Taking on the task of learning to love your body more is a big job. With plenty of outside influences telling us that we aren’t good enough, it takes real work to tune out the external noise and tune into your own inner voice. The road to positive body image is not a one-size-fits-all journey, which makes expected because we are all different in beautiful ways. And learning to love yourself doesn’t have to be conquered in a day. If this mental transformation about the way you see yourself is really going to stick, take your time to increase body positivity in healthy ways. To learn how to conquer and commit to a positive self-image, check out these 7 small steps to learn to love your body.
Treat yourself as nice as you treat others
The golden rule is to treat others the way you want to be treated, but likely what no one ever told you is that you must first treat yourself well. The way you treat yourself is the way others will treat you, because they will mimic your own standards.
Don’t buy into trying to be a certain pant size
One huge way to improve the way you feel about your body is to get away from society’s “one-size fits all” beauty standards. One size does not fit all, and that’s a good thing because every size and shape is beautiful. So try to gradually stop applying a sliding scale of good or bad depending on your pant size.
Stop obsessing over the scale
Let’s face it. It is a guilty pleasure to look at the scale frequently to gauge how your weight is fluctuating. But if you are trying to repair your body image, obsessing over how many pounds you weigh is not healthy. Try to stop looking at the scale on too regular of a basis. And if this proves difficult, then toss the scale out all together for now.
Say positive affirmations in the mirror
Now this may sound silly, but talking to yourself in the mirror is a simple way to start changing what your inner voice says to you daily. If you start training yourself to speak positively when you look in the mirror every morning, eventually you may internalize that positivity within. Start with small affirmations and continue to manifest body positive ideas.
Stop crash dieting
Crash diets may work for a short while, but most who use them can attest to the fact that the results never last. Putting your body through the stress and agony of crash diets not only sends a mental message to your psyche that your body is deserving of neglect, it is usually dangerous. If you want to lose weight, try gradual but consistent changes that will help you shed weight and also maintain a healthy body and mind.
Don’t compare yourself to other people
Yes, this is easier said than done. But it is essential to start the process of embracing your body. If you are constantly comparing yourself to Instagram models or celebrities, you will always give yourself an impossible standard of beauty to attain. This is not to say that these people are impossibly beautiful, but that many online images we assign as standards of beauty are heavily photoshopped and filtered. So make yourself your only competition. If you have to, unfollow a few people until you can healthily interact with others and not compare yourself.
Treat yourself to something special
Whether it’s a spay day, a cup of frozen yogurt or a new dress, give yourself some love. If you are on this road to repairing your body image, chances are you are pretty hard on yourself. Show yourself and your efforts some appreciation and be proud of yourself for how far you’ve come.