How to fall back in love with your body

Learning to love your body is hard.

Even with so many body positive movements out there, it is still hard to change our internal dialogue, especially if you have disliked your body for a long time.

Changing your mindset from ‘I hate the way I look’ to a more positive outlook such as ‘I am proud of my body’, or more importantly ‘I love my body’, takes time and a conscious decision to learn to love yourself again.

Start by being kind to yourself. Your body has been quietly trying to look after you since the day you were born, even if it is not perfect, it has always been doing the very best it can. Finding this to be grateful about your body is a good way to change your focus from what you don’t like, to what you do. Start with small things, maybe it is the colour of your eyes, your smile, how strong your legs are, how smooth your skin is, what you have achieved with your body or maybe it is as simple as your body being a safe place for your kids/grandkids to come for a cuddle. Write them down, then work on adding to your list and reading it daily.

Stay away from social media feeds that make your feel bad about your body and make you compare yourself to others. Remind yourself that majority of those glamorous celebrities and reality stars have had a whole team of people putting their image together and often have their images photoshopped to ensure they look ‘perfect’ and fit the ideal. This is not reality and comparing ourselves to this will only contribute to feelings of not being good enough.

Instead, find body positive people to follow who have similar bodies to yours. Building your social media content around people who are celebrating their bodies and showing they feel confident, sexy and happy, exactly as they are, helps to change your perception of what it beautiful.

Remove the belief that when you look a certain way you will finally be happy. Believing that we need to reach a size or a weight goal to be loved, accepted, valued or respected solidifies in your mind that you are not worthy as you are and this could not be further from the truth. Understanding that you are worthy of absolutely everything life has to offer right now, exactly as you are, is where you will truly find happiness.

But even with all this being said and rationally understanding why you should love yourself, changing a lifetime of belief and mindset is hard. So, if you are struggling to find your way, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for help. Book in with a therapist or a psychologist who can support you on your journey to self-love.