I hope you are all doing well. Thanks for being here with me again.
I really enjoyed writing about body positivity in my last post, so today I am continuing along those lines. If you didn't see my last post, it was about the word “fat” and the reason there is less correlation between health problems and fatness than we are told.
The sad fact of the matter is that even if you are aware that your body is okay as it is, we live in a world where fat bodies are constantly policed, criticized, and shamed. How can we combat this type of thinking?
I'll share five tips that helped me along the body positive path.
1. Don't engage in negative body talk.
To become confident, you have to actively fight against anti-fat sentiment. Most of us pick up on body negative talk. We say thing like “I wish I were a size __”. We jump on the bandwagon when others are disparaging their own looks by chiming in with whatever we are unhappy about with ourselves.
If you want to love your body, you must stop this behavior. If someone is talking about weight loss or being negative about their body image around you, you don't have to engage in it. Oftentimes you can steer the conversation in another direction.
2. Steer clear of the negative marketing in the fashion and beauty industries.
I advise against reading many beauty/fashion magazines or watching much TV/advertisements. There is a culture of body hate that is extremely prevalent in these mainstream forms of entertainment that will become ingrained into your subconscious with enough exposure. Instead, follow body positive youtubers and entertainers (if anyone is interested in a list of recommended youtubers, please let me know). Read blogs and online zines. Make it your mission to seek alternative point of view.
4. Invest in your body by taking good care of your health.
Once you've made it a point to challenge/ignore body negative friends and seek alternative viewpoints, the next step to succeeding in body confidence is to take good care of your body. This one is something fairly new to me. In college, I took terrible care of my body. I think many young people have the same problem; in our culture we are taught that achievement and productivity is the ultimate goal. However, if you don't have your health, you have nothing.
I know that not everyone is lucky enough to be healthy or pain free. There are so many people who despite living an extremely healthy lifestyle, deal with chronic pain and health issues. I know that loving your body when you are in dealing with this can be very difficult. But you must try to love yourself anyway. Body positivity is for everyone.
This year I have started really putting an effort into taking care of my body. For me, it's going to the gym regularly and eat only plant based food. This has made such a big difference in the way I feel. When my body feels happy and healthy and rested, I feel grateful for my body, and I find it easier to love it despite its flaws.
5. Look at yourself in the mirror with a non-critical eye.
The last tip I have for body confidence is one that you'll hear pretty much every body positive blogger say, and that is to look at yourself in the mirror. Really look at your body, and try to identify the parts you like. If you want to go a step further, take pictures of your entire body and take them from every angle. Take them in various stages of dress and undress. When you look at yourself, notice every bump and ripple and stretch mark. Make a real effort to love these parts of yourself. Take an outside perspective and know that no human is perfect. If you've really put the effort into distancing yourself from the mainstream perception of beauty, you'll find that this is not too terribly hard.
I do hope that this blog post was helpful to someone. I know it was helpful for me to write out to remind myself, because being body positive is a daily challenge!
Thank you for reading! Wishing you all a body positive week!
Outfit Details:
Top - thrifted
Skirt - JC Penny
Shoes – Target
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