There is a huge difference between physical health and body image. The way that you see yourself translates directly into the way that you feel about yourself and even if you lead a healthy, balanced lifestyle, you need a dose of self love in order to feel really good. With so many ad campaigns out there presenting a specific version of the human body, however, it’s easy to feel down about the way you look, punishing yourself for not fitting into a certain model. It’s time to take a step back. The media is so far removed from reality that there is no point in comparing yourself to the images that it presents. By accepting who you are and seeing your body for the amazing things it can do, you can improve your body image and feel truly healthy.
- Remember That You Are Whole Person
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Is there a part of your body that you really don’t like? Focusing on your flaws might be a part of your reality but by doing it too often, you can seriously warp your self image. You are more than just the sum of your parts and accepting your body for how it is in its entirety is the only way to truly become happy. Try thinking about the non-physical parts of yourself that you like. Your personality makes up so much of who you are and learning to love it will help you to see yourself in a different light.
- Stop Punishing Yourself
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Setting yourself a fitness regime is a great way of pushing yourself to get into shape but once you start approaching the concept as a chore, you’re much less likely to keep going. Skipping an exercise session now and then is not going to make any major changes to the way that you look; being healthy is a longer process and often, you can’t help any changes that might come in between. As long as you stick to a healthy lifestyle in general, it doesn’t matter if you feel too wiped to complete your fitness set one evening. Punishing yourself will only make you associate exercise with negativity and doing so can change your perspective of fitness in general.
- Stop Looking At The Sizes
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The size of your clothes is often the major indicator of how you feel about your body and failing to fit into a certain item can really bash your self confidence. Size is just a number. Often, clothing stores vary their sizes massively and what you might fit into at one place can be far too small at another. Try to focus on how your body looks. If you’re buying clothes that fit, that’s all that really matters. Flattering your body shape can help you to feel better about the way that you look and forget about the label inside of your clothes.
- Treat Yourself As You Would Your Friends
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You know that nasty voice inside of your head? That’s not really who you are. Telling yourself negative things about your body and then believing in them is an all too common side effect of trying to lose weight and yet, it is something that has no founding in reality. Try changing your perspective. The next time you hear yourself saying something bad about your image, imagine you were talking to a family member or a close friend. The chances are that you wouldn’t talk to someone that you love in the same way, so why would you choose to talk to yourself like that?