Today we are focusing this whole blog on YOU! Yes, You. Don't turn around and look suspiciously behind you to see if someone else is reading this. So before you have a panic attack that this blog is about to reveal your deepest darkest secrets just relax. This will be fun, I promise. Today we are going to talk about your body image and I want you to answer this question. How do YOU really feel about you? You don't have to answer on the blog (unless you want to) or to anyone. This is a moment for private personal reflection. In the past I have worked for many retailers from men's, women's, teen's, and plus size. After working for a variety of retailers I can honestly say that EVERYONE has body issues. Some people have minor body issues while others wont leave the house unless covered from neck to toe for fear that someone might see their jello jiggle. Please don't misunderstand I am not suggesting that anyone read this blog and go outside in a string bikini and flip flops. First off thats tacky and secondly thats just an inappropriate lack of fabric. I am just saying that you can't be constantly hating on your body that God created and gave to you even if it needs some work (Or just a serious work-out). I have heard beautiful women look themselves in the mirror and talk complete trash about themselves just because they have been taught to not love the skin they are in. Many people seem to be under the impression that based on your appearance is how you will attain love, friendship, and favor with jobs. While in many cases that is true and that mindset holds weight there is only so much you can do to change the way you look. Eventually you will have to be happy and content with what you have. If you read my blog strictly to hear about weight loss please keep reading. I will get to how body image improves your weight loss. So how do you change your self image? One Mirror at a time. Here are some tips to change how you feel about yourself without making drastic physical changes to your body.
Self Confidence: Be confident in what you've got NOW and you will be surprised by what you will get in your future. Here is what I mean. There is absolutely nothing wrong with recognizing that your body needs some changes but bashing your body will only lead to self destruction. If you are a man or a woman reading this and you are currently on the search for love you will find that self confidence is the sexiest thing you will put on in the morning. Of course every person has their own specific tastes for a person they find attractive but there is no denying the chemistry that can build from a person of confidence. Of course there are people who are over confident and that is a complete turn off, but someone who is comfortable in the skin their in and not afraid to embrace themselves has a kind of animal magnetism. When I started going to Zumba my brother in law couldn't believe it. It wasn't that he couldn't believe I was working out it was that he couldn't believe I had the self confidence to join a fitness class. He used to sell gym memberships and knew first hand that the majority of women (all shapes and sizes) will never set foot in a fitness class due to fear of judgement. I told him that I wanted to lose weight and enjoy doing it and that I couldn't worry about what anyone else thought of me. I can honestly say that I have not received one rude comment and that all I have received is complete support. I can't speak for every gym but i have a great one. I have women and men of all body types congratulating me regularly after classes and welcoming me into the world of fitness. There will always be people in the world who will give nasty looks but you have to realize that they probably have self image issues that cause them to turn their noses up to anyone that doesn't look like they are camera ready. Honestly, if somebody looks at you funny just blow them a kiss and say "You know you want some." It will change their life and yours.
Love thy Jiggly Jello: Please know that what I am about to say is only an opinion I don't know if there is an official study on this theory but this is just what I have known to be true in my own life and from what I have observed by many people. When people embark on a weight loss journey there is usually a motivation behind changing your entire eating and exercise habits. There are a million reasons that people decide to lose weight but one of the main reasons is because they HATE the body that they are in and want it to change. I personally think that losing weight because of body hate is the WORST reason to lose weight. If you hate your body you will usually not make lifestyle changes that are healthy. You might go on a crash diet or push yourself to hard at the gym and receive an injury, or you might find that in the early weight loss stages you will drop 20 pounds instantly and then hit a wall, become disappointed and angry, then quit your diet and balloon back those 20 pounds and gain 10 more on top of it (umm can you say yoga pants?) You have to LOVE you in order to safely and permanently change you. Think about it like this, if you are constantly holding your body to a high standard of what you think looks sexy then you will never truly be content with your body. I am not saying that you shouldn't decide to change and be healthy I am just saying that you should always love your body in all stages. I will tell you that even though I am nowhere near my ideal body weight that I LOVE my body. I think that even though the world might consider me to be a plus size that I am still a beautiful person inside and out. I walk with my head held high and think that I am gorgeous, but today isn't about what I think of me, its about what you think about YOU! Do you think your sexy? You should. Everyone is beautiful, sexy, vivacious, handsome, and down right hot in their own right. Whether you are a size 2 or a size 202 you can love yourself and be confident in your self worth and beauty. So as the great Destiny's Child once sang "I Don't think you're ready for this Jelly." Don't listen to what the world says is awesome because you already are awesome.
Make an effort: If you struggle with image issues maybe some of the actual issue is you. People will whine and complain that they hate their hair, face, body, hands, feet, or neck and the list goes on. What most people forget to realize is that a lot of what they are angry about are simple cosmetic issues. If you are unhappy with your hair they have these places called Hair Salon's which can actually change the way your hair looks (Mind Blown). Obviously you do need to be careful in your salon selection if you go to a hair chop shop and expect a life changing hair cut you will probably get one just not the change you were looking for (Do you own any good wigs? Seriously, do you?). If you don't like your hands or feet go get a pedicure or manicure and handle your snaggle toes. When it comes to your body and clothes go to a store and actually buy clothes that FIT! If you are a plus size woman and you just buy moo moos for your body thats like putting a bandaid on a bullet hole and asking for ridicule. You have curves accentuate them! Here is a secret that most people wont tell you, but if you are plus size woman then you are most likely well endowed in certain places of your body that skinny girls aren't and that means you have something sexy to show off in MODERATION. You would be surprised about how many functions fashion belts have besides holding up pants. Men, get a nice pair of jeans or a well tailored suit and you will be surprised at all the flies you will catch. If you don't like something? fix it and love it! Obviously if you want to fix your weight it will take time, but if you are making an effort along the way losing weight will be effortLESS. When I first became a mother I did not make an effort. I seriously gave up on myself and walked around looking like a frumpcake every day and it was not pretty in fact some days it was downright inappropriate. At the end of 2011 I looked at myself in the mirror and basically told myself that something had to change. So I committed that for the entire following year I would wear make up every single day of the year with the exception of like 5 days just because 366 days of make up is insanity. I will tell you that I accomplished my goal and I felt great. I felt better about myself then I had in over a year and simply because I made an effort. My husband wasn't concerned with make up but he was happy that I was happy. Sometimes making an effort is more for yourself to increase self confidence then it is for others.
There is clearly way more we could discuss today about self image but hopefully you feel better about yourself already. Remember that you will always have bad days but overall you should love the skin your in. You're not perfect so give yourself a break. Reclaim your sexy and remember to be confident in yourself, Love your Jiggly Jello, and Make and effort! You will be surprised about how this will improve your experience for weight loss and a healthy life.
Weight loss to date:
Jon: 15 pounds
Drew: 17 pounds
Healthy food discovery of the week.
PowerCrunch Bars!!! These health bars will change your life if you are on a high protein diet. They have ZERO granola in them and are designed to taste like a wafer cookie. They are a little bit chewy but they have a great flavor selection and taste way better than other protein bars. So go out and enjoy another healthy snack.
Note: We have only found these bars at Walmart and Trader Joe's so far.
If you enjoy reading my blog and are currently on a healthy journey feel free to leave comments about things that work for you or healthy food that actually tastes good for people to try. If it sounds awesome I will try it and might feature it in a blog some time. Or if you just want some support feel free to comment and I will try to respond with any help I can give.
Thank you for reading and Stay Sexy America.
Be true to you.
With love to you,
Drew
Love thy Jiggly Jello: Please know that what I am about to say is only an opinion I don't know if there is an official study on this theory but this is just what I have known to be true in my own life and from what I have observed by many people. When people embark on a weight loss journey there is usually a motivation behind changing your entire eating and exercise habits. There are a million reasons that people decide to lose weight but one of the main reasons is because they HATE the body that they are in and want it to change. I personally think that losing weight because of body hate is the WORST reason to lose weight. If you hate your body you will usually not make lifestyle changes that are healthy. You might go on a crash diet or push yourself to hard at the gym and receive an injury, or you might find that in the early weight loss stages you will drop 20 pounds instantly and then hit a wall, become disappointed and angry, then quit your diet and balloon back those 20 pounds and gain 10 more on top of it (umm can you say yoga pants?) You have to LOVE you in order to safely and permanently change you. Think about it like this, if you are constantly holding your body to a high standard of what you think looks sexy then you will never truly be content with your body. I am not saying that you shouldn't decide to change and be healthy I am just saying that you should always love your body in all stages. I will tell you that even though I am nowhere near my ideal body weight that I LOVE my body. I think that even though the world might consider me to be a plus size that I am still a beautiful person inside and out. I walk with my head held high and think that I am gorgeous, but today isn't about what I think of me, its about what you think about YOU! Do you think your sexy? You should. Everyone is beautiful, sexy, vivacious, handsome, and down right hot in their own right. Whether you are a size 2 or a size 202 you can love yourself and be confident in your self worth and beauty. So as the great Destiny's Child once sang "I Don't think you're ready for this Jelly." Don't listen to what the world says is awesome because you already are awesome.
Make an effort: If you struggle with image issues maybe some of the actual issue is you. People will whine and complain that they hate their hair, face, body, hands, feet, or neck and the list goes on. What most people forget to realize is that a lot of what they are angry about are simple cosmetic issues. If you are unhappy with your hair they have these places called Hair Salon's which can actually change the way your hair looks (Mind Blown). Obviously you do need to be careful in your salon selection if you go to a hair chop shop and expect a life changing hair cut you will probably get one just not the change you were looking for (Do you own any good wigs? Seriously, do you?). If you don't like your hands or feet go get a pedicure or manicure and handle your snaggle toes. When it comes to your body and clothes go to a store and actually buy clothes that FIT! If you are a plus size woman and you just buy moo moos for your body thats like putting a bandaid on a bullet hole and asking for ridicule. You have curves accentuate them! Here is a secret that most people wont tell you, but if you are plus size woman then you are most likely well endowed in certain places of your body that skinny girls aren't and that means you have something sexy to show off in MODERATION. You would be surprised about how many functions fashion belts have besides holding up pants. Men, get a nice pair of jeans or a well tailored suit and you will be surprised at all the flies you will catch. If you don't like something? fix it and love it! Obviously if you want to fix your weight it will take time, but if you are making an effort along the way losing weight will be effortLESS. When I first became a mother I did not make an effort. I seriously gave up on myself and walked around looking like a frumpcake every day and it was not pretty in fact some days it was downright inappropriate. At the end of 2011 I looked at myself in the mirror and basically told myself that something had to change. So I committed that for the entire following year I would wear make up every single day of the year with the exception of like 5 days just because 366 days of make up is insanity. I will tell you that I accomplished my goal and I felt great. I felt better about myself then I had in over a year and simply because I made an effort. My husband wasn't concerned with make up but he was happy that I was happy. Sometimes making an effort is more for yourself to increase self confidence then it is for others.
There is clearly way more we could discuss today about self image but hopefully you feel better about yourself already. Remember that you will always have bad days but overall you should love the skin your in. You're not perfect so give yourself a break. Reclaim your sexy and remember to be confident in yourself, Love your Jiggly Jello, and Make and effort! You will be surprised about how this will improve your experience for weight loss and a healthy life.
Weight loss to date:
Jon: 15 pounds
Drew: 17 pounds
Healthy food discovery of the week.
PowerCrunch Bars!!! These health bars will change your life if you are on a high protein diet. They have ZERO granola in them and are designed to taste like a wafer cookie. They are a little bit chewy but they have a great flavor selection and taste way better than other protein bars. So go out and enjoy another healthy snack.
Note: We have only found these bars at Walmart and Trader Joe's so far.
If you enjoy reading my blog and are currently on a healthy journey feel free to leave comments about things that work for you or healthy food that actually tastes good for people to try. If it sounds awesome I will try it and might feature it in a blog some time. Or if you just want some support feel free to comment and I will try to respond with any help I can give.
Thank you for reading and Stay Sexy America.
Be true to you.
With love to you,
Drew
Word!! :))
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