Lately I have been full of struggles. I struggle to finish a full workout program. I struggle to eat healthy. But most of all, I struggle to love and accept my new body.
If we let ourselves, its easy to believe that magazine cover girls (whose photos are air-brushed) are the norm and that the rest of us are somehow deeply flawed.
What we end up with is that nagging "I hate myself" or "I hate what I see in the mirror" song playing over and over again in our heads, fueling our painful frustration.
Getting caught up in not liking yourself because of your size, can quickly start whittling away at your motivation. It becomes that inner voice that makes you feel helpless and hopeless.
One of my new goals is to break this cycle. I need to start looking at myself as a whole and realize that I am intelligent, funny, unique, and yes, I am beautiful.
I need to stop being a perfectionist and embrace how far I have come. I need to stop comparing myself to others and realize that everyone is different. I need to learn to listen to others when they tell me how amazing I look and what an awesome person I am (I am truly no good with compliments - those of you who know me personally, know this well).
True beauty shouldn't be about fitting into a cultural stereotype but a quality that shines from within. That doesn’t mean we should stop trying to improve ourselves, it just means that our time is better spent focusing on building a strong, healthy body and mind rather than trying to fit into a cookie-cutter mold.
- If you struggle with accepting your new body or have over come this feeling, I'd love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below or contact me directly. -
Nikki you are so right!! I am constantly trying to fit into the cookie cutter mold. Thanks for you post!
ReplyDeleteI could've wrote this post. I haven't been doing one certain program. I'm just doing whatever workout I feel like doing.. or not doing. I battle with food every.single.day. It's exhausting. I'm so tired of judging myself, looking in the mirror and criticizing every little thing, and comparing myself to others... Make the voices stopppppp! Bah!
ReplyDeleteomg MOM you are wonderful<3
ReplyDeleteI am guilty of this as well. God created me and loves me for who I am regardless of what I eat or the size of my pants (although there was a lot more of me to love 3 years ago). I completely forget this sometimes. We all put unneeded pressure on ourselves to look/act a certain way. The cookie cutter method really only works for cookies (and playdoh). I tend to put pressure on myself maintaining my weight. I do not want to let anyone down as more and more people look to me for guidance/inspiration. It's a completely foreign role that I am in now and dealing with it is a challenge. Thanks Nikki for writing this.
ReplyDeleteRight on Nicole!! I am actually working on this right now, I started working with my friend who is a holistic nutrition counselor. Because she is more in the holistic realm she is essentially a food psychologist...I expected that she'd tell me what to eat and what not to eat, but we've been working more on the psychology of things, a big one of which is loving my body as it is and "owning" it (we're going to get into specific foods and nutrients later). A lot of interesting things have come up and she's using certain techniques and practices to help me change my way of thinking. I just went clothes shopping today for the first time in a while and I actually didn't berate myself constantly in front of the mirror...I came home with several items and actually love them and the way they look on me!
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone for commenting. It's nice to know that I am not alone in this struggle and that it is a topic others can relate to.
ReplyDelete[...] Three months ago I wrote a blog called “I Will Learn To Love My Body“. [...]
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