Body Image Y’all

You guys! I am so tired of women, moms especially, talking shamelessly about their “goal” of losing weight and obsessing over their bodies. 

I’ve spent this whole year focusing on getting healthy … mind, body and soul … and because of that I’ve lost 40 pounds. But, this is the first time I have ever posted anything about the weight loss because that is not my focus. My goal has been and will continue to be trying to live healthy, every day, in every way. 

I won’t even utter the words lose weight in front of Victoria. It literally makes me want to cry hearing the way women (and men) talk about the way they look and their bodies on social media. Whether it’s their faces, or their butts, or their hair, or their stomach, I don’t really care. And the thought of them passing those insecurities along to their children is even more heartbreaking. Some do it jokingly, some are dead serious. But our words are powerful and the result is all the same … low self esteem. 

My confidence has grown this year more than any other year of my life but it’s not because I’ve lost a little weight. It’s because I’ve grown to love my body and my choices right where I’m at while continually striving to be better. I want to live a long life and I don’t want to have any physical limitations. I know I’m beautiful, and I was 40 lbs ago too. And I will be if I lose more weight, but that will never be the goal. 

All of this is just to say that I love seeing people post before and after pictures. I love hearing about different ways that people are learning about health and I love seeing people trying to constantly improve themselves. What I cannot handle is when I see women posting constant pictures of their bodies and critiquing them on social media. Or the never ending supply of posts about what they’re eating and incessantly mentioning weight loss as their only goal in front of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of other people. 

It’s time to love yourself into health, not hate yourself into an obsession with working out and eating perfect. It’s time to change the conversation about “dieting” from a poor body image to loving yourself enough to make good choices, while still enjoying life. Diet and excercise are a gift from God. He gave us so many different kinds of foods and beautiful bodies that heal and care for themselves if we just put in the tiniest of effort. 

Be an example to your children. Encourage them to make healthy choices, but don’t you dare tell them that they need to lose weight or that they should change ANYTHING about the beautiful little person that God made them.  I had a little girl in Victoria’s class tell me yesterday that she lost some weight and went on about how that was a good thing. She is seven. Seven! Losing weight should not even be on her radar in ANY capacity. It broke my heart when she said that. I looked that sweet little girl directly in the face and I told her that she is beautiful just the way she is and that her weight is perfect. That she is just right and that I wouldn’t change a single thing about the way that she looks. Her face lit up as if it was the first time she ever heard such a thing. Like I said, heartbreaking.  

The conversation needs to change. It’s our responsibility to love ourselves first. To be an example to our children and then to teach them how to make healthy choices. Not to shame item into hating their bodies. So let’s stop posting repeated pictures of our bodies all over social media. Let’s stop talking non-stop about losing weight and our current diet and let’s start talking about how beautiful we are right now, right where we’re at. Beautiful, imperfect, and a work in progress.