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7 Tips on How to Love Your Body

7 Tips on How to Love Your Body

7 Tips on How to Love Your Body

7 Tips on How to Love Your Body. I share how I learnt to love my body after cancer.

Swimsuit: Asos ($32)
Scarf (I used it as a coverup): c/o Lilly Pulitzer (old), similar here
Sandals: Havaianas ($36)
Sunglasses: c/o Zenni Optical

Loving your body can be challenging. I know for me it was and still can be. For me, I started to experience the challenge of loving my body when I began noticing the effects that chemo, surgery, steroids, and all the other medication I was (and currently am) taking had on my body. My body felt foreign to me. Things that I knew were me were suddenly gone. So how do you love a body that doesn’t feel like yours?

It was a process. A lot of trial and error and some anxiety mixed in there too. But slowly and surely I gained confidence in myself. These things I’m about to talk about is what worked for me. I know this stuff is not black and white and it may not always work for everyone. I just hope that whatever has helped me can help someone else or give someone else an idea on how to love your body.

How to Love Your Body

More Than Just Physical

I came to the realization that to love my body, it was more than what I saw in the mirror. How you think of who you are as a person reflects what you see in the mirror. I started to congratulate myself on things I was able to pull through or do that had been a struggle after the cancer diagnosis. And then it led me to congratulating myself more and more on my everyday stuff. The thing is, sometimes we don’t give ourselves enough credit. We belittle our accomplishments. The more I cheer myself, the better I feel about what I see in the mirror.

7 Tips on How to Love Your Body

Fitness

I’ve said it before, but working out is the biggest stress reliever. Remove the idea of losing those pounds. Focus on appreciating what your body is doing and how much stronger you feel. Your fitness workouts do not have to be intense. It can be a walk around the neighborhood, yoga, barre, boxing, etc. Whatever it is, get your body moving and be grateful that your body can do it! While doing my BBG workout, I realized that my body is a lot stronger than I thought I was. I felt sooo badass and so powerful!

Fashion

Being a woman is amazing. And one of the best things about being a woman is we have endless fashion options! When you are at the stage where you feel so awful about your body, buying and trying on clothes may seem daunting. But like I said, there are so many different styles, fits, and brands out there and when you find that right pair of jeans, dress, top, skirt, etc you will feel beautiful. Right after surgery, I felt so out of touch with my body. And anything I owned, I hated how I looked in it. Tre gave me a gift card and told me to shop. I didn’t want to because I didn’t want to feel disappointed, but he told me to go. I’m glad I did. I dedicated an entire day to shopping and finding that one pair of jeans, top, dress, skirt, etc that fit me so well and made me feel so comfortable with myself. It took some time to find the ones I loved, but I’m glad I gave myself that time. So go out there and find those pieces that fit like they were made for you!

Do What You Love

Give yourself that dedicated time to do what you love to do. I know in the past, for me, I brushed aside the things I loved to do because I didn’t think it was important. Guess what, it is important! It is healing, therapeutic, and rewarding. I dedicate time to blog because I love it. I also love to paint. I’m not great at all, but it is so soothing and I feel proud of myself. When you do what you love, to love your body will come naturally.

Music

This might sound silly, but sometimes listening to a song that makes you feel like a badass makes you feel so good! I love to crank up the volume to songs that make me feel so powerful. I turn it up for Survivor by Destiny’s Child, I’m Legit by Nicki Minaj, Bossy by Kelis, Whole Lotta Woman by Kelly Clarkson, and Boss Ass Bitch by PTAF. And you know I break it down with my dance moves. I seriously go all out dancing and bring out my sassiness. Go girl!

7 Tips on How to Love Your Body. I share how I learnt to love my body after cancer.

People

Surrounding yourself with the right people helps. They’re the people you feel the most comfortable with and embrace everything you are without having to change yourself. I have been really picky who I surround myself with.  They are the ones that bring out my confidence. I’m so grateful for Tre. He’s the one that I feel the most comfortable around and I’m not afraid to show my confidence and sass that I am sometimes afraid to share with everyone else. And you know what, he cheers me on about it!

Read Other Blogs

I find it so helpful when I read other blogs that talk about how to love your body or self-care. Not only do they have great advice or tips, but I also don’t feel alone in this. Sometimes, to make me feel slightly better, I just need to know that I’m not in this struggle all by myself.

So this is what has helped get me to love my body. I will admit some days, none of this works. But what I’ve learned is that that is okay. We need to acknowledge how we feel before we know how to recover. I think accepting that there will be some bad days helps. Life is not perfect, so we cannot force ourselves to feel something we are not ready to feel.

So what have you all done to love your body? Is there anything that I have not listed that has worked for you?

xo RD

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Comments

  10. Rachel says

    Love all of your tips, Rach! I need to get back into the swing of things – enjoying the foods I love (duh) but incorporating healthier foods and exercising a smidgen more.

    Reply

  14. roxy says

    Loving this post! It’s cliché I know but beauty comes in so many forms and up til our generation the media has overly focused on physical beauty, and only one form of it. So nice to see things are changing and beauty is being redefined in so many ways. I for one think you are gorgeous!!

    Reply

  15. jasna says

    Its so important to love your body its the only physical one we have, so thank you for the great tips hun and keep inspiring 🙂 xx

    Reply

  17. Taylor Ann says

    I absolutely love this post. Thank you for sharing your personal journey through learning to re-love your body. These tips are great. I particularly love the part where you encourage to read other blogs!! And I never thought to incorporate music into a way of helping yourself fell good. You look awesome and I LOVE your suit!

    Reply

  20. Maggie says

    Yes to all of this!! I too listen to music to feel better and it really changes the way I feel about myself and my body!

    Reply

  22. Ashley says

    Love this post, gf. It can so tough to accept your body when it doesn’t fit that perfect mold we’re using to see. Things are changing to be more inclusive, but we’re all still holding ourselves to impossible standards sometimes. I try to focus on how strong my body is and what’s it’s able to accomplish- races, tough workouts, getting me around day to day without pain, which is not a given for so many!

    -Ashley
    Le Stylo Rouge

    Reply

  26. Steph says

    I did a similar post recently! It’s so sad that our society teaches us to point out our flaws instead of loving what we are.

    xo,
    Steph
    @trendyinindy || trendyinindy.com

    Reply

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