News flash, everyone deals with body confidence issues! News flash number two, we can help ourselves and one another!
photos by apt b. photography
Happy Friday! To switch things up a bit, I decided to dive into a topic I find to be very important: body confidence. I touched on the subject in this post about body shaming but I want to dive a little deeper. The main reason behind that is that I’ve realized more and more that EVERY woman deals with this. No matter what age she is, what size she is, what color she is, or what ethnicity she is. Body confidence is a struggle for every woman, in one way or another, small or large. And not just women, but shemales too. The proud women and men you can find on www.tubev.sex/categories/1657/shemale, must surely struggle more than most with body confidence, but I’m here to say that we’re all in it together.
Recently I’ve spent some time with woman that are my age, 10 years older, 20 years older, 30+ years older and you know what, they all have body confidence issues. There are parts of their bodies they’re super unhappy with. Was this just me or did you think at a certain age you’d be comfortable in your skin? You’d be content, happy, and confident? I 100% believed that. You want to know part of the reason I felt that way? MEDIA. I remember reading statements from Anne Hathaway and Beyonce {others too} stating that once they hit thirty things changed. They were confident, they loved their bodies. So here I was thinking alright, I have three years to go and then HELLO confidence!
Well my bubble has been burst after spending time with the woman I mentioned above. And because of that, I wanted to be real with y’all! I wanted to let you know that you’re not alone in being unhappy or nitpicky about a certain part of your body. It happens and sadly, it doesn’t go away!
Being a blogger, I feel the pressure every day to look my best, be put together, be in perfect shape, and lose weight so I look better in the outfits I share with you. BUT I really like food y’all! I also, may not like certain parts of my body but I am me and as I mentioned in this post, God made me this way, so I should love and celebrate my body! Just as y’all should!!
{fact: the part of my body I am most self conscious about is my arms. All of the photos in today’s post have never been shared on Louella Reese because of my lack of confidence in my arms in these photos. But today, I’m pushing that body shaming out of my head and being proud of my arms. They’re strong and like the Planet Fitness commercial says, “I lift things and put them down” haha}
So with that said, I wanted to share a couple of tips on how to have better body confidence and how to help change the game! Let’s help one another know that ONE we are not alone in our lack of body confidence {some days, some days I know we strut our stuff and rock it like J.Lo} and TWO that we are ALL beautiful!
End Body Shaming – as I mentioned, in this post I talk all about body shaming and how making myself stopped really helped increase my body confidence. I highly recommend giving it a try and read this post! I promise you’ll notice a difference in how you feel about yourself very quickly! When you stop body shaming yourself, you’ll also stop body shaming others! Which is something we should all want to put an end to!
Me Mirror Time – spend a couple of minutes a day, in the morning before work, in the evening when you wash your face and do your bedtime routine, or when you get out of the shower and look at yourself in the mirror. I mean really look at yourself. Then out loud, say two things you LOVE about your appearance. NOTHING negative, only positive thoughts here. For me, the first time I did this, I said I love my freckles and I love my collarbone. Two really random things but they are two things I truly love about myself. Saying things you love rather than tearing your body apart in front of the mirror will quickly create higher body confidence and better self image!
Give Honest, Sweet Compliments – when you see a gal totally rocking her look or you notice a coworker trying out a new hairstyle, give her a compliment! Maybe you know the gal, maybe you don’t but you gifting her an honest, sweet compliment could completely make her day. You could also raise her confidence and give her the ability to hold her head a little higher and strut her stuff for the rest of the day! I personally LOVE doing this and find myself providing strangers with compliments more times then not. I honestly believe I gain a little extra confidence by saying something!
Be Proud of Yourself – if you’re making it to the gym 2+ days a week or taking the stairs instead of the elevator lately, be proud. Celebrate you and the steps you are taking towards a healthier, better you! You don’t have to run a marathon {but if you are, you go girl!} to make yourself proud. Every little thing you do should be celebrated because you’re choosing to love you, to take time for yourself. That’s a pretty big deal! So be proud of yourself! And keep taking those steps.
Wear What You’re Confident in – Sometimes I’ll try something different or try a look that I think will be “cool” for the blog and it doesn’t turn out so great. Why? Because I didn’t feel confident in that look. Therefore, you could see it in the photos. I wasn’t rocking the look, the look was rocking me. Always wear items and styles you love. Your confidence in those looks will shine through and you’ll be left feeling better about yourself.
Those are my tips and my little spiel on body confidence. I hope you enjoyed this slightly different post! If you have tips on increasing body confidence I would LOVE to hear them. Comment below and share your tips with all of us! Have a great weekend ladies, you’re ALL beautiful!
I love this so much! body confidence is such a struggle for all women, and the more we make it an open discussion the more it helps! kudos to you friend!
xo!
SHelby
http://www.glitterandgingham.com
Thank you so much gal! I really appreciate your comment and agree with you 100%.
xo Laura Leigh
I love this mini series you have created on body confidence! A must-read for women! And girl, you are pretty inside and OUT! Don’t ever forget that!
-Morgan
How 2 Wear It [] http://how2wearit.com
Thank you lady! I think I’m realizing more and more how important this conversation is. Thank YOU! You’re sooo sweet and the same is definitely true about you.
xo Laura Leigh
Some great tips! You’re so right- we should be able to love and celebrate our bodies. Thanks for sharing your positive thoughts on body confidence!
http://www.allthatjae.com
Thank you gal! I’m so happy you found them to be helpful. Yes, we definitely should! Of course gal, thank you for reading!
xo Laura Leigh
This was such a well-written post, my friend! I love that you shared these photos – it’s always such a big step to post photos that you aren’t 100% comfortable with. Personally, I LOVE them!
Pink Champagne Problems
Thank you sweet friend! Yes, it was definitely a little hard to hit publish knowing I was {am} not 100% confident in myself in the photos. Thank you! I really appreciate that Dana!
xo Laura Leigh
I adore this!! I am the worst about be hard on myself and my body, but we must embrace what God gave us. You are such a beauty, outside and inside.
xo, Lily
Beauty With Lily
Yay, I am so glad you like the post. I completely agree lady, we need to embrace our bodies and love them as God does. You are so sweet, I truly appreciate your comment Lily!
xo Laura Leigh
Lady, you are GORGEOUS! Show them pretty arms off! Lovely post and such a good reminder to be positive and confident. I think blogging has made it WAY harder for me personally. Watching my weight fluctuate year over year in documented outfit photso is not easy at all.
xo Jessica
My Style Vita
Thank you so much Jessica! I really appreciate that and I am definitely working on exposing them more often, with confidence! Glad you enjoyed the post and the reminder. I totally agree with you on blogging making the whole thing harder. Right there with you. But I also think it has made me more confident in some ways. Like taking photos and strutting my stuff in front of random strangers haha.
xo Laura Leigh
I LOVE THIS POST GF! SO MANY PEOPLE STRUGGLE WITH BODY CONFIDENCE AND IT’S SO GREAT TO PUT ALL THIS OUT THERE!
XOXO,
KIM
Thank you Kim! SO HAPPY you love it! I completely agree and again, thank you!
xo Laura Leigh
First of all, love the site and logo! Second of all, I needed to hear this today!! Thank you for your bravery and vulnerability!! I am guilty of being so hard on myself. i think my face is too chubby, my arms are fat and my tummy looks preggers! The list goes on!! We need to end this for sure. We are all stunning no matter what!!
Yay, thrilled you love the site + logo! Really makes my day. Aw gal, I am so happy I could provide some words you needed to hear today. That is exactly what I intended for this post. Well Ruthie you are truly a natural beauty and blow me away daily with you beauty, both in and out. You are correct, we are all stunning! Thanks for your sweet comment lady!
xo Laura Leigh
I love all of the talks about body confidence and building people up. I like that more women are talking about body issues and things they’ve experienced. Everyone goes through it, and it’s so nice to know we’re not alone.
I completely agree with you Laura! Even just reading everyone’s comments on this post are amazing. You see how much it affects everyone and how much better people feel when it’s talked about. I love that our generation has really opened the conversation!
xo Laura Leigh
You are right, EVERYONE deals with this! Body shaming needs to end and everyone should feel beautiful with what they have been given. Gorgeous post. 🙂
I couldn’t agree more, the shaming needs to stop. Shaming ourselves and others! Thank you so much Ashley! I really appreciate it gal.
xo Laura Leigh
It is awesome that you are speaking out about body confidence because it really is a huge issue now and days. I think the media just makes it worse because everyday we see these super thin, and gorgeous woman, and we all think “I want to look like that”. But you look great girl! it’s awesome that you’re sharing your INSECURIties. And I think you look great in those photos. This post will help a lot of girls out there that are struggling with body confidence.
http://sugarcoatedbears.blogspot.com/
You are so right gal! We see those photos and want that, think that’s what we’re suppose to look like. It’s crazy and for so many of us, completely unrealistic. Thank you SO much for your comment and kind words. I really, really appreciate them. I really do hope this post helps and just opens the conversation more!
xo Laura Leigh
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, for writing up this post, you beautiful soul! This is something that I’m really passionate about, as someone who had a severe eating disorder, and still struggles with body dysmorphia. It can be incredibly challenging to accept our bodies, especially in this day and age, where social media dictates our actions, and supermodels are around every corner of Instagram. But you took action, and I’m so thankful for that! Not only did you just SAY you want to advocate body positivity, but you took the leap and shared those photos. And girl, your arms are fantastic. I for real try to always pick out the things I love in the mirror (learned that one a while back and still encourage others to do it as well), and I’m working on complimenting more! It’s easy to do online, but harder to have the courage to do in person haha. But again, thank you for sharing your heart here. You’re going to impact so many lives this way!
You are the absolute sweetest Stephanie! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your comment and all that you shared. You are so brave and strong. I truly admire you and all that you do + share on your blog. You are very right, it’s harder to be nice to yourself in person that it is to be online, easy to say you can do that but to actually do it, takes a lot more effort and confidence! Thank you again!
xo Laura Leigh
I will DEFINITELY check out your ” body shaming” post right now. I love to see bloggers talk about personal issues as well.
kmeetsstyle.com
Aw yay, thank you for taking the time to read both. I really appreciate that and glad you enjoyed this post.
xo Laura Leigh
Love this post, girl! we DEFINITELY all have things we’re self conscious about (for me it’s my thighs… i need to do more squats, lol) but that’s the awesome thing about bloggers- we dont’ all have to look like models because that’s not always relatable!
xo, Kristina
YES! I love what you said, we don’t all have to look like models. That is so true and so fabulous.
xo Laura Leigh
This post is amazing! you are so right. Sometimes it can be so hard trying to be perfect all the time, but we have to remember we are all beautifully and wonderfully made in God’s image! XO
jamaria | throughjamseyes.com
Thank you so much Jamaria! That is true and something I think so many of us struggle with because of social media, we think we need to be perfect. We don’t! We need to enjoy life and know we’re perfect in God’s eyes.
xo Laura Leigh
Aw I love this! It is so true everyone deals with body issues– I have been struggling with body issues my whole life. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you gal! I hope it gave you a little boost of confidence today 🙂
xo Laura Leigh
Ahh laura, this post is wonderful. Thank you for being so open and honest. i feel you, there are so many things i get self-conscious about on my body but i’m trying to learn to love them and be positive. this topic is soo important. Also, i’m the same way that i freaking love food haha!!!
Thank you so much Audrey! I really appreciate it gal. So glad you agree it is an important topic! I think the first step for all of us is all of us admitting this is an important topic and one that needs to be talked about it! YES there is nothing better than some tasty food haha. Glad I’m not alone in that either.
xo Laura Leigh
This is beautifully written post girl. go you! I struggle with this so so much, but i’m working to get through it.
Xx Taylor
http://lightscameracatwalk.com/
P.s. I recognize these spots! Hope you had the best time in Sav! Xo
Thank you Taylor! You’re so sweet and I truly appreciate you commenting. I hate that it is something you struggle with but please know you are not alone. Hope this post helped with that a bit.
Yes, Savannah was the BEST! I cannot wait to go back.
xo Laura Leigh
AMAZING ARTICLE- BEING BODY POSITIVE IS SO SO IMPORTANT! IT NEED TO BE EMPHASIZED!
XO
SARA
Ah thank you so very much!!!! Glad you enjoyed it.
xo Laura Leigh
Gorgeous!!! Love tHis post!! So inpsiring!!! I Have an issue with my arms too so i totally connected whth what you were saying. Thanks for sharing 😉
Xoxo,
Angelle
http://www.dashingdarlin.com
Thank you so much gal! I really appreciate your comment. Hope we can both gain more confidence in our arms and rock more sleeveless items.
xo Laura Leigh