Wednesday 16 September 2015

10 Steps To Loving Your Body!


'Learning to love yourself, is the greatest love of all'...yes, I did just quote a Whitney Houston song *what's wrong with that ?!*
Anyway, it is true; The best way to be able to get to a place where you are more accepting of other people and their faults, is by accepting yourself and loving yourself. Now, that's not to say that you should never change, it just means that by loving yourself, you accept that it is ok to make mistakes but that if you want to change things, by loving yourself without judgement, you feel empowered and supported to do things you may not have had the confidence to do!
So, in this post I'm going to focus on the body.

1. Start your day with gratitude. When it comes to negative thoughts/feelings, or feeling depressed, your vibration and frequency will be low, the happier and balanced you are the higher your frequency will get. Gratitude vibrates at a really high frequency and this is why it's always great to start your day with that. So, when you wake up, stand in front of your mirror and announce to yourself something about your body that you genuinely feel gratitude for. This can be anything. For those of you who suffer from Body Dysmorphia or simply feel like there is nothing you physically like about your body start with ' I am grateful for my feet and legs because I can walk with them and if I was in danger, I could run away to safety' or ' I am grateful to my eyes because they help me see and experience the world around me'.

2. Get moving by starting an excercise ritual. Being more active simply makes you feel happier whether it be a gym session, workout DVD, walking or social dancing, try to pick up a weekly activity. It is proven that when you excercise frequently your bodies immune systemis stronger and can heal itself quicker than people who don't do any excercise; in fact, just last week, I was listening to the radio and there had been an notice to people going to university to tell gem that they should get a vaccination for Meningitus W, which has never really troubled the UK and is very rare. They had a young girl who had contracted the disease at Uni and she is the only person to have survived this illness and according to the doctors, it was partly to do with her genes and because she excercised so much.

3. Drinking more water and staying hydrated keeps your body healthy and a healthy body is a happy one. Not only that but drinking water on a regular basis helps you to feel fuller for longer, thus helping you lose weight because you won't be over eating, nor will you feel the pressure of what you 'can't' eat.

4. Stop following trends. There are always going to be fashion trends that won't suit you and wearing trends that don't look good on you will make you despise your body. Now, there is nothing wrong with following a trends here and there, or being inspired by fashion but by making sure that you dress for your body and what you feel comfortable in, you learn to embrace and love what you have.

5. Ditch the diets!  Our lives are so short, too short to waste on dieting. Instead of dieting and hating yourself when you don't lose any weight or worse, lost a stone and gain two, simply make small gradual changes to your lifestyle. For example if you eat pasta a lot, substitute the pasta for courgette (zucchini). By using a spiraliser or a grater you can make courgetti or slice the courgette instead of pasta sheets for lasagne. There are so many recipes for this type of stuff. It's important to find healthy dishes that you enjoy in to your life if you want to sustain a healthy body. By doing this, you won't spend your life editing but really enjoying your food and feeling good about what you eat! You can also cut down on alcohol that you drink during the week or sugar in tea or coffee.

6. Don't be afraid to explore. Do your own research on healthy recipes that will give your body all of the nutrients and vitamins that it needs, without having to substitute on flavour. There are so many websites and books that offer healthy and delicious food ideas.

7. Treat yo self to a nice massage or facial. It's such a nice experience and can stimulate your circulation, drain your lymphatic system and helps your body de-stress. If you can't afford that, I like to do an at home spa night, once a fortnight and usually on a Sunday. This coincides for when I'm usually nursing a hangover. This is also something you could do with a friend or flatmates.
 I get a face mask on, my feet into a foot bath with some Epsom or Himalayan salt and bath oil of my choice and just relax. I finish off by drying my feet and massaging them with oil and then I put some warm socks on. Next, I wash my face mask off, thoroughly and precede with the rest of my skincare routine. This is a great way to love your skin/body. Pamper yourself because you deserve it!

8. Realise that if someone has a problem with your body, it's their problem, not yours!
It's hard to understand but usually when people are really judgemental about others and how people look, it's because they are very insecure and self-conscious. Unfortunately, most of these people deal with their issue with a tactic called 'projection' and I don't mean speaking very loudly. They pick on what they think others will be insecure about in order to make themselves feel validated.

9. Emancipate yourself. It's nobody else's job to love you or your body, it's yours. Understand that your confidence can only truly come from within and your capacity to love and accept yourself, for who you are. If you feel that losing weight is important to your confidence then use some tips from this post to help you focus on what you are putting in to your body and making it healthier. When you work on your attitude, your outlook on life and what you put into your body, you will see the results on the outside of your body and your surroundings. Remember, you are not a car parking ticket and don't need to be validated.

10. Sleep in your birthday suit. I have been sleeping naked for years and from a personal experience, I can honestly say that my confidence in my body has never been higher! In fact, scientific research shows that people that sleep naked have high self-esteem, confidence and are more comfortable with their bodies!

No comments:

Post a Comment