If you want body confidence, you need to take care of it. Think of the way you take care of your other prized possessions. You make sure you water your plants with clean water each day. You spend time tidying and de-cluttering your home. You iron and press your clothes to perfection. But when it comes to the body, many people neglect it and fail to make the same time for it. Although you don’t need to put yourself on a strict diet and exercise regime, you do need to make sure you’re giving your body what it needs. You probably already know if you’re taking proper care of your body. Think of your diet. Think of how active you are on a daily basis. Think of any bad habits, even if they are intermittent. Taking care of your body means making smart food choices. It means eating foods that will energize the body and make you feel good. It doesn’t mean eating foods that taste great thanks to the high fat and sugar content, but make us feel sluggish and sick soon after. It means moving our bodies every day, even if it’s a short walk or stretch. It means staying away from bad habits, such as smoking cigarettes and drinking to excess. You wouldn’t water your plant with pints of beer or fizzy drinks, so why do we do the same to our bodies? It’s no wonder of us many of us feel rubbish most of the time, and end up hating ourselves for it. The sooner you start to make these small changes, the better you’ll feel about your body and in general. Make habits of them. It doesn’t matter how slowly you need to make them at first, as long as you do!
The mindset we have about our bodies is extremely important. Many of us don’t realize that the theories we have about ourselves are theories we picked up from a very young age. Our brains are like sponges as we’re young, and many of us developed false images of ourselves because of this. Maybe it was from watching your mother pinch what little fat she had on her stomach and drink diet shakes. Maybe it was a relative making a seemingly innocent comment about your eating habits. These things have had more to do with your self image than you realize. The key is to figure out what false beliefs you are holding about yourself, and get rid of them. It can take a long time to get rid of these beliefs and take them back to zero, even with effective methods such as EFT. It’s definitely worth getting into the habit of doing it though, so you can change the pathways to your brain and start feeling happier with the way you look. This will help to change your mindset at a deeper level. To assist this, you should watch the way you talk about yourself in your head and to others. You should ban self deprecating talk and self hate. The more you repeat these things, the more your subconscious starts to believe it. Don’t think to yourself, ‘I’ll start talking more positively and be happier when I look better’. Why put off confidence and happiness to a later date? As Jennifer Lopez put it, ‘being body confident is an attitude!’. That’s right. It isn’t a body shape you have. It’s the attitude you have. When you have the right attitude, you look beautiful no matter what.
Depending on where you’re at right now, you might find it difficult to find things you love about yourself. But challenge yourself to find as many things as you can, no matter how small they seem. Do you have great eyebrows? Perfect nails? Maybe your teeth are gleaming white. It doesn’t have to be to do with your appearance either – maybe you’re the funniest of all of your friends, or you have the kindest heart. Find things you love about yourself to focus on, rather than things you don’t like. Remember these things whenever you’re feeling low. Learn to look at yourself as a whole, too, rather than zoning in on the flaws you think that you have. Also, remember that everybody has flaws in some form. Nearly all celebrities and models are photoshopped before they are put on the front cover of magazines. In fact, even Instagram models will spend a long time taking a picture to get the exact angle they need to look ‘perfect’. Nothing is as it seems, so stop thinking you’re the only one with a little cellulite, or with more curves, or anything like that. Everybody has their own unique body type and shape, so embrace yours. Being beautiful and confident doesn’t have anything to do with being one ‘perfect’ shape.
If you don’t love something in your wardrobe, it shouldn’t be in there. Some say the things we wear aren’t that important, but they can have a huge effect on our mood. They can make us feel way more confident and sassy. They can tell people what mood we’re in that day, whether it’s classy or fun. Wear clothes that show off your personality and make you feel good about yourself. You’ll be amazed at how much they can actually change your attitude to life. If you struggle to find things that you feel suit your body, there are many tutorials out there that can help you in terms of dressing for your body shape. Just remember, there are no hard and fast rules. If you like something, then you wear it!
Having body confidence isn’t something that happens overnight. It isn’t something you can change in a day or a week. It’s something that you need to work on for as long as it takes to become second nature to you. Make sure you’re in this for the long haul, and you’re not doing anything drastic or wasting time on ‘quick fixes’. You’ll get much better, more sustainable results in both your mind and body when you take your time. If there’s something you would really like to change that you feel is affecting your confidence, look into it but don’t rush. Breast augmentations are a popular confidence booster, but you can find other methods too. Many people find out where to buy Naturaful before going for a drastic measure like this.
You should never feel like you have to change to fit in or be with the people you spend time with. Your friends and loved ones should support you no matter what, exactly as you come. If you want to lose a few pounds or shape up for yourself, that’s amazing. But don’t do it because somebody else said you need to! If you’re happy in your skin, that has nothing to do with anybody else. Be yourself no matter what. Cut negative people out of your life. Your partner should love you no matter what too. Find people who accept you exactly as you are!
What do you look for in a partner? What do you look for in a friend? I’ll bet the way they look doesn’t change things all that much for you. Having a good looking partner is nice, but the attraction will soon fade if they’re a total jerk. In friends, we look for people who are caring, fun, thoughtful, etc. Why? Because the way we look is the least interesting thing. People’s goals, ambitions, dreams, passions – that’s what’s interesting. Make sure you get to know yourself and learn as much about yourself as possible. You’ll soon realize that you’re an interesting, valuable person no matter what you look like!
Wouldn’t the world be a ridiculously boring place if we were all perfect? Wouldn’t it be boring if we were all the same? Our flaws are what’s interesting. Our differences make the world exciting and fun. Celebrate your uniqueness and your body the way it is. If you want to start living a healthier lifestyle, you will benefit. Just remember, body confidence starts inside of you before it starts on the outside!
Thank you so much for linking to my blog post! I enjoyed reading your content. We share a very similar view!
You are welcome Amanda. Hope you have a great weekend!