Me, skinny jeans and my IBS have a love/hate relationship. I love the way they streamline me, holding in all junk, flattering me under my oversize shirts. My IBS happens to hate the way they tightly dig into my bloated belly leaving those really sexy red indents and a couple of love handles. And for that reason alone, and not because it’s all about the crop flare, I’m hanging them up. Retiring them for a while you could say.
My IBS plays a very strong role in my outfit choices, even if I don’t want it to. This is why you’re more likely to find me in a flowing pleated midi skirt and oversize tee than a body con number of any kind.
Nuh uh. Never gunna happen.
My clothes need to have room for me to breathe and for my stomach to angrily bloat as it likes without it feeling painful and restricted. I find I can conceal it easier that way and am less likely to be mistaken on the train for a 6 months pregnant lady – which I have to remind myself, when I’m proudly looking in the mirror at the size of my stomach on bad days, I’m not.
For me bloating is one of the worst parts of my IBS as it’s the one that’s the most difficult to hide, yet the one I want to hide the most. I feel embarrassed of how my stomach can swell so severely over any little thing I’ve eaten or drank.
I remember consuming 3 bags of Flying Saucers (hello sherbet) a few months ago and my stomach expanding with each cloud-like bite and then gurgling as if it was ready to rumble. If I’m at home, it’s not such a big deal as I’m likely to be slobbing in Al’s pyjamas in all their elasticated-waisted glory. But when at work, or out for drinks and dinner, it’s the bane of my life, knowing that at any point in the evening it could inflate faster than a balloon pumped full of helium.
There are meant to be some ‘super foods’ which are known to ease bloating which I plan on looking into in a bid to find something that helps but until then, the skinnies have to go. For mine and my IBS’s sanity. And because the bigger I get the worse I feel and ain’t nobody got time for that.
Got any miraculous tips for beating the bloat? Drop ’em below. Please!
I’m the meantime, go check out my other IBS posts because it is #IBSAwarenessMonth. Hell yeah it is.
Read More About My Struggle with IBS:
8 Things I Swear By To Help My IBS
Not Just IBS: My First Vlog on All Things Poo Taboo
Living with IBS: The Foods I Miss the Most
6 Things To Do When You Need Some Time Out
IBS Update: 7 Weeks into My Symprove Trial
My IBS Update: Back on Symprove
What to Do When an IBS Attack Strikes
Everything You Wanted to Know About IBS But Didn’t Want to Ask
How to Make the Best Tasting Water Kefir Probiotic
The Reality of Making Your Own Probiotic
Making My Own Probiotics: The Brew Factor
IBS Then and Now: My 12 Week Symprove Review
IBS: A Quarter of the Way Through My Symprove Trial and Feeling Tickety Boo
How I Deal with My IBS on a Daily Basis
8 Reasons Why Living with IBS Sucks Big Time
The unbuttoning of the jeans. The red marks. The “pregnant-but-not-pregnant” look. I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE.
I think I love you. You get me. I am stalking your blog hardcore right now. Prepare yourself for more creepy comments in the future.
Kirsten!!! Your comment made me LOL.
Firstly, you’re NOT alone with this one. There are bloody loads of us with IBS. I’m so glad my blog has helped, that’s exactly why I write these posts.
I’m all about declarations of love and blog stalking. Feel free to email or chat on social! Jojo x