Last week, I was talking to a girlfriend and she asked I’d gotten used to my new size yet. Truthfully, yes and no.
– I’m still sometimes surprised (pleasantly!) by how small I look in the mirror in some clothes.
These jeans made me feel super skinny last week!
– Unfortunately, I also found myself directing really negative thoughts at my belly during a yoga class last week. There was no one in front of me, so I had myself to look at in the mirror for two hours and every time I moved, instead of noticing how awesomely strong my legs were (and how great they look!), I cringed at how big my belly looked. A) My body was strong and moving and not worthy of bad thoughts and b) That “big” belly is SO much smaller than it was before!
– I stepped outside of my fashion comfort zone this week and wore tights with a skirt and booties. I know, nothing wild and crazy, but definitely not my usual and therefore, I knew it would attract attention. I was so uncomfortable with the idea of people looking at me and noticing me! As nice as the positive comments about how cute I looked were (and I did look cute!), the “invisible” fat girl inside me was definitely a little tense about the attention.
The tights kept me warm and the booties were comfy so that’s good!
– My husband was looking at my name badges for work and commented on how I needed to get a new name badge for one of my work sites, because I don’t look like that at all anymore. Truthfully, even though I see my face in the mirror countless times during the day, when I see those chubby face pictures it doesn’t really register that I don’t look like that anymore.
All this to say, I still have some work to do. I am aware of the spaces I can squeeze into now and automatically go to my “new” size in the store rather than my old size, so some practical part of my brain has accepted that I’m smaller. I need to practice consistently saying nice things to myself (in all settings, not just about my body – who are we kidding, about my poor belly). I need to appreciate my strong and gorgeous legs. I need to learn to love my stretch marks and wrinkles and loose skin as badges of honor from the life I’ve lived. After that conversation with Cara, and thinking about how my body image had really changed in the last year, I’ve found myself dwelling more and more on the article I linked a few weeks ago about seeing your body as a paintbrush, not a masterpiece. Maybe I should print that out to hang on all of my mirrors.
How do you practice a positive body image?
A Little More Each Day 
You should be SO proud of the gorgeous woman that you are!! You’re beautiful and talented and such an inspiration!! Never forget that!!
For me, when I look in the mirror and feel critical, I name 3 things I love about myself! XOXO!!
That is such a great tip! I’ll try to remember that!
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You have done amazing! You have made so much progress! It’s so hard to accept your new body when you had the old one for so long! I think you should put that quote on all your mirrors!!
You’re right. I had that body for 15 years (at its fluffy weight) so my mind won’t shift overnight. 🙂
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You have come so far, and look amazing! Love those tights, perfect Fall accessory :0) Body image changes may not come overnight but you will get there, I know it!
I picked up a pair of navy tights at the same time I got those grey/brown ones. We’ll see how long it takes me to get brave enough to wear those!
On Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 9:46 AM, A Little More Each Day wrote:
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