Jessie James Decker is getting candid on her feelings about her body after giving birth to three children.
The country singer, 31, opened up about her “insecurity” on Instagram over the weekend, sharing four snapshots of herself in a pink knit bikini, pinching the skin of her midsection.
“I’ll be honest I still get insecure when I put a swimsuit on sometimes because of how much loose skin I have from my pregnancies,” Decker began her lengthy caption. “I worked really hard to lose all of my baby weight. Even gaining 55 pounds with my first. It’s no wonder I have so much loose skin two out of the three babies were 9 pounds 😬.”
While the mother of three — who shares sons Forrest Bradley, 2 on Tuesday, and Eric Thomas II, 4½, plus daughter Vivianne Rose, 6, with husband Eric Decker — “was one of those lucky ducks who didn’t get one stretch mark because genetically I have super elastic skin,” she says that “because of my big babies and gaining so much I was left with extremely loose skin.”
“I’ve had a few breast reduction surgeries and lifts to try to tighten up the skin on my breasts (at one point the skin was so loose from growing to a size G from breastfeeding that I swear they could hit my belly button no joke) but now I have been left with really intense scars all the way around my cleavage that I try to hide out of insecurity,” Decker explains.
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The Kittenish founder goes on to say that she finds it “wild” how much her body has changed after kids: “My ribs expanded to the point of certain dresses I can’t zip up that I used to and I weigh even less than I did then, and the amount of excess skin around my stomach sometimes I can’t seem to push down enough into my jeans.”
Decker says that her “reason” for “sharing this emotion is because I know a lot of moms feel the same way and sometimes I just feel frustrated that no matter how hard I worked out or toned up the skin remains and it’s just something that I struggle with from time to time.”
And despite feeling like pregnancy “is such a beautiful super power” and not wanting “to sound like I’m complaining one bit,” Decker says, “I am a human being and sometimes the loose skin does make me a little insecure and make me wonder if I’m still sexy to Eric or if people are looking at my stomach when I’m in a bikini which I’m sure sounds silly but it’s just me being in my head sometimes.”
“Anyway sorry for the long story but it was just how I was feeling putting on my suit and I just want other women to know I’m with ya and we in this together and it’s a safe place here to vent!” she concludes.
This isn’t the first time Decker has addressed her postpartum figure. With her three pregnancies coming in just four and a half years, she said in January 2019 that she has “been every shape and size” — including hitting 165 lbs. with her first child — which was a change for her body after years of relying on her strong metabolism to stay slim.
“I know you’ll see a lot of people in the public eye and they drop weight in what seems like five minutes after having a baby and I think we all feel like we should live up to those expectations,” Decker said on Instagram, sharing before-and-after pics. “I’ve even been guilty of that myself and thinking I need to rush and lose weight two months after having a baby when I see all these skinny girls post-baby but that is just not realistic for the majority of us.”
The “Flip My Hair” singer said that by the time she gave birth to her third child, she knew how to take care of her body post-pregnancy. As of January 2019, she was following the South Beach Diet — which focuses on lean proteins and vegetables while eliminating most carbohydrates — and lifting weights.
“This is the fastest I have ever lost weight from all of my pregnancies and I truly think it’s just from educating myself and knowing what to do and having this program right in front of me,” Decker said. “My goal now as far as my body goes is to be healthy and happy and fit, not ‘skinny.’ “
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