Girl, Give Yourself a little Grace

Hey, Girl!

This picture was hard for me to post. Most people may not see the things I see when I look at this picture taken this weekend, or maybe they do. Either way if people see the cellulite, rolls, thick legs, it doesn’t matter. Though, what a hard concept to nail into your brain. For YEARS, I, like so many women have struggled with food and body image. I have hidden behind other people in pictures, sucked that gut in, or even avoided pictures all together. I have counted calories, restricted intake to be WAY too low (some days only eating 700 calories). I have picked and pinched at all my flaws.

For the last year and a half I have said enough is enough. I was tired of doing that to myself! I was tired of the yo-yo diets, the working out to hard to “earn” my food, and I was tired of not loving me. In the last year I have worked hard, and I have really come a long way. I have read books like, “Girl, Stop Apologizing” by Rachel Hollis, and “Six Factors to Fit” by Dawn Blatner and Nancy and Robert Kushner and countless other habit fixing, self-loving, encouraging and educational books. I have listened to the podcast and the ted-talks. I am educated and becoming more educated professionally in fitness, sports medicine, exercise, and nutrition. So, why when I saw this picture taken of me yesterday did it make me feel AWFUL?

Because real, true change comes from real true love. Loving yourself is SO SO hard and a RADICAL concept. For some people, it is the hardest thing they’ve had to do, and that includes me. I didn’t grow up with the -positive self-talk you can do it girl- kind of role models. It was not ingrained in my head that I am beautiful and enough the way I was, but it is up to me and only me to change the way I talk to myself. And Girl, (or boy) it’s up to you too! WE CAN DO IT! And it starts by taking a leap of faith! So here’s mine, posting this picture. It probably seems small, but to me posting this is very big. I want to live a radical life where I truly love myself and I dream big, and I don’t want being hung up on how I look to stop me. Girl don’t let it stop you either! Loving yourself isn’t easy, it’s not linear, you will have days where you fall and take steps back, like me and this picture. But I’m going to keep trying, I am going to keep working on my relationship with food, my relationship with body image, and most importantly my relationship with loving myself.

These days, grace is hard to come by, and we don’t see it as often when people interact with each other. Honestly, I think that comes with grace and love from ourselves. I think when we give ourselves more love, grace, and understanding, it is then when we can give it to others. So girl, give yourself a little grace, and I promise I will work on giving myself a little grace too.

#grace #selflove #nutrition #positiveselftalk #bodyimage #fitness #exercise #health #lifeisgood