L.O.V.E. Your Body, Love Yourself

FEBRUARY: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO L.O.V.E. OUR BODIES???​​

In a culture full of whos and whats we should look and feel like around every corner, life can get pretty confusing, particularly about our health and our bodies. Eating disorders of all kinds are at an all-time high in our world right now, not only including the USA. We have to learn how to look at all the fake imagery sent our way out there and filter through what is realistic and what is truly beautiful. Growing up, I was always a bit bigger than my friends around me; not a big girl, just a bigger size, bigger bones, more of a muscular build. I always felt self conscious... now a mom and (let's not sugar coat it) struggling with truly being overweight, I wish I could go back to my teenage self and say, "STOP! Look at yourself! You are the most beautiful and thin and in shape you will ever be, so enjoy it and put on those damn short shorts and strut! So what if you are a size 7 and she is a size 2!" But looking back, I just always thought I could be skinnier, prettier, more blonde, more brunette, more this or that... How much time I wasted thinking such negative thoughts about myself. Well, no more. Yes I am struggling with weight and body image now as a new mom and as someone who has a thyroid condition and let's face it — as someone who just loves to sit her buns on the couch and watch Netflix with whatever free time I can get nowadays. But here is a new campaign I am starting myself on. I am calling it L.O.V.E. your body. I truly hope all you gorgeous people out there can join me in uplifting yourself to a new healthy standard of what true beauty is.

L stands for LETTING GO... of all those ads, unrealistic expectations, and old thoughts you had about how you look. You are you and you are gorgeous, FOR REAL. There is no one out there who can compare to you so LET GO of comparing yourself to others. Let go of that image in your mind of who you think you should look like and start training your mind to love who you really are, you have so many things to show the world!

O stands for OPEN... Open yourself to new possibilities like taking time to do a three minute workout that you have on that app on your phone. Or OPEN yourself to loving at least one thing about yourself everyday. Focus on that thing and truly adore it about YOU because it doesn't exist on anyone else out there. Open yourself to getting out there and being more involved, to learn more about yourself and to stay on your feet! Or to begin a healthier lifestyle. Or try to see yourself the way others see you for once. Stop assuming people only see the bad things you feel like you can't hide; listen to the good things they are saying and FOCUS on that...What is your body asking you to be open to?​​

V stands for VAIN... Yes you read that right. BE VAIN for a minute in POSITIVITY. Look in that mirror in the morning and say to yourself, "DANG, you have good hair, lady!" Be vain but don't harbor vanity. Vanity leads to wanting and wanting leads to comparison. Just be you and be vain about that one thing that you are confident about today! Do not be afraid to uplift yourself around others either, it instills confidence in other women when we can highlight something good about ourselves! ​​

E (and this is my favorite) stands for EAT... Eat what makes you feel GOOD. If that means ONE ice cream today then fine, if it means brussel spouts tomorrow, GREAT! We are all on diets almost all of the time. Take a break for one second to remind yourself you are alive and treat yourself to something you want. When we go too long without reward we put ourselves at risk for eating disorders or even regression in a seriously damaging way. You can go 12 years without having a french fry and then you finally get tempted enough to have one and boom, you're on a slippery slope to McDonalds every day for a month. Not good. Do yourself a favor and indulge a little once in awhile because in the end, one cookie is gonna be something you wished you made time to enjoy a bit.

It's sad how being 20 pounds heavier than the last picture we took makes us finally feel good about where we were at back then. I know this first hand. My wedding happened months after I gained a ton of weight after being diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease and felt so bad about myself. Now after gaining all this baby weight I, look back at my wedding pictures and when I used to feel so fat in them I now say, gosh I wish I could look like that again. I am always pining after how I used to look but never enjoy how I am in the moment! How sad! So I am trying to turn this around. So much of life is wasted wishing for something you don't have in the moment. Lets stop defeating ourselves and self sabotaging our own happiness. Know your self worth, walk confidently, speak loudly and the world will see the real you.

​​So I hope you can L.O.V.E. your body with me. Try it for a week, a month, forever? Just try something different. Your body deserves to be loved. Especially by you. Have a great day and YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.

Let Go

Be Open

Be Vain

Eat

Best Day Ever

Newly Married!

Preggers

About to Become Parents!

About Me

For those of you who don't know me, I am a Massage Therapist in trade and in my practice I use essential oils in everything I do. On my website I have a personal blog about all things essential oils and am a distributor of Young Living essential oils. I live in Gainesville, GA and have one son with my husband and best friend. I am about to jump back into working again for the first time after my son's birth and I am so excited to start helping people find their healing journey again.

For those who are interested: In this article, I mainly just want to highlight positivity and love in your own skin but keep in mind, if you are interested in making a positive life change and opening yourself up to starting a healthier dietary strategy, YoungLiving has an amazing weight management system called SLIQUE CITRASLIM. It is formulated with citral-dense oils to naturally rid your body of toxins and help you change bad habits by feeling GREAT. I have not tried this one yet but I hope to soon! Just as soon as one of these pesky credit cards is paid off! YL also has a few amazing cook books to choose from with healthy (and delicious) recipes, using the oils to keep your body a fat burning, nutrient absorbing machine.