Body Love

Do you love your body?

I've never loved my body. Not in junior high, not in high school, and definitely not in the past 3 years. 

I used to blame my body for what I was actually doing. 

Yes, I have PCOS, and yes it's a horrible syndrome to have and have to live with. But, it was my choice not to take control and do what all 4 doctors told me to do. I'm the one who didn't look to the future and realize that I needed to take control when I was 18. Being 16 and diagnosed, I didn't want to emotionally deal with it. I wanted to be a kid and enjoy my life without having to watch what I ate or exercise daily. 

 
 So many women I know say "I hate my boobs". "I hate my arm fat". "My thighs don't have a gap". "I need to lose 5 lbs". "My face is still fat". "I wish I had back dimples". "I hate how I can't get the extra weight off".

Now, don't get me wrong, I think wanting to improve yourself and seeing what your body can actually do is a great and beautiful thing! I never knew what our bodies were capable of until I started working out. 

The thing that gets me is the fact that some women could be a LOT worse...they could be obese or have major health problems. As women, we need to stop complaining! The effort and time we put in to only complaining and hating our bodies (typically with several other women at a time) could be transformed into something positive! If one person in that group of women who are complaining would speak up and say "lets go for a hike" or "who wants to try to run a mile?" instead of negativity, I think our mind set and thought patterns would change dramatically. 

Every woman has the right to control her body. I've believed that from a young age. No one can tell me what I should or need to do to my body. If I'm going to do something, it's because it's what I think I need or what I simply WANT. So, it really comes down to what we do for our bodies; the good and the bad. 

I never thought about it this way until recently but we are responsible for our bodies. It's the ONLY one we get. We have to nurture, love, cherish, and encourage it! That means we also get to change it. Changes can come from a lot of different meanings, but I just want to encourage every one to change in positive way! 

Today, I found myself looking in the mirror and for the first time in my life I appreciated my body. I was proud of it. I put on my jeans and tank top and walked out of my house confident. Not because my body is where I want it to be, but because I see improvements, I see changes being made. Although I know I'm the one getting up doing the workouts and preparing healthy meals, I'm finally LOVING my body. I guess I should say thank you to myself and every person that has inspired, encouraged, and helped me get to this point. Because of those simple acts, I'm falling in love with my body and what it can do. 

I know that there are women out there with eating disorders and mentally have issues accepting their bodies, but I just hope and pray for every single one of them that they turn that mind set from what their phsyical appearance looks like to a mental state first. If we can change what we think, our actions will follow, and ultimately we will find a love and apprecaite and most of all a profound amount of respect for ourselves and especially our bodies. 

I know this is a bit of a rant, but I was thinking about it today and then when a friend, Annie on Instagram made a comment about how inspiring it is that I was talking positive about my body...I thought...'I think this is a first for me...' 

I hope someone gets something from this post and it encourages them to think twice before they start mentally and verbally abusing themselves by talking bad about their body.