Developing positive body image doesn’t mean you go from hating to loving your body.
It typically goes like this. You stop hating your body and instead tolerate it. You move from tolerating your body to actually accepting and respecting your body. And then you can begin to like, and even love your body.
There is a whole lot of power in positive affirmations and how that can help you shift your mindset towards food and body freedom. And there’s also a lot of deep change that happens when you take actionable steps towards loving your body.
Here’s a very non exhaustive list:
Stop body checking. If you need to cover up your mirrors do it. Stop standing in front of the mirror when you get in and out of the shower. Stand in the back of the workout class so you can’t see yourself in the mirror. Whatever you need to do to stop body checking, do it.
Create a list of people you admire and respect and think about why you feel the way you do about them. Is it because of their weight?
Continuing from the above task, ask yourself why you would want people to respect and admire you and write that down. If it is in fact because of your weight or pant size, ask yourself why. Is the motive there healthy?
Walk with your head up and shoulders back. Even if you don’t feel confident in your body right now, your posture can say something different while you work on your mindset.
Do activities that you enjoy and that make your body feel good. Stop going to that workout class if you’re just going in hopes of better abs or to burn calories. That is life sucking.
Start every single morning with three gratitudes. Starting your day in a place of abundance instead of lack can make a profound difference on the posture of your heart.
Every morning when you wake up, thank your body. Every night when you go to bed, thank your body.
Make a list of all the things your body can DO (not what it looks like) and add to it daily.
If you feel crappy in your clothes, go out and buy a few things that you feel awesome in. Jeans that actually fit you well can makes loads of a difference in how you feel in your skin.
Do something kind for someone every day. It can be as simple as smiling at a stranger. Because body shaming is extremely egocentric and when you get out of your own head and focus on serving other people, you stop focusing on yourself so much. There’s a lot of beauty in this world and if you don’t get out of your head, you’ll miss it.
Lastly, a bood I highly recommend –> Body Respect by Linda Bacon
I love this. Your posts are always so inspiring. The body checking one really helped me in the past –> picked that up form ImmaEatThat
Kylie is so so amazing!
YES to all of this! I especially like the “do something kind for someone” suggestion. Recently, in an effort to get out of my ED/exercise obsessed mind, I told myself to think about someone else every time I start obsessing over calories/weight/exercise. I HATE HATE HATE being the way I am with food and exercise, and this recent strategy is helping me to be less OCD, although I’m afraid I need professional help to really get over my eating disorder. Baby steps though, right? 🙂
baby steps all the way! small change leads to huge transformation so recognize and be proud of all the little things to propel you forward 🙂
Love love love this. I think the bodychecking thing is such a common thing–I mean just look at every single fitness instagram account. It’s INSANE! Once I stopped doing that it’s amazing how my mindset shifted.
yes that one thing can do incredible stuff!
I agree that serving others is such a great way to get out of that egocentric mindset. Great stuff, Robyn!
it helped me immensely!!
Thank you Robyn for another wonderful post! Even though I am a dietitian starting a practice in the HAES and body positive framework I still struggle with my own stuff, especially body checking. I am slowly learning to instead appreciate little things about my body rather than obsessively checking its appearance in the mirror. A lot of my own healing and inspiration has come from your balanced, approachable blog and your wonderful attitude. Thank you 🙂
you have an amazing career ahead in a much needed area! i’m so glad you have found refreshment and life through the blog 🙂 xo
Love this!! Especially the comment about what your body can DO! I had an exercise addiction which saw me pushing myself through 2 hours of cardio and an hour of weights ever day. What a huge waste of time, not to mention I was constantly tired, couldn’t sleep and stopped getting a period. I started doing yoga as a way to recover because as you can imagine my body was a mess. I found that this was a huge mindshift for me as for the first time ever I was proud of what my body could do and not what it looked like. Exercise stopped being about burning calories and became about having time to do something I enjoyed which made me feel good instead of burnt out. It took awhile but I began to lessen the heavy cardio and weights and am now okay with my only activity being biking to work and taking yoga. The biggest surprise is that I haven’t gained any weight! I don’t weigh myself (for recovery reasons) but feel much more toned and just healthier all around. Thanks for posts like this, it remind me how far I have come and has the best advice for people going through their own exercise struggles.
I love love love yoga for that reason – it’s not about burning calories but rather being present and appreciating. so glad you’ve found it that you have loved it too 🙂 trust your body and do what feels good – i’m so happy you’ve experienced that freedom! xx
Love this post! I think we all need to constantly remind ourselves of this!
myself included!
Good list I love that its simple things that you can actively do on a daily basis. I’ll have to check out that book–ive never heard of it!
that’s the hope – that you can do them any day! hope you like the book 🙂
I love this post Robyn (as I love ALL of your posts!)…All such great tips and reminders of ways to get out of my head and uplift my spirit..shifting away from body focus….The suggestion about posture reminded me of the ted talk by Amy Cuddy on body language and how it impacts us….definitely worth a few minutes for readers to check out!
Have a wonderful, restful, well-deserved weekend/2 weeks – off!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Suzanne 🙂 I would love for you to link to the Ted talk! Have a wonderful restful week too 🙂
Robyn this post was so wonderful and helpful, thank you!!
I’m so glad you found it helpful!