Postpartum Cheaters

So before I go on and show you more outfits, I thought I’d show you a handy dandy little helper. I mentioned before that a dressing expert’s only real tip for me in helping to dress an hour glass body in the postpartum stage was “wear spanx”(shapewear.) While that’s not what I was asking her. I may be taking her up on it... A little.

I’ve tried the tank tops designed to hold in your belly a bit in the past, after my other babies. They never worked for me. They would just roll up pretty much as soon as I was done looking in the mirror.  (I think this might be an hourglass thing again? I know some moms really love these tanks. They just won’t stay put on me.)

Anyway -- Here was my mental path to getting here --I have some work out leggings (that I don’t think Target sells anymore) that are fairly awesome, in that they somehow slim you down (they aren’t sold saying as such, they just do it.) They were bought durning my skinny days, so they give me a muffin top right now. But it got me thinking about trying to find higher waisted leggings that slim you down. And guess what? There is such a thing!

I started looking around, and found a few brands and stores that carry them. But I didn’t know if I’d even like them so I went with the cheapies I found at Walmart. (Sorry if you hate Walmart. I still shop there.)

Flexees Shaping Leggings

And low and behold, I really like them.

They haven’t rolled down when I wear them (including: sitting, standing, walking, driving, shopping, even singing at church.)

They don’t feel too tight to be uncomfortable. Actually they are very comfy, just like regular leggings.

They aren’t cotton-y leggings, more like the shiny almost tights, kinda athletic, material. 

They can be a bit sheer. So NOT pants. Closer to tights.

But good leggings when paired with long stuff, that help you cheat!

I’m not huge on cheating. I’m trying to embrace the postpartum body as is.

But part of me feels like these help me with the whole still-recovering-from-crazy-pregnancy-sickness stir craziness I sort of have going on.

After I had Ruby (my second) I was back in the pool swimming laps as soon as my body would agree to let me wear a swim suit (you know that whole postpartum issue you gotta wait out.) And I was racing the guy next to me at 8 weeks postpartum.

But this time, I’m 3 months out and still feel like there is a voice inside telling me not to work out yet --that my body still needs some more time and grace to recover physically before I get back to being me. (The me that likes to work out and feel fit.) I still feel weaker than I’m used to. I kind of feel prematurely old. I feel like it will go away, but that I just need to give it time.

So since I feel like it’s gonna take me a while this time to lose the baby weight. And since these leggings are very comfy I’m ok with them.

But I’m not telling anyone they NEED these.

So in the first photo: here’s me today, all natural, in my pregnancy dress (I don’t actually wear this right now, clearly not that flattering, I’m just trying to show you the leggings power.) 

And second photo is with the leggings.

It’s no photoshop. And I still have a belly.

But for something comfy I’d likely be wearing a lot of the in the coming days anyway,

it’s a pretty good little helper.

I bet if I sized down the results would be more dramatic. But I wanted something comfy enough to put on all the time.


You can buy them online or I found them in the store near the underwear-ish spot, by the other shapewear.

If you look at the sizing chart,  bought mine based on my hip size, not waist size. Being postpartum my two measurements don’t really coordinate like they would normally. (My hip mesurements put me in a smaller size than my waist measurment.) And I think since it’s a soft empty belly it’s easier to fit into the tighter leggings. The bigger size was too big. The hip-based size worked for me.

(By the way, I don’t get any money from this post or the links. Just sharing.)