This is not your regular Monday night post but today I wanted to talk about body confidence. I would guess that most women out there are not 100% happy with their bodies.. it’s human nature and there’s nothing wrong with little niggles here and there but many of us allow those niggles to take over our lives without even realising it. If you don’t feel good about yourself and the way you look it affects your mood, your attitude towards others, the food you eat and the activities you take part in. Pretty much everything actually. If you are feeling ‘fat’ or ugly you’re less likely to want to go out with your friends, you’re less likely to reciprocate that kiss from your partner, you’re less likely to have the motivation to do anything really. After two children I know I’ve had those periods where I just hated the way I looked and it’s a vicious circle, I can’t be bothered to cook ’cause I’m feeling down so I eat rubbish, put on more weight, feel worse etc etc. I’ve tried various diets and exercise plans but never stuck to anything and once I stop I’m back to the way I was.. easting take out and generally being a lazy b*tch. The better you eat and the more exercise you do the more energy you have and the better you feel.. fact! It’s GOOD for you, it’s not just about weight it’s about how it makes you FEEL. If I feel healthy I don’t care as much about those extra pounds, it’s really only when I start to feel nauseous and lethargic that I start caring about myself again.
Ultimately if you’re looking to diet/exercise your goal is a feeling, not an image. I recently realised I’ve spent the majority of my 20s trying to regain the figure I had as a teen only to discover that if I got my wish I still wouldn’t be happy. I found a picture of myself aged 17 walking out of the sea in Florida and thought ‘ooh I look a but chunky there’ – that’s probably the slimmest I’ve been in my life and I was definitely not chunky but that was my first thought. It’s not a battle with my weight it’s a battle with my mind and how I see myself. For a long time I’ve felt hard done by that people have complimented my figure as ‘great for 2 kids’ – I’m 27 and I wanted to look great full stop but pregnancy does take it’s toll. You absolutely can work to get your body back but much as I want to look like some abtastic surfer chick I just don’t have the inclination to spend that time in the gym so it’s never going to happen. I’m not about to ‘let myself go’ and stuff my face but I’m definitely not going to give myself a hard time about losing those last 10lbs. Only you know you’re natural weight and you have to learn to love the shape you were born with. I’m not suggesting that those aware they’re overeating should continue to do so until they reach obesity but if you’re maintaining a good diet and you’re larger than you’d like, embrace it!
If you do have a little weight to lose my biggest tip is portion control.. you don’t need to fill your plate you just need to fill your stomach and if you’re full – stop eating! Of course you can cut things out and count calories (the latter is my preferred method) but that wont last, try to eat fresher foods and don’t deny yourself anything.. just have less of it that you used to. I have been feeling so crappy lately binging on KFC and diet coke and much as I don’t intend to never eat those things again I really can’t eat them as often as I have been. This post isn’t about diet but it does signify my day 1 of the 30 Day Shred, I figured that many of you would be looking to ‘slim down for Christmas’ and while I want to be clear that health is more important than whether your thighs rub together (they do, thanks for asking) exercise is always a good idea so I thought I would share my photos with you. I’ve done this program before and the results are great but I’ve never made it the full 30 days so I’m excited to see what the results will be if I do. I’m not looking to lose weight any more I’m just aiming to be a little more toned.. only time will tell. It’s a dangerous move to post befores without afters haha but I thought it was in keeping with the body confidence theme.. if my afters aren’t a world away from the pictures above I’m not going to lose any sleep over it..
