Attaining a Positive Body Image

I have an eerily vivid memory of my young self  trying on shorts in The Children’s Place. My family was going on vacation to Disney World with my cousins, and my mom wanted to pick up a few new outfits for my sister and I before we left. I turned to my mother, and told her that my legs were too big for me to be wearing shorts. In this moment, my ignorance to body image was gone. 

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I haven’t always been the positive, confident, self-love exuding person I am today. I used to suffer from having a severely skewed body image, and I made a lot of dumb choices because of this. This is not something I am proud of, or care to go into great detail about , but it is something that has made a huge impact in my life. If today’s post can inspire at least one person, I will take it as a success. Feeling trapped in a body that you hate is one of the most overwhelming feelings a person can have, and I wouldn’t wish this upon anyone. Hopefully, some of the following tips will be helpful to those of you struggling.

Mornings determine how your entire day is going to go. If you feel like s*** about yourself when you wake up, chances are, you are not going to lose that feeling throughout the day. My first tip to loving yourself is to start your morning off on the right foot! Set your alarm earlier than you normally would.( Preferably before 9) . Once both feet are on the ground, your face is washed, and your eyes are opened, you’ll realize that you have a whole day ahead of you to be productive; this will make you feel amazing. Also, start your day off with a glass of warm lemon water and some LIGHT cardio! The lemon water will reset your digestive system and make your body feel cleansed and  refreshed. The cardio is great for the mind, and of course, your body.

Tip number two is something that I used to struggle with a lot: Don’t overdo it! Don’t overdo the workouts, don’t overdo the dieting, and don’t overdo the research that goes into both of these things. Losing weight used to take over my entire life. I woke up before school every morning to work out, and came home and worked out again. I became Vegan to cut back on the calories, not because I cared about the ethics behind it. After several months of keeping this extreme “weight loss plan” up, I was exhausted. I’d binge, so my body could get the food it needed, and the progress was all lost. Instead of overdoing it to begin with, start by taking it slow, and making light modifications to your diet and exercise plans. By doing this, you will have longer- lasting results, and not temporary ones.

People often tend to get so caught up in their body image, that they lose sight of all the other qualities that make them who they are. Tip number 3 is don’t. Don’t forget that you are more than numbers; you are so much better than what you see in the mirror. I know this  is the toughest of them all, because it’s mental, but this is something my mom has reminded me of throughout my life. Think of all you have accomplished, all of the non-physical compliments you have received, and all of the amazing people you have in your life. How have you accomplished them? Why do people go out of their way to compliment you? Why have all of those people stuck around for so long? Write it all down, and save it for the next time you are hating your body. Your body allows you to do great things, and form positive relationships, so be kind to it.

As always, thank you for supporting My Loquacity. This post was certainly not easy to write, but it’s something I have been thinking about a lot lately that I felt the need to share. If you have struggled with body image in the past, please share some tips or positive encouragement in the comments to those who are struggling.