Love Your Body — It’s The Only One You’ve Got

“Every girl has a story about her body, it’s whether she’s willing to be honest about it.”

As you guys may know, one of my 2017 goals is to watch one documentary a month [this is coming from a girl who does not watch TV at all… would love documentary recommendations btw!] — this month, I got started [very] early + decided to watch Embrace last night after Maren, Belmont CHAARG Ambassador, had highly recommended it.

Wow. I was in tears almost the whole documentary. Please watch it. THIS documentary is why we do what we do. I am more motivated then ever to continue to change the mentality women have about fitness ++ about their bodies.

But first, I must be honest with you.

Almost every girl in the world [okay, this is definitely a big assumption — but absolutely in the United States] struggles in SOME capacity with her body image. Including me.

As a leader of CHAARG, a health + fitness organization, it can be difficult notto judge my body for being as lean//*fit*//#ABGOALS as other leaders in the health + fitness industry. I remember I went through a period when I literally didn’t want to take ANY photos of myself because I thought I was too fat//not pretty. Looking back, this makes me so sad because I hardly have any photos from that time period!

While I have a much better self-image of myself [I contribute a lot of that to running the marathon — it was amazing to see what my body could do, rather than what it looked like], there is absolutely still negative self-talk that goes through my head. Even just last month, I took the picture above [I saw Cat take a similar picture ++ was obsessed with the background] + then I was like ew, I can’t post this because my stomach looks weird. Another example: just this past week, I’ve been “emotionally eating” due to a few personal challenges that are going on… ++ now I can definitely feel the effect it had on my body through acne//bloat.

Here’s the thing.

The negative self-talk will always be there around the corner trying to tackle you.

The first step is to RECOGNIZE IT. Don’t just push it away. Ask yourself why you said a hateful comment about your body. ++ then, understand the underlying *why*. Why do you feel this way? Is it from scrolling through social media, comparing yourself to others? Is it because you don’t look the way you *used to*? Is it because you are in a harmful relationship? ++ maybe the *why* is IRRATIONAL + doesn’t make sense.

Understand the why… ++ then BOUNCE BACK. Tell yourself that you are beautiful [because you are beautiful] + your body is unique. Next, take steps to confront the *why*. You may need to remove it, or change your perspective about it. Once you continue to practice this, the negative self-talk will start to become few + far between. When it does show up to say ‘ello, you’ll be able to bounce back FASTER because you know the drill. ; )

I recently asked my friend how she has such beautiful skin. I’ve been struggling with acne//dry skin lately, + was so curious about her skin routine. She said:

“I treat my skin with love. I take time every night to care for it… treating it as my *me-time* to exfoliate + moisturizer. If I see an pimple, I don’t stress…. I just sleep on it, + usually it’s gone the next morning.”

[I have a bad habit of attacking my face when I see a pimple… ++ then wake up with 10 more around it, like a little #AcneArmy… soooooo.]

It’s that simple. Why do we make things so complicated?!

TREAT EVERY SINGLE OUNCE OF YOU WITH LOVE.

Once we treat our body with love… both, through our thoughts + actions, our body will start to radiate from the inside + out. Just as my body reacted to my *emotional eating* — our body will react in a POSITIVE way if we treat it with love + care + appreciation.

There’s so much more I can say on this subject… like, YOU ARE SO MUCH MORE THAN YOUR *BODY*. Outsides of houses are cool, but the true treasures are found inside. You guys know that though.

Here’s to more body positivity. I’ll leave you with my favorite quote from the documentary:

“Your role in life is not to spend it at war with your body — go out there + do something with your life, contribute + reconnect with how you feel in life + get some more balance back. It’s not about how you look. Your body is not an ornament — it is the vehicle to your journey.”

Ps // As I’m finishing up this post, the barista from La Columbe gave me ALL OF HIS LEFTOVER OATMEAL COOKIES [like, 10!]. You better believe I’ll be enjoying one tonight, dunking it in Almond Milk.

You are beautiful.