Hey everyone and welcome back to my blog I hope everyone is safe and well! Today’s blog is all about self-love and how to overcome the changes we have all experienced in our lives due to COVID-19.
So we have all just come through a global pandemic and let me tell you it wasn’t easy. Our lives changed, our social lives, our daily routine and of course our working routine too. This was something we all had to except we stayed at home, we didn’t meet friends, we couldn’t work. We accepted these small changes to ensure our safety and well-being however, the one thing that has also changed is our beautiful bodies. It has been something that the majority of people have struggled to accept including myself which I was reluctant to admit at first.
It’s been evident on social media that the topic of ‘body image’ has been thrown around a lot lately between the posts about gaining/losing 5kg, having to go up or down a jean size, dying to get those steps in or head back to the gym and also trying to diet and work on our bodies extra hard. In my opinion a lot of negativity has been circling around body image. Now that these posts are becoming more regular it tends to play with peoples heads and make them feel like what they have isn’t enough or isn’t as good as what someone else has.
I’m writing this particular blog today because it is something that I have struggled with over the past three weeks and I am reluctant to admit how much it has affected me and my love for my body. I have been trying some coping mechanisms and ways to stay positive and love myself along the way and I have to say they really do work! We had a lot of extra time to ourselves during quarantine and a lot of us spent more time on social media than usual so it’s very easy to fall down the road of body negativity. Things like comparing bodies or lifestyles have increased massively. Realistically how can we accept that our whole lives changed over lockdown but we were very reluctant to accept the change in our own bodies? I know what you’re thinking, this makes no sense! of course we have all changed now it’s our job to find that self love that hasn’t been as evident as it should be.
I understand that change isn’t always easy for people including myself but the bigger picture after this global pandemic is that we are healthy and happy. If we decide to start running or going to the gym or any form of exercise it should never be out of hate for your body. Everything needs to be done out of love for our bodies and with a positive frame of mind or we will in fact start to go a little crazy and obsessive!
On to the coping mechanisms.
What I find helpful might be complete rubbish to you but I’m hoping one or two of these will help you guys along the way. Firstly INSTAGRAM, take Instagram with a pinch of salt not everyone is perfect in every way but of course nobody is going to post a picture of themselves after eating a large pizza and 4 beers are they? Regarding social media it’s so important to only follow people that benefit you and that you enjoy to watch. If you ever feel that you’re comparing yourself to someone online or if they make you feel bad about yourself then unfollow! This sounds almost too easy or unrealistic but it has been something that has helped me a lot.
People are very into working out and eating healthily these days but don’t stress too much about it eat what YOU want to eat and what you enjoy eating. Don’t sit in front of a dry salad and eat it because you think it’s going to benefit you because if it’s not something you enjoy then it’s certainly not going to benefit you. I am giving the very same advice for exercise, if you see a friend or someone you admire running 10k everyday don’t force yourself to do it if you hate it there’s literally no point and it creates a hate/hate relationship with exercise.
Focus on you! Stand in front of the mirror and tell yourself how much you love yourself, walk around naked and feel free and confident in your own skin. Try to use helpful mantras and eventually with hard work you will believe them. Take everything in baby steps but allow yourself to be your main focus and block out social media and other body shapes because there is no shape more beautiful than another.
Lastly clothes size,
so this is one that really affected me and it’s one that people find hard to accept. Clothes are literally how we dress ourselves and style ourselves everyday the sizing on clothes is not always the same, sometimes you have to go up a size or down but remember the number on your clothes means nothing. We need our clothes to fit us no matter what shape we have. Size and numbers should never define us or make us feel down. Clothes keep us warm or cool or they help to make us look casual or dressy, don’t hate the clothes! Change your mindset and work with what you have and love yourself.
I hope this is helpful for some of you and I want to thank you guys for always supporting me,
Peace and love,
Sincerely RachelEve 💋 x