This is me this week, approximately 3 stone heavier:
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| Please excuse the terrible face - I hate having my photo taken! |
I look back on those photos from 2009 and before, and I have a mixture of emotions. In some respects I was too thin at points, especially following dramatic weight loss in 2007 as the result of my marriage breaking down. My sister has a photograph of us as a family on Boxing Day that year, me sans slap, and I look skeletal. I don't like it. But although I am fairly comfortable with me now, I often mourn for those days when jeans weren't the enemy, where my figure fit more with the accepted shape for a woman my age.
And that is the key really - my problems with my body shape are related to the way in which the media portrays the ideal figure. As The Beard says when I tell him I'm feeling down about my body, I should stop comparing myself to other women. Because all people are different. I'm just a different shape.
The blogosphere can be an immensely positive place, and can be incredibly negative; but being a person with an irritatingly sunny disposition I like to focus on the good (yes, I am one of those cheerful goths!). I've found a few blogs that make me nod as I'm reading, smile at the sentiments and give me inspiration and acceptance from thousands of miles away. I'm thankful to these delightful writers who take their time to put things out there to make us all feel a little bit more secure in ourselves.
So I want to share with you some of the wonderful bloggers who have given me a little ray of sunshine every day, who reinforce positive messages and who are just generally awesome.
Already Pretty - who I think I found through my Google recommendations and I am so glad I did. She is witty, intelligent, posts great tips and advice and wears sassy clothes. She's got a pretty awesome tattoo on her leg as well!!
Dress with Courage - Elissa has great hair, great tattoos, and is a thrifting fiend. Open and honest about her battles with body image, she is pretty darn inspiratonal! Her recent series on writing blog posts has helped me get my writing mojo back and I thank her muchly for it!
Gala Darling - This lady is fabulous! She is all about Radical Self Love, her programme designed at helping you love yourself. She's stylish, cool, and gorgeous. I love her exuberance and giddiness!
The Snug Bug - Recommended by Sal at Already Pretty earlier this week, I've only just got round to taking a peek. I liked what I found, and I think The Snug Bug will become part of my everyday reading.
Next time I look at myself and think "gah I'm so much bigger than so and so", I'll try to stop, and remember that I am me.
You are wise nat, very wise. I had some serious body image issues after I had Izzy {compounded by post-natal depression} and the only way I could rid myself of them was to practice acceptance. My body will never be what it was before I had babies, but that doesn't mean it isn't fabulous. It's hard not to compare yourself, to others or a past self, but when you just love who you are right now, everything is better.
ReplyDeleteLoveaudrey xXx
p.s she really is a cheerful goth ya know. She found it almost impossible to pull a suitably gothic/solemn face the other night and kept bursting into fits of the giggles :)