Almost my whole life I’ve been slim (size 10 pre-kids, 12 after the first one); hair not great (very thin and fine) but passable and can look decent; always looked a bit younger than I am; skin prone to a few spots and blotchiness, never clear and lovely but pretty average and okay. Used to wearing what suits me and avoiding what doesn’t. So all in all, I was never going to be a model but I could dress up and feel lovely, felt okay when not dressed up, and generally reasonably confident.
I’ve hit 40 and now have two kids. Nothing fits me the way it used to and I no longer have any idea of what suits me (except batwing tops seem okay). Skinny jeans that I lived in now make my hips look huge. I’ve gone up two dress sizes. My skin has rosacea on my cheeks, I have permanent dark shadows, I ache all over and often have a bad back / hips. I feel AWFUL about myself. DH is lovely and genuinely wouldn’t care if I wore a bin bag, but is bewildered because I keep crying about how I look and feel. I just don’t feel like me any more, and I don’t know what to do about it. I’ve bought some things from Vinted but whether I shop there or on the high street it’s always hit and miss as to whether I find something that suits me. I need a REALLY good pair of jeans but can’t find one (have to be high waisted and not stretchy because my tummy needs holding in). I feel permanently frumpy, my makeup always looks uneven even if I spend ages on it. And generally what used to work, now doesn’t at all.
Help!! How do I get out of this rut?! I have literally no time to go to the gym (I have three jobs and work lots of evenings), try to eat healthily, use a salicylic acid cleanser every day, drink water…. I just don’t know what to do. I need an overhaul and I don’t know how to go about it!