Learning To Love Yourself When You're Unhappy With Your Body

Although it saddens me to say this there isn't a single female I know in my life who hasn't suffered from a lack of body confidence at some point. And it's a complex journey there is no doubt about it because we have our own expectations plaguing our thoughts and then what other people expect from us too. Learning to love your body no matter what is something that has been a long complex journey for me over the years especially when dealing with body dysmorphia but here are a few things that I've learnt along the way.

YOU'RE MUCH MORE THAN HOW YOU LOOK

Although this post is about loving yourself when you might not be all too thrilled about the way you look something that is so important to remember is that we're all so much more than what we might weigh or physically appear. There is far too much put onto how we look and the way that we might dress and because it's become so normal in society it's what we all do. It's so easy to make a snap judgement about someone just based on the way that they might look but that doesn't mean it's right. We all have so much more to offer and it's an age old saying but we should never judge a book by its cover. Even though there have been a lot of times recently that I've felt really down about how I look physically I know deep down that I'm trying to be the best human that I can be and that's so much more important.

YOU CAN STILL LOVE YOURSELF AND WANT TO MAKE A CHANGE

Typically when people want to gain or lose weight or start to build muscle definition or add tone to their body. People usually assume it's because they're unhappy with the way that they look but I don't think that's always the case. I think it takes a certain amount of self-love and appreciation to change your body and want to do something with it. Change doesn't always have to be for a negative reason and so often it stems from something positive. It's not something that I've always felt so strongly about as I always under the impression if you wanted to change your body for whatever reason it's because you disliked it. But love and appreciation can be the biggest motivator.

ACCEPTING YOUR BODY FOR WHAT IT IS

Although it's hard to hear accepting your body for what it is, is incredibly hard and takes a long time. And there certainly are things that we can change but there are some things that we can't and as much as we might wish them away that's just how our bodies are. No-one has a perfect body as we all have different ideals and what one person finds attractive isn't always what someone else thinks is beautiful and that's fine. I can wish for longer legs and more defined muscles all I like but there is only one of them I can change. Learning to accept your body is something that takes years and is a journey full of twists and turns but it such an important one of to begin.

BEING PROUD WHATEVER YOUR SIZE

Body positivity and awareness is something that has become a huge movement over the years which is, of course, incredible and how it should have always been. We all come in different shapes and sizes and there is no size that fits all nor should there ever be. We all probably struggle with how we look and being happy with our appearance because there are so many factors to take into consideration. I'm a small petite frame and there are definitely times in the last couple of years especially in the past few months I've felt really down about how I look which is not something that is expected when you're what society deems as an acceptable size. And just because you choose to show your skin that also doesn't automatically mean you're happy with how you look. It's so complex but ultimately it would be incredible if we could all feel proud of ourselves no matter what shape or size we may be.

DON'T LET SOCIETY TELL YOU WHAT YOU SHOULD WANT

In general, society likes to tell us pretty much every single thing we should be doing from the hours we work to how our relationships should look. Granted our generation is finally starting to push back and not listen to those expectations but for the most part, they're still there and they're not ok. Nobody needs to hear what a complete stranger thinks there body should or shouldn't look like because how someone else looks has nothing to with us. The online world can both be amazing and incredibly damaging for our self-esteem and it's so sad to see how quick people are judged for the way that they look. You can look however you like, all that matters is that you're happy. It really doesn't matter what other people think at all, even though they inflate their opinions so much.

BEING HAPPY WITH YOUR BODY ISN'T SIMPLE

Happiness, in general, isn't simple, it changes on a day to day basis. Some days I feel brilliant about my body and some days I feel absolutely terrible and that's ok. We can't expect too much from ourselves and I know that the more I take care of myself which for me is regular exercise, eating a balanced diet and getting lots of rest and that's when I feel happiest in my skin. For others it's might be something different but finding what makes you feel good in your skin is something we all probably need. We all tend to expect far too much from our moods, they go up and down like nothing else and there are always going to be highs where there are lows. There isn't ever going to be a one size fits all deal when it comes to body confidence.