I feel like a broken record but body image issues are real, y'all! How we think and feel about our bodies can really affect how we feel about ourselves. A positive body image can help you feel confident and comfortable in your own skin. A negative body image often makes us feel self-conscious, and anxious about how we look and how others perceive us. Body image issues are also most associated with women and girls, although men and boys do suffer from it as well. While some aspects of our looks can be changed, others can't, so it is crucial we learn to accept our body shape and all of it's intricacies. While it sounds easier said than done, we do have the power to change the way we see, feel and think about our bodies, thus increasing our self-esteem, self-consciousness and anxiety overall.
Those in my inner circle would tell you that even 50 pounds heavier than I currently am, I showed confidence. That's true but it also show that I'm very good at the "fake it to you make it" game. My inner circle isn't wrong in calling me a confident woman though, because I am one, in a lot of aspects of my life, but my body image is not one of them. I used to get down on myself often about the way I looked. I would make deals with myself, withhold food, overeat and everything in between. It wasn't healthy and it certainly didn't help my mental health. It wasn't until physical pain crept in, that I started to make changes, but I wish I would have done so sooner.
I grew up athletic. I played all the sports. I was THAT girl. I was never skinny skinny, at least in my opinion but I also never really dealt with weight or body image issues. I could eat whatever I wanted to, whenever I wanted to cause I almost immediately ran it off. I was able to maintain this lifestyle all the way through early adulthood. After sports ended, I joined, then subsequently worked for a gym. And, then I got pregnant with my oldest son, and used that pregnancy as an excuse to overeat.
I gained 70 pound that first pregnancy, and gestational diabetes. Luckily, after delivery I dropped the diabetes, but not the weight. I would openly tell people I wasn't even going to bother dropping the weight until I was finished having babies. And, maybe that was true then but I didn't wind up having my second son for another six years. Already overweight to start that pregnancy, I actually tried really hard not to put on too much weight, and I did succeed but shortly after delivery I blew up, and over the next 11 years I ballooned, tipping the scale at close to 250 pounds.
Today, I am 190, with still plenty of pounds to lose. People sometimes compliment me on my weight loss which I must admit is nice, but I still see the weight left to lose. I still look in the mirror sometimes and see the bigger me. I am working on this, because I know I am working hard. I am showing up and I am doing the things I am supposed to do to get where I want to be, but it's hard. The physical part has gotten easier even though there are still hard days, but the mental part is still tough and the negative body issue images haven't all gone away. I am working on appreciating my body for all that it has and can do. So, remind yourself, often that "true beauty" is not simply skin deep, you are a whole person who is capable of a lot of things. What type of body image issues do you struggle with?
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