Self-Confidence

How I Am Learning To Love My Body

by Olivia

Body image has always been a thing I have struggled with, along with a lot of other people too I’m sure. We only get one specific type of body type slapped in our faces from when we are really young. And if we don’t fit within that type we are made to feel as though we aren’t beautiful. I’m here today to share some tips with you on what I’m actively doing to help build that positive thinking process about my own body image.

These tips might work for me, they might not work for you. But I hope they help in some way. Remember there are always people you can go and speak to if you feel like you cant get past the things you are feeling. Speak with friends, family, a professional or send me a message. I’d be so happy to talk to you about this, as its something thats so important to me.

LOOK AT WHO YOU FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA

It took me a while to realise how important this is. If you think about it, who you follow on social media determines the type of content you are digesting. I would sit for hours comparing myself to models, fashion influencers and people I knew who to me, had “perfect” bodies. This did me no good whatsoever.

Even though it took me a while to figure out what I needed to do, I did it. I unfollowed those accounts that made me feel bad about myself and followed those who promote bodies like mine. Bodies who show the imperfections, who show stretch marks, rolls and belly fat. Here are just a list of a few that are my ultimate favourite, I’ll include links to their Instagram accounts:

GRACE VICTORY
ALICIA MCCARVELL
NYOME NICHOLAS
GEORGIE SWALLOW

EAT FOOD TO FEEL BETTER

For me, what I eat is a reflection of how I feel. I tend to eat more unhealthy food if my mental health is bad or if I’m just generally having a bad day. Now I’m not saying let’s all be super healthy, plant based vegans who only eat fruit and vegetables(unless you want to of course). But theres a difference between eating healthy to lose weight because society told you that you should and eating healthy to feel good. And at the moment I am solely eating food to feel better, and it really works.

One thing that we need to remove from our vocabulary as a society is that unhealthier foods are labelled as “bad” or “naughty”. By doing this, we are subconsciously making ourselves believe that eating these types of food is bad or wrong. It’s not bad. If you want a burger or chocolate then you have it. Let’s get out of that habit of labelling unhealthy food as bad, and healthy food as good. Everything in moderation.

BAD BODY IMAGE DAYS ARE OKAY

I recently read a post that Alicia Mccarvel posted on Instagram. She had taken a photo of herself in a crop top and shorts. She said the day she took that photo she was having a really bad body image day, she wanted to wear the crop top and had to planned to wear it that day. But her own negative thoughts got in the way and she ended up changing her outfit. The next day, she went back and looked at the photos she took and her whole perspective changed. She liked what she saw.

She then goes on to say how she “used her body as a punching bag”. She was just having a bad day and she took it out on herself. She embraced the bad day she had, came back the next day with a new state of mind and its like it never happened. What a lesson for us all to learn. There are so many other external factors that can effect how we feel about ourselves, which is why its so important we be careful what we allow our eyes to see online.

BE KIND TO YOU AND YOUR BODY

Your body is your home it carries you every single day. It allows you to walk, talk, love, breathe. Respect your body, respect the home you are placed in. Be kind to yourself, love yourself for who you are. What do we do when someone we know is having a bad day? We lift them up with love, support and kind words. Why do we not do this when we are going the same thing? We should be uplifting ourselves through those times when we feel like we are not enough.

I really hope you take on board the things I have discussed in this post. It is such a process learning to love who you are and your body. It can take such a long time to do, and I think you never really get to a place of total peace with yourself. But it’s about the journey.

Olivia x

Do you love the skin you are in? What do you do on days when you have low self confidence?

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55 thoughts on “How I Am Learning To Love My Body”

  1. Eu tenho 44 anos, fui mãe duas vezes, tenho várias cicatrizes no corpo por causa de intervenções cirúrgicas, mas adoro o meu corpo e não o trocava por outro… Nele está quem sou e a minha história!
    Gostei 😊

    Liked by 7 people

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    1. Thank you for sharing this (I had to use google translate to read this as I don’t speak Portuguese!) You are even more amazing as your body has been used to create life. How amazing is that!💕

      Desculpe nao falo portugues Acabei de usar o google tradutor para ler sua mensagem. Obrigado por compartilhar isso. Você é ainda mais incrível porque teve filhos também, mais um motivo para comemorar o seu corpo!

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    2. Também tenho muitas cicatrizes e gordura em lugares não preferíveis mas estou a aprender a amar o meu corpo assim como esta. Ela tem conselhos muito bons para quem tem autoestima baixa, mas acredito que nos todos podemos beneficiar dos conselhos ❤

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  3. This is such a great post, thank you for sharing. It is something that so many people struggle with, myself included! Eating my feelings is definitely something I am guilty of doing, my relationship with food over the years has become very unhealthy. In the last 6 months I have really made a conscious effort to work on my negative relationship with food and learning to love my body, it’s definitely a journey but one that I now finally feel ready to embark on. Thank you again for sharing this inspiring post and your journey with body confidence, I think your are an amazing person!

    Liked by 8 people

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    1. It really is a big issue a lot of men and women deal with daily. Its not a quick fix either, it takes months and even years to make that switch in your mind after a long time of disliking yourself.
      Thats one reason why I decided to include the eating part in there, because I don’t want people to feel the need that they must eat healthy foods to lose weight, because thats not why I do it. I do it to feel better, it really helps my confidence. If I lose weight, I lose weight but thats not my goal. And I hope that came across in the post!
      Thank you so much for sharing that with us. I am sending you positivity and encouragement on your journey.💛

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  5. I can relate to everything you mentioned.
    I know we all have days that we struggle a lot, but Yoga has helped me a lot with my body image. Knowing what your body is capable of doing changes your perspective.

    I love this post!!! Just re-blogged ♥♥

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  6. Olivia this is a great post. As a teenager – mid twenties I suffered with anorexia/ bulimia — the amount of self loathing I had for my body was so sad. 😢
    It was a difficult journey to loving my skin and today I do love my skin.
    For me the mirror does not tell the truth. I still to this day do not trust what my mind says about the image reflecting back. Instead I understand that the body is so much more than just “looks”. It is a living entity! Highly intelligent and intuitive. I am so thankful that it serves me so well and I tell my body that daily. I thank it all the time!
    This is an important topic! I love that you addressed it here.

    Liked by 6 people

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    1. Beck, thank you so much for sharing this with us. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I can imagine it was so hard and took alot of time and courage to start that learning process. It comes in time doesnt it!
      I agree with u, i dont trust what my mind says about myself in the mirror either. You are not alone in that!

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  9. Love this post, social media is a big one! One of the reasons I don’t follow models or influencers, I know I would struggle to be on social media if my feed was full of people who have spent a lot of money to look like they do and only use the best angles/lighting etc. I have to remind myself that no one is perfect and to only compete with myself ☺️

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  10. I LOVE this Liv! The worst part is that my personal instagram feed just has all those fitspo women who I aspire to look like… My journey has taken close a decade and a half but every day is a new challenge… I think I will follow your advice and follow different people!

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    1. Literally mine was the worst too. I had to change it and im so glad i did. It did me sooo much good to do it, its like i cleansed my social media accounts and just dont pay any mind to what others look like. It was an amazing feeling! X

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  11. This is a very difficult struggle…my pregnancy and post pregnancy weight and effects have brought lot of change in me.. though slowly I am getting better in accepting and loving myself but there is a long way to go.
    Thanks for this article

    Liked by 4 people

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  12. This is a great post with cool tips…it’s like humans compare in a similar way as in “the grass is always greener on the other side”….so it’s always so easy to find faults / errors & feel sad about it….loving the love….the heart….the Self….the Being….ourselves….could help in looking at our bodies differently….the eyes would dig deeper than fly over surface….

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  13. Great advice! I try to practice some form of self-care every day but especially on days when I’m in a negative mindset. Reading, getting outside, seeing a friend are a few things that help me out of a slump.

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  14. I’m sorry you have to go through this. I also have days where I don’t feel OK in my skin. On days like that, I just tell myself that I’m beautiful, sexy, awesome and just give myself positive motivation and affirmations.💖

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