Our bodies are pretty incredible when you think about it, all they are and do for us. But more often than not the relationship with have with them is not a positive one. Whether its from personal reasons or external sources we as women tend to pick apart our bodies on a regular basis.
Answer me honestly how often do you pick apart or say something negative about your body? Are you wishing that it looked a certain way or needs to change?
I’m going to guess that you had an answer to the above questions that weren’t exactly positive
I am hoping that after reading this post you can start to change those thoughts and begin the journey to a positive relationship with your body. I’m not promising that you be body confident and completely switched your mindset but I want to share with you ways to start accepting your body as is right now.
First things first
Take a look in the mirror and just look. No judgement, no picking apart, no negative thoughts just look. This is your body as is right now. She is not going to dramatically change in the next few hours or days so I want you to embrace your body as she is in this moment. Without negativity or positivity, just embrace what she is. There will be internal and external pressures that have created this thought your body looking a certain way. But when you can understand what these are and why you might feel this way, you can start to remove these pressures. We want to reach a place of understanding your body as is right now and realising that in this moment your body is yours and regardless of what has been or what is to come she deserves your love and respect.
Positive affirmations
When it comes to being confident in yourself and body there has to be an element of positive thinking. Change is inevitable and as humans we are always striving for more which is absolutely fine and I can guarantee there will be moments where you want to change something about yourself , routine or work life. However this all needs to come from a positive place, if you don’t have a positive outlook on your body now how will changing a physical thing help that. Start by thinking about how the incredible things your body does for you and what you yourself can achieve.
Gratitude
Following on from this start practising gratitude towards your body and self. Each day think about 1 thing you are grateful for and then over time you can look back and see them all. It can be a physical or a mental thing and you are totally allowed to repeat these gratitude’s if you feel strongly about them.
Nourishment
Alongside this make sure are regularly doing things for yourself that make you feel good both physically and mentally that aren’t just fitness or food related. It can be bubble baths and face masks but it can also be doing an activity or speaking to a friend. Whatever it is the sole purpose of it is to make you feel incredible. To spend time focusing on you and no one else. Our mental state is so important so we want to keep looking after it.
Instead of focusing on fitness and diet as a way of punishment we want to think about how we can nourish ourselves physically and mentally. Rather then aiming to change our bodies to be like someone else or what we think we need to be it’s about looking at what you want. Why do you move your body? Why do you eat certain foods? For health, for strength, for enjoyment and for fun. How can you make fitness fun for you? What food do you enjoy? And the most important of all how can all of this make you feel good because that is the end goal.
Change is normal
Our bodies change, we change, goals change that’s totally normal and ok. It’s about being aware that this will happen and being ok when it does. There will be times when your body changes but it doesn’t mean that’s it. It also doesn’t mean you have failed or need to do anything to change back. One way to do that is continue working through all of the above and not to beat yourself up or feel inadequate because of it.
External influences that you have to adapt to
The main one I am talking about here is diet culture because it is in everything. It is probably the reason you put the pressure on yourself in the first place. What we see on social media, what is represented by the media, clothes shop sizes and peoples opinions are all influenced by diet culture which unfortunately you can’t control. But you can control how you react to them.
1/ Un-follow negative influences on social media. The last thing you need when you are already feeling a little low is to scroll social media and feel worse. Constant comparison is not healthy for anyone especially when you are doing it as some form of punishment. The mute and un-follow buttons are great to make sure you have a feed of positive influence, you can always refollow when you are ready to do so/ if you want to.
2/ Don’t subscribe to trash media outlets. Watch programmes and listen to things with an understanding things could be edited or misrepresented. Rather than just accept something as gospel do your own research. And as above if it makes you feel worthless or not good enough don’t consume it.
3/ You are not validated by a number or a size so please don’t feel like you are. Clothes sizing is never the same shop to shop. But it truly doesn’t matter what the size is as long as you feel comfortable and confident wearing it. As for certain shops/brands not stocking all sizes is a conversation in it’s self. All I can offer is that we keep fighting for the day size doesn’t stop fashion.
4/ You can’t control what people think but you can help educate them so they maybe change their mind. Especially if you know them, make them aware that they are hurting you with their words. Show them how they can adapt. Someone’s negative attitude towards you or negative comments are not needed and usually a sign of their own insecurity. Always remember you are worth more than them and if they hurt you them they are not worth your time.
It can be difficult to reach this point of acceptance but once you are there it is all worth it. From here you can work on feeling body confident, you can focus on you and what you want, you can start to empower yourself.
Some resources I would recommend are:
- Body Beautiful : My own 6 week workbook
- The Comparison Cure by Lucy Sheridan
- Women don’t owe you Pretty by Florence Given
- The Goddess Revolution by Mel Wells
These are just a handful there are plenty more I am sure of it. If you have anything else you would add or want to talk to me about it I am always here
xx
