My Soapbox

As most of you know, after I had Lauren I lost a lot of weight. For some reason, things have been harder after Mya, but this last couple of weeks I have really been empowered to regain control of my body.
Today I put on a pair of capri pants that I haven't been able to wear since I had Mya (without looking like a stuffed sausage), and I was so proud of myself.
I started thinking about women and weight and body image, and I decided to put a few things out there. This is how I'm reminding myself that I'm in control of my body (for the most part), and these are things that I try to do every single day to help myself be happy.
1. I love my body. I love it because it was given to me by my Heavenly Father - and he wants me to love it and take care of it. Do I love everything about it? Of course not, but it's my body nonetheless, and there's nothing I can do about that. So accept it and move on.
2. I embrace the good parts. I'm built like a woman, not a 12 year old boy. I have curves, and I am proud of them. Some women pay good money to get, ahem, upper body curves like mine.
3. Just because it fits, doesn't mean I should wear it. I'm using the term "fits" very loosely. I've watched What Not to Wear, and I know what's up. If I look like the aforementioned stuffed sausage in a particular item of clothing, it doesn't "fit". I pride myself on dressing pretty well for my figure - I've learned how to hide things I don't want to be seen. This has taken years, and some lucky trends to come about, but I've found what works for my body.
4. I refuse to whine about my weight. In my mind, there are few things more unattractive and annoying than women who whine about their weight. Trying to be with my friends, just enjoying one anothers' company and hearing the constant "I really shouldn't be eating this", "I wish I could eat whatever I wanted", "I'm too fat to wear that", "I wish I had a body like her".....I could go on & on & on. Why draw attention to your faults and imperfections? And I know I used to say this kind of stuff, too, until I realized how unappealing it is. And on a side note, before you start saying things like that, look around. There's no worse feeling to me than when someone significantly smaller than myself starts complaining about her weight. How do you think that makes me feel? If you see your size 6 as being huge, then what do you see when you look at me?
5. Never compare myself to others. Everyone is different, and so what if my friend is a size 2 and can eat whatever she wants. Everyone has their trials and things about themselves they don't like, and my size 2 friend isn't excluded from that. Take the energy that you used focusing on others and use it to change what you dislike about yourself.
6. I live in reality. I will never be a size 2 - that would just be gross for my body type. I will never be happy eating fruits & veggies all the time and working out 2 hours a day every day. That's just not me, and to be honest with you, I don't have time for that. I just want to be healthy. I want to look in the mirror and be proud of what I've worked for - the self control and discipline it takes to moderate what I eat, but also not depriving myself. I wish I LOVED working out, and I LOVED eating salad every meal, but I don't. That's why I'll never look like Jessica Alba - and I'm OK with that. If I wanted to have a rock hard body with no fat, I would. But the road to get there wouldn't make me happy. And that's reality.
7. I do what makes me happy. I work hard as I want and know the consequences of my actions. If it's going to make me happy to eat a Reese's shake tonight, then I know that I need to be OK with what it will do to the number on the scale.

And now I will get off my soapbox. I'm not even sure if any of this made sense to any of you, but it's something I can look back on and read when I'm having a hard time.
Love yourselves, ladies, cuz you know I do!

PEACE OUT, Y'ALL!!!