Looking Good There, Sunshine!

Two words: Body image.

These 9 letters are discussed quite often. The other day I was pinning away and came across this gem:

It really hit home. It got me thinking about how I talk to my body. I realized the first thing I do in the morning, is look in the mirror and critique every little thing,

"Stomach, why can't you be just a little flatter?"

"Butt, can't you be just a bit firmer?"

"Skin, I was outside for 2 hours yesterday, why aren't you more tan?"

"Boobs, why couldn't you have stopped growing 2 cup sizes ago?"

"Double chin, must you show up in every picture?"

And I realized; I sound like a crazy person.

Bodies are amazing things! I'm so fortunate to have one that works just the way I want it to. I think bodies are a gift. Is there anything else we'll physically have with us throughout our entire life? Not really. So why aren't we nicer to our soul's vessel?

I am suuuuper guilty of not being happy with mine... I used to go in spurts of hardly eating anything, to eating too much, to eating the right amount. Back and forth, back and forth. No matter what, I wasn't satisfied. Even after doing 'The Cleanse', not eating food for 10 days, and getting down to 100 pounds, I still wasn't happy with the way I looked. Scary, right?

But I figured out why this was the case: I compare myself to other girls; girls I know, girls I don't, girls on magazines, girls on facebook, and the list goes on... I feel kind of ridiculous admitting that... It's quite silly. I'm never going to have Miley's legs or Scarlett's curves, but I will have my legs, and my curves :) I'm healthy. I'm happy. I'm never going to look like anyone else, because I'm me.

I'm a pretty active person, I workout 5 times a week, and I'm really into knowing what's in my food. I could work out harder and eat better, but I don't want the gym to consume me. & I want to eat ice cream. So, my body won't be 'perfect' & that's okay :)

I took a class about a year ago. We read a book called What to Say When you Talk to Yourself. I loved it. The author talked about how what we say to ourselves really has an impact on us. In short, you become what you think. If you tell yourself you're fat, lazy, and ugly, you will feel fat, lazy, and ugly. But if you tell yourself you're awesome, you look great, and you're brilliant. You'll feel awesome, great, and brilliant. It's so simple. I've tried it. And it's soooooo true. The more I tell myself I look amazing, the more amazing I feel. I somehow forgot about that, but I'm getting back on track. So here is how I talk to myself now,

"Check out that butt."

"Cute feet."

"Lookin good there, stomach!"   

"Legs, thanks for taking me places."

"Skin, you're great, no matter what shade of white you are." ;)

Here's to living a life with more positivity and no comparisons.

Cheerio.