Finding out that you are pregnant is one of the most amazing moments in a girls life. As your belly grows the excitement and anticipation grows too. As the big day approaches you begin to think about how big your belly looks, how much hair you suddenly have and whether you will ever see your feet again. After the big event, your body is left exhausted, stretched, sore and completely worn out. When the adrenaline high as worn off, you may be thinking "what has happened to my body?" Well let me tell you warrior! You're body just produced life.
When I had bubs I had a c-section which meant 6 weeks of recovery. The first few weeks were all about resting and allowing my body to heal from major surgery. The following few weeks were about allowing my body to heal whilst slowly beginning to move around. Postpartum life is very annoying! I remember looking at myself in the mirror when bubs was about one month old thinking "wow! What happened to my body?" I had to remind myself that I had produced life, I had carried life and gave birth to a very healthy boy. My body had achieved that! There are going to be some changes as a result.
Well let me tell you warrior! You're body just produced life!
When I now look at my body I feel a little better. Women are really their own worst critics aren't they?! But in truth I am quite proud of the progress I am making. Even if it is slow and pain-staking. The small changes I have been making have been helping and that is what I wanted to discuss today.
The changes I have made may not seem huge, and I am not saying they will work for everyone. But for me, these small things have changed so much for me.
1. Exercise each day
The things I really struggle with for my positive body mindset is my weight and strength. This is the area I have been focusing on the most lately. Exercising each day may seem a bit excessive. But when I say exercise I mean even something small like a walk or a quick yoga routine. Anything that makes you move your body and feel good about it! Exercise is a quick way to make you feel good about yourself, inside and out!!
2. Skin care routine
When I think about skin care routines I almost shudder. But they are so important for feeling great within your skin! Because when you have bad skin it is hard to feel good about it!! Finding a good cleanser, or even just washing your face thoroughly each day can mean a huge difference for your skin.
3. Water! Water! Water!
How many times have you heard that drinking water is beneficial for your health? Um... more than a million times? But water is a vital for your body and for your overall health. It helps with skin, loss of weight, hair growth... everything! When I drink enough water I feel so good about my body. Make a goal and try and achieve it each and every day.
4. Healthy foods
Today I sat down with a nutritionist. (ARGH!) The importance of having a good diet that fits in with your lifestyle can be a huge difference with your body image. For me having the correct amount of healthy foods is a sure way to smash my weight loss goal and feel absolutely confident in my body. Lately I have been feeling so good about my body because I have made small changes with my diet. I am fuelling my body with good foods and it feels great.
5. Dress in what makes you feel good
There has been so many times I have felt so good about my body, and then worn something that I feel "frumpy" in. Dressing in something that makes you feel damn right sexy definitely changes how you feel. Whether it be a favourite pair of jeans, or leggings, or maybe even an absolute amazing top. If it feels good to you, wear it!
6. Self care!
When I look after myself, as well as my body I begin to feel good about the body I am in. My go to's are my nails, eyebrows and hair. If my nails are done, my eyebrows on point and my hair is fair decent... I feel good. Makes sense right?
I am a firm believer that you should feel confident and happy within your own skin, but it is still okay to want to change that body in order to get there. There is nothing wrong in wanting to become the best version of your self. There is also nothing wrong with not wanting to change at all. Believe me, if you feel 100% confident with your own body do what makes you feel like a damn warrior in life!
When I look at women magazines, tv and movie celebrities, or even social media celebrities they all seem to have one thing in common... They are a particular size/ shape and let me tell you I never see a lady in a magazine with lumps and bumps like I have! Why? Because we all want the ideal to look to. We want to look through a magazine and see that ideal. As a general statement, we don't want to look at "ourselves" when we look in a magazine. But to me, this seems so wrong. I would prefer to see a magazine full of "real bodies." Oh the amount of times I have seen that slogan used and the models used are all under size 12 with gorgeous figures.
A little while ago I saw a campaign by Dove. It was labelled 'Real Beauty.' Now I will add the ad used for the campaign below and see what you think:
Now, I like that they have used varied body shapes and "colour" of skin. But to me this isn't the real every-day body. I would love to see a campaign using all body weights, "mumbods" and the like. That would be more the real body!
I am not completely slandering the whole campaign, because I believe they had the right intentions. They wanted to celebrate the diverse "real beauty" within each of us. But I feel there is so much more work to be done to create a positive mindset for females when it comes to their body.
I am a firm believer that you should feel confident and happy within your own skin, but it is still okay to want to change that body in order to get there.
When I look at my daughter, who is 9 years old, who has quite a low self- esteem with her body I look to the reason why. I want her to grow up feeling confident within her body, knowing that she looks beautiful no matter what.
I also look at my son, who is only 7 months old, and I want him to grow up feeling confident and happy within his own body too! I don't feel that the male body image is talked about enough either! But that's another story altogether.
My biggest advice I can give you, is do what makes you feel happy, confident and healthy. Because do you know what the sexiest thing is? Confidence! When someone feels good about their body, it shows. They feel sexy and they are damn sexy, too! Look at fitness models, those who just radiate confidence and you will see what I mean.
Your turn: Below comment what is something you do to feel good about your body and have a positive body image.
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