Have you looked in the mirror and thought to yourself: I wish I looked better? Yeah, I thought so.
Well so have I. And more recently, with summer right around the corner, it's starting to really get to me emotionally and mentally more so than it even is physically.
Why, do you ask?
Because no, I'm not overweight by any means, but I could be at a BETTER weight. For myself, for my own mental and physical health, and for my soul (yes, for the mind, body, and soul).
There are things that I try to remind myself so that I look at my body and don't immediately compare myself to other girls. These are things that I try to really push into my head and keep with me. Since I don't want to live a life full of sorrow, feeling bad for myself, or self-hate, I'll try to live with happiness, feeling good about myself and having self-love.
1. Give yourself some breathing room.
Don't take this the wrong way, I don't mean breathing room in your jeans.
I mean that you should be letting yourself have a little bit of give, especially if you're trying to find the motivation to do or start something. If that something is going back into the gym, reaching a PR in weightlifting, or changing up your diet, just make sure you're not criticizing yourself too harshly when you're first starting out.
2. Stop shaming yourself because you don't look like someone else.
Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash
You are you for a reason. You're not supposed to look exactly like someone else, not even if you're an identical twin. There'll always be differences, big or small. It's taken me a very long time to learn this lesson, and I still have to remind myself each and every day that it's not ideal - for anyone.
3. Don't believe those 14-day plans, they're not healthy.
Photo by Henrique Félix on Unsplash
Trust me, I've had my share of pyramid schemes when it comes to losing weight fast. Research will show you that dropping weight that quickly might be satisfying to you, but the way that the weight is dropped is not healthy by any means.
Think of a proper diet technique - select fruits, vegetables, maybe steamed vegetables, water, smoothies, and juices. Now subtract the proper nutrients, natural sugars, and the organic aspect of all of those. There you have it.
Those types of techniques are a way to starve the body of their vitamins and nutrients, things that a body needs to run on energy or let's be real: run at all.
This is not a PSA saying that you should avoid ALL diet loss plans - just those that are considered unreasonable. I'm also trying to say to not lose weight in an unhealthy manner. If you're already planning to lose weight, do it the right way. Your body will thank you later.
4. The right person will come along, don't be so hard on yourself.
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The 21st century is in fact NOT full of men or women who are obsessed with slim figures, tiny butts and boobs, and "perfect" sized hands or feet. Your Prince or Princess Charming will come to you and will have your f*cking glass slipper, and it will FIT you.
My point is, don't shame yourself if you don't have the same figure that you think other men or women are after. Don't be harder on yourself because Becky has a really hot boyfriend and you have no one and you think it's because she's 110 pounds and 5'2".
Whatever that scale says, the right person will come to you and appreciate you for all of those pounds that you carry. If it takes longer than usual, it's because the right person hasn't found you yet. They might be breaking things off with someone else in order to stumble into you soon. Just be patient. They're out there.
5. Time is your sacrifice.
Photo by Analia Baggiano on Unsplash
When you're in a battle with weight gain, time is what you can sacrifice in order to lose the weight. In this way, I say time is your sacrifice because it's the biggest sacrifice you'll need to make.
Obviously changing up your diet, exercise plan, etc. are sacrifices, but those sacrifices are irrelevant if you don't give them time to work themselves out.
Time is what you'll need to make anything happen. Make sure you're giving yourself a decent amount of time before noticing any results.
Well, sweetheart, you've made it this far, and hopefully, you're feeling a little bit better. It's good to keep all of these things in mind if you're not feeling so sexy. Know that you're beautiful in your own way and that we can get through this together.
