Imagine if we could accept and appreciate our bodies, rather than comparing and criticizing… what a gift we would give ourselves.
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Imagine if we could show our children that we love our bodies no matter what size they are, rather than voicing in front of them all of the changes we wish to make and all the things we don’t like about our bodies….what a gift we would give our children
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It does not mean that we can’t strive to be a healthier, fitter, stronger version of ourselves, but imagine if we could love where we are right now in our bodies while we are on our journey to an even better version of our beautiful selves 💖
This is one of the scariest things I have ever done. To be BRAVE & put myself out there into the world in this way was not something I was comfortable with there were a lot of tears & push back in relation to this campaign.
For years I have struggled with body image. I have been bigger than I am in this photo & I have been smaller.
Before I had children my relationship with food was so dysfunctional. And all I wanted after having both of my beautiful children was to ‘get my body back’ & focused more on this than nourishing myself so I could heal. I wanted to be THE ‘yummy mummy’ that I thought I should be.
I’ve struggled with depression & anxiety. I have struggled with pelvic floor issues & prolapse.
I have spent many days looking at myself in the mirror beating myself up for not being skinny enough, or not doing enough to look better, look fitter, look more beautiful.
I, just like many women, have often felt like I am NOT ENOUGH.
However, it got to a stage where my health was suffering, both mentally and physically, & I had to make a change. I had to start loving myself like the way I loved my children.
I have learnt over the past couple of years that being strong & healthy on the inside, mentally as well as physically, should be the focus.
I realised that I could not expect my children to love themselves exactly as they are if I didn't love myself exactly as I am.
I could not expect them to have a healthy relationship with food if mine was anything but healthy.
I could not expect them to work through their feelings and emotions with words, if I dealt with mine with working through a bottle of wine & a block of chocolate.
This has been my journey. And it’s been hard.
A journey of learning that less is more, learning to listen to my body, learning to nourish rather annihilate with exercise or deprive myself of food. I am learning that acknowledging how I’m feeling and working through this, rather than emotional eating or drinking, is so much better for me and all those that I love & care about.
I still have days where I don't feel I am enough.
But, I’ve learned to love myself first & know that this is the only love that truly matters ❤️
