Shall we Start 2022 a Little Differently this Year?  

Each year we often put way too much pressure on ourselves to lose, shed, change.  A common  theme being the pounds we gained over the Christmas periods. Let us scrap that this year and instead focus on losing the weight of our negative thoughts instead. 

Our bodies are amazing and we encourage you to practice appreciating and loving them instead of putting them down.  No-one in this world is defined by their mass, yourself included.

In today's article, we will explore subtle language changes that can profoundly effect the benefits of self talk, self love and thus our outer realities.  Learning that you have fat, you are not fat and that you feel sadness, you are not sadness is key.

This year, the only weight you need to lose, is the weight of body shaming and gaslighting yourself. You are wonderfully perfect as you are.

Validate every goal that you have and give yourself permission to achieve it. Then release the obsessing about said goal. Consider it instead as already done. Call in success to you now and if you are a person that wants to loose weight, that is perfectly okay.  Just know your why inside and out and know that happiness and self worth can only be achieved from the inside.

Your Self Worth is Not Measured by The Numbers on the Scales

Weight loss yoga, weight loss intermittent fasting and weight loss workouts are just fine, but happiness and self-acceptance cannot be measured by a number. If you are focused on getting down to your ideal weight and your why is to be happy, it is unlikely when you reach it, you will suddenly be happy. Happiness really does start from within. You can be happy even when the number on the scales don't reflect your desired mass. Where does that desired mass come from? Start unpicking this question to really start healing from it.

This year we are prioritising self-love and self-care, so repeat after us and release all negative feelings and thoughts about yourself.   

Self confidence positive affirmations :

  • I love and accept my body,
  • I am complete right now, exactly how I am, 
  • I honour and respect myself and my body,
  • I love myself unconditionally.

As soon as the new year comes in, everything seems to be about losing weight. Here at Beautifully Nourished, we will not encourage this trend. Instead, we want to help you to accept and love yourself just the way you are and if that self love leads to a desired change weight, well that is just a different conversation entirely. 

If you are consistent with eating healthful and nourishing foods and exercising regularly, you will find that your body mirrors that too.

As woman our bodies subtly change through the cycles- it is important to love, embrace and celebrate these changes.

This year, opt to show up for yourself - this way looking and feeling your best will be the natural result.  Make taking care of yourself your number one priority, this year and always.  

The Problem

Sometimes, especially as women, we are discussed and discuss through only one lens of beauty and how closely we fall into that lens or from it.

This narrow lens contorts, contours and conforms the varied, vast and infinite great beauty of the world into "smaller".

It leaves amazonian, tall women cowering down, petite beauties walking on blistering tippy toes, paler complexions with orange tones on their face and darker complexions avoiding the sun.

When women are relegated to moods, mannerisms, squeezed into one way of being, our soul suffers and our light dims. We become captured, in mind, body and soul, no longer our free, wild and beautiful selves. But we can set ourselves free from damaging conditioning at any time.

Today, we encourage you to draw a wider circle that embraces beauty in all its forms. 

Tips to self confidence:

Change The Way You Speak to Self 

"To my daughter I will say See your beauty without a mirror or a compliment"- Della Hicks-Wilson

Each time you want to say something negative about your body, ask yourself if you would speak to someone you love like that. Would you tell your daughter you hate her curves? Or that she looks so fat today? Of course not, so do not do that to yourself either.

The answer to everything that you seek lies within self love. 

Speak to yourself with body positivity words. Instead of saying what we are lacking, or what we do not have, we can choose to appreciate what we do have. For example, every time you look in the mirror and you say I hate my body, I am too fat, its coming from a place of lack.

You are not fat, you have fat, note the difference and note the change in narrative.  You also have hair, are you hair? Of course not.

So why do we do this to ourselves? Probably because of alot of societal conditioning and learned behaviours that we can thankfully unlearn.

Make a conscious effort to upgrade your narrative. Love every part of you, even the parts of you that you want to change and the part of you that wants to change. It all comes back to self love.

For every negative thought you say about yourself, tell yourself 5 things you love about yourself.   

What to do when your self confidence is low : 

Bring Appreciation into your Daily Routine  

Start every morning by thinking of three things you are looking forward to. Recite positive affirmations and end every day by listing three things you are grateful for.

Some of our favourite daily affirmations are:⁠

  • I wake up motivated.⁠
  • I can handle anything that comes my way.⁠
  • I All I need is within me right now.⁠
  • I Happiness is a choice, and today I choose to be happy.⁠
  • I am love.⁠
  • I am successful.⁠
  • ⁠I am confident.⁠
  • ⁠I am powerful.⁠
  • ⁠I am strong.⁠
  • ⁠I am grateful for everything I have in my life.⁠
  • ⁠I am getting healthier every day.⁠

Summary: Esteem

The self esteem definition is "confidence in one's own worth or abilities.  It includes the aspect of self-respect".  Levels of self esteem effect levels of self worth, with self esteem building coming from a combination of the above.

Why is self esteem so important? Because it builds the framework for all else. Developing self esteem and self confidence will affect all other areas of your life.  Self confidence benefits include showing up in the world as you authentically are and being able to express your truth and beauty.

You are you and that is your superpower.  You need to shed, change, distort absolutely nothing at all.  Instead, shine your light and your unique beauty and perspective out into this world.  The world around you will thank you for it.

All our love, Team BN x

Katherine Blake