Hi guys, welcome back to my blog. Today's post
is going to be a little bit more personal. I wanted to sit down and talk to you
like best friends having a conversation. Today I wanted to talk to you about
confidence and being comfortable in your own skin. I am just going to share my
own story + advice and I hope you enjoy it!
The first thing I want to start off by saying is that I have always been naturally petite. I was born premature so I am sure that has something to do with it, but I have always just been really really little. I was never self-conscious about my weight until around middle school. Around that time I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. I won't go into details in this post, but basically that caused me to lose a ton of weight, so I was even smaller. Middle school can be rough, so I remember my friends would always comment on how skinny I was, how small my wrists were, and how tiny my legs were. I remember overanalyzing my body and for the first time really feeling self-conscious. The beginning of high school was when I first got into working out/fitness. My high school friend group was all on the cross-country team, so I started running too. I remember feeling so good after a run, accomplished and proud of myself. I felt strong both externally and internally. Even though I loved running, I became too obsessed with working out and healthy eating that it consumed me. I would constantly feel guilty for eating anything unhealthy or high in carbs and would run extra miles just to "work it off".
It wasn't until my
junior year of college that I started lifting weights and began running less
and less. I loved how strong I felt from lifting and started eating a more
balanced diet full of all kinds of food and noticed how much better/happier I
felt. I began accepting myself as I am and combined with feeling strong from
lifting, I felt more confident in myself than ever before. Now I have been
lifting weights for over two years and I have such a healthier relationship
with food and exercise.
The number one thing that I have learned throughout my fitness journey is to do workouts that you truly enjoy. If you are forcing yourself to run when you hate running, working out is not going to be enjoyable and you will begin to dread it and quit all together. Everyone’s body is different and different workouts work for different people. I personally have discovered that lifting weights is my favorite form of exercise and works well for my body. Other people may prefer running, yoga, or boxing. At the end of the day it’s all about what you love and what brings you enjoyment.
In order to truly feel confident in yourself you need to come to the realization that you are different and unique and not like anybody else and understand how cool that is! I love the quote that says, "you don't need to be pretty like her, you can be pretty like you." I think this is so true because we often forget that "pretty" or "beautiful" comes in many different forms not just the models we see on Instagram. Admiring someone else’s beauty doesn’t take away or lessen your own. In order to be truly confident we need to fully embrace who we are. Not just our physical features, but also our personality, our sense of humor, the weird quirks we have. Another way to embrace who you are is to focus on what you love about yourself.
I realized that I wasn't going to force myself
to live this unsustainable life just to have bigger legs and a smaller stomach.
Everyone has qualities about themself that they want to change. The key is
instead focus on what you have and be grateful for how you were created. If
everyone were the exact same, the world would be so boring.
At the end of the day, you need to work towards
being the best version of yourself. Life is too short to have all these
standards and be hard on yourself. Loving and embracing yourself is probably
one of the most rewarding things in life.
Comments