safe during pregnancy and stopped worrying about how she looked.

The mother shared the images, which also show inspiring messages on her stomach, including ‘Empower women’ and ‘This is post-partum’, to combat the pressure on mothers to snap back into shape after giving 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡

Kristyn started sharing pictures on Instagram to empower other mothers – including this one with her son Benjamin

‘I have learned to love myself and the body that gave my son a home for nine months. I was more fascinated with my body’s capabilities than worrying about how I looked.

‘I saw my stretch marks as a symbol of strength and power. I saw all these changes as positive rather than negative.

With so many women unable to have 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren, Kristyn felt lucky to have been able to experience pregnancy herself, viewing her body as a gift, not something that is just to be superficially looked at.

 

‘Being called a mother is one of the most rewarding and honourable titles to obtain. Becoming a mother has changed my perception of my body by allowing me to focus on what’s most important.

‘I see my new body as a reflection of my journey into motherhood. It might sound cliché, but motherhood is hard work.

However after seeing photoshopped pictures of new mothers on Instagram, Kristyn decided to post incredible pictures showing her post-𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 stretch marks and curves to show other mothers that it’s okay to not conform with societal pressures.

Kristyn when she was younger and hated her body image. She thought she was the biggest one in her friend group and always wanted to cover up 

‘Nothing can prepare you for the role and I am able to see just how hard my body had to work to make one of the greatest gifts I could ever receive.

‘On one end, there are women who hate their new mothers bodies and on the other hand there are women who would do anything to have the experience.

‘I am so grateful for the opportunity to experience pregnancy and for that I see my body as a gift.’

Kristyn felt lucky to have been able to experience pregnancy herself, viewing her body as a gift, not something that is just to be superficially looked at

‘I was so sick of seeing these women post about their motherhood journey being so perfect. I was tired of seeing these women post photos of their postpartum bodies being photo shopped.

‘I wanted to see real and raw mothers who were going through the same things I was going through.

Before her pregnancy, Kristyn wore size 12 (UK size 8) jeans and weighed 150lbs (10st 7lb) and now she wears a size 16 (UK size 12) and weighs 168lbs (12st).

When Kristyn became pregnant her shame towards her body turned to awe, as she saw how much it was capable of doing 

‘I wanted to find others I could relate to because motherhood can be very lonely at times. So I decided to be my own support and in turn I could be another persons’ support. I was so sick of being down about how I looked. I had been doing this for years and it never got me anywhere.

‘I started to think that maybe there is an opportunity here for me to switch my mindset. I am unique because I don’t look like everyone else. I don’t look like those girls on TV or magazine covers and that’s something to celebrate.

‘These ‘flaws’ that others may see are really unique characteristics about me and my beauty. I celebrate the fact that I don’t look like everyone else.’

However, trolls have told her she is promoting an ‘unhealthy lifestyle’ and that she will never find love – despite being married to her high school sweetheart, Jeremy. Pictured with son Benjamin 

Despite working hard to empower women, Kristyn has been subjected to comments from people who tell her she is promoting an unhealthy lifestyle and that she will never find love, despite being married.

The positive messages she receives outweigh the negatives and only spurs Kristyn on to celebrate that she doesn’t look like everyone else.

‘Ninety-eight per cent of the reactions I receive are encouraging and supportive. I have people from all over the world telling me their stories or sharing the gratitude for what I am showing on social media,’ she said.

The positive messages she receives outweigh the negatives and only spurs Kristyn on to celebrate that she doesn’t look like everyone else

‘There are those few that feel that I am encouraging an ‘unhealthy lifestyle’. I have had people tell me that I will never truly be happy because of my body or tell me that I will not find love, even though my high school sweet heart loves every curve of my body.

‘It’s hard to hear these things at times because I am a human being with feelings and I can’t always ignore the messages. But the love I get outweighs the negative and I am so grateful for the out pour of support I have on social media. They are the real reason I keep going and move forward.

‘I want to give anyone the positive reinforcement that their changing bodies are a beautiful thing. We should not feel shamed by society’s standard of beauty. We get to make our own definition of beauty.’

Kristyn while she was pregnant -admitting that she had always struggled with body image 

‘We get so much pressure to bounce back after 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 to our pre-pregnancy bodies and I can’t stand it.

‘To this day, I get messages from strangers about how I can lose the 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 weight and get fit again. I have no desire to ‘lose the 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 weight’.

‘I like the 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 weight and the stretch marks my body has after pregnancy. They are a reflection of my experiences that I never want to go away.’

Kristyn also shared her words of advice to other mothers and discussed how she navigates her down days.

Kristyn and her husband, Jeremy – the couple are high-school sweethearts and found out she was pregnant in 2017