4 Ways to Gain Peace with Your Body
LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | STITCHER
Struggling to love your body? Does it feel impossible to feel confident in your body? What if you stop focusing on trying to love or feel confident in your body and instead, you focused on trying to find peace within your body? Sometimes this mindset shift can be all you need to actually feel good in your body. But how do you actually find peace within your body? I have 4 effective ways I want to share with you in this episode of the Embrace Your Real Podcast.
What I discussed:
Realize that you don’t have to fall in love with your body to have peace with your body.
Stop forcing your body to fit into clothes.
Honor your body with movement and nourish your body with what it needs.
Remember that your body is normal.
Link mentioned in this episode:
Episode 214: 5 Things We Need to Normalize
If you want more from me, be sure to check out:
Instagram: @embraceyourreal | @movementwithjulie
Transcript:
Hey there, beautiful human. You're listening to Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter. A podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I issue a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned if you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get hugs, girl.
Back to another episode on the Embrace Your Real podcast for ways to gain peace with your body. If you're struggling to love your body or you just feel like it's impossible to feel confident in your body, I want you to stop trying to focus on loving your body or trying to feel confident in your body. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but what I really think that you need to start focusing and shifting your energy towards is finding peace within your body, because this simple mindset shift alone can truly help you on your journey towards loving your body more and feeling more confident within your body. So I'm going to be talking about that. I'm going to be giving four ways to gain peace within your body. Before we dove in, I wanted to share this review comes from Lovely Lisa. She gave a five star review and said Amazing outlooks. Your podcast is so great. Julie has a super sensitive way of explaining how you can change things in your life for the better. I'm an elementary school teacher who has not been able to really take care of myself in the way that I need to, which has led to a negative body image for me. Episode 190 really spoke to me and even had me crying on my way to work in the way she explained how many things our bodies do for us. I highly recommend listening to this podcast every day. I love this so much. First of all, the fact that you're an elementary school teacher. Props to you. I am applauding you. I am so grateful for you, all of our teachers. You guys are the real MVP's. And I just want you to know that your role is so vital in these children's lives. I look back in my thirties now. I look back at the teachers that really made an impact in my life. And some of those are elementary school teachers. So I want you to know that you have the ability to impact these children. And I'm so thankful that you found this podcast, and I'm grateful that Episode 190 really spoke to you. If you guys have not tuned into Episode 190, I encourage you to tune in to that. After this episode, I will actually link it in the show notes below, but thank you in advance for leaving a review if you haven't already. It really does bless us. It helps us just know kind of what is helping you and how this podcast is impacting you. And it also helps other women find this podcast as well. So thank you in advance for doing that. Let's dove into the four ways to gain peace within your body. Number one, you have to realize that you don't have to fall in love with your body to have peace with your body. Now, I understand in this moment, it might feel completely impossible for you to love your body. I get it. I've been there. So maybe your first step towards embracing your real and embracing your body isn't loving your body, but instead it's appreciating your body. And that might seem counterintuitive or it might seem like you can't do that. But I'm telling you, you can, because once you appreciate your body, I believe that you can find peace within your body. And once you find peace within your body, it's so much easier to love your body and be confident in your body. Right? You can find peace within your body and appreciate your body by focusing on everything that your body does for you, regardless of how you might feel about your body today. Right this way you can actually release yourself of the pressure of having to love your body and you're still shifting your focus kind of away from the appearance aspect of your body, and instead kind of inwardly focusing and respecting all the things that your body does for you on a daily basis. So again, instead of shifting and spending so much time putting your focus on like, I need to lose X amount of pounds or I need to fit into this size or I need to get rid of the cellulite or wishing that you had a bigger butt or smaller or whatever it is. Instead, you are appreciating your body and you're taking a step back and saying, Dang, I'm so grateful that my body gives me the ability to move. I'm so thankful and I'm so much gratitude that my body is breathing and that I'm able to walk. I'm able to pick up my kids. I'm able to spend time on a hike with my loved ones. I truly think that that will start to shift how you feel about your body and allow you to experience more peace in your body. And I'll tell you, when I implemented this into my daily routine in the morning, into my journaling practice, I first acknowledge every single day I thank God that I have basic utility of movement. I thank God that I have breath in my lungs, that I'm able to walk and talk and see and hear and all of those things. It has shifted my focus so much on the things that I just was going throughout my day, not even recognizing as blessings, like their blessings from God that we have this ability. And ever since I really started being intentional about adding that into my journaling practice in the morning, it has changed everything for me and I think that it will change everything for you as well. Number two, stop forcing your body into clothes that just don't fit. As long as you are trying to force your body into clothes that don't fit your body, you will never have peace within your body. Let me say that again as long as you are trying to force your body. To close that do not fit your body. You will never have peace within your body. Every time you're trying to squeeze into those jeans from pre-baby or college years, you are reminding your body what you want it to be. That it's not every time you buy those clothes that you have to lose weight to fit into your reminding your body that it is not what you want it to be. As long as you keep reminding yourself that your body is not what you want it to be, how in the heck are you supposed to find peace within your body? You can't. It's impossible. This is why you have to get rid of those clothes. Or at the very least put them far, far, far, far, far away in a box, in an attic that you won't see or in a box in a basement that you won't see. Your clothes are meant to fit you, not the other way around. And I want you to make sure that you are focusing on your clothes that are fitting your body, that you're finding clothes that fit your body. You want to find a balance between wearing clothes that make you feel confident and clothes that make you feel comfortable. And once you truly find that sweet spot, that's when you're going to start to find greater peace within your body. Right? So dress for your body, type by the size that actually fits and really not try to hide behind baggy clothes because that's the only thing that is quote unquote going to make you feel comfortable. I said finding a balance that makes you feel comfortable and confident. I don't think you feel confident if you're truly, truly hiding behind baggy clothes all the time. Now I'm all for an oversize graphic tee or an oversize crewneck. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the girl who is purposefully wearing too three sizes too big every single clothes because you're trying to hide beneath those baggy clothes. When you start to invest in pieces in your closet that actually fit your body type, that's when you start to feel more confident. I'll give you an example. For years I was on the hunt for jeans. I was like, I swear there are no jeans are humanly made for my thighs. I have bigger thighs. I always have bigger thighs. And I at one point gave up. I was like, It's just not possible. Like they're just there's not going to be jeans that fit my legs. And it wasn't until when was it diving? End of 2016. Beginning of 2017. I came across a brand on Instagram called Friend Denim. We still wear friend denim to this day, loved the company, loved the people behind the brand. They're amazing. But I'm telling you, it was a total game changer when I actually found clothes that fit my body because I every single time I would go into the store, I would try and fit into these jeans and they would either fit my thighs because I would get like five sizes too big and then they'd be so big in the waist. And I was like, Can we just not make a pair of jeans that fit my waist and fit my thighs and my booty and have it not like completely pressed down my butt? Like, I spent a lot of time growing this thing and shape in this thing. I want I want it to not be completely, you know, pressed down, like squeeze down. And so I'm telling you, was a total game changer when I found Friend Denim loved them. I also have, you know in the last few years found curve love from Abercrombie absolutely love that brand and I you know, I feel like the curve love especially fits my waist. It fits my booty. I love the different styles that they have. So all that to say is that there are brands out there. You might have to search a little bit harder, but there are brands out there that will fit your body. You just have to you have to search them out as well as finding people, especially like on Instagram or Pinterest or TikTok, people that have a similar body type to you and that are teaching you how to wear certain things. I'm in this weird age right now where, you know, I'm in my thirties and I'm trying to figure out how to dress my age. And I'm like, I typically live in athletic clothes in Lulus and Mike and Nike shoes and, you know, a oversize crewneck. And that's great and I love that for me. But I also I'm trying to find like actual what does it look like to dress myself in my thirties? So I want to invite you along that journey. I want you to know that that's totally normal as you get older and as your roles change and as and, you know, the various things change in your life, whether you go into a professional career or you come out of a professional career, you enter into motherhood or whatever it is that it's going to constantly be changing and that's okay. And just finding clothes at the end of the day that make you feel comfortable and make you feel confident and really finding that balance in that sweet spot. Number three, honoring your body with movement and nourishing your body with what it needs. Because truly, when you are respecting your body, it's hard to not feel at peace with your body. Like when you're giving it the movement that it needs and the nourishment that it needs. You feel energized, you feel happier, you feel better in your body, and you know that you're treating your body the way that it deserves to be treated. And when you're doing that, then you know you're what your body is supposed to be right for you. Sample if you are moving and nourishing your body and you don't get the skinny long legs. That's because you're not meant to have skinny long legs. You weren't born that way. This was me for so long. I tried to force myself artificially into having, like, skinny legs, and I got them at one point in college. I was down to like double zero and I'm five nine, which is not it's not natural. It was totally artificial. I remember I finally got this pair of jeans. It was like a cargo pair of pants at the time. It was low rise. Low rise was in in college, which so grateful high rises is still in. I know people are trying to make it go out of style, but I'm like, it's not going to sell. Anyways, I remember getting down to the double zero, artificially shrinking my legs, like by literally eating 900 calories a day and doing 2 hours of cardio every single day. And I remember getting those cargo pants on and thinking that I would have felt so much satisfaction and so much fulfillment. And I remember when I put those cargo pants on, even though I fit in to the double zero, I felt so just I don't even know. It was like I did not even feel fulfilled at all. It was like the total opposite of what I thought I would. And it was because I had gotten to this place where I was in. I was now in the double zero. I was wearing the style of pant that I, I told myself I could never wear before. And yet I think I felt so unfulfilled because I knew what it took to get there and what it took to get there was not sustainable. It was completely artificial. So as forcing my body to be something that it was not naturally meant to be. And that's so important to remember. And I think that it's it's going to take time to naturally allow your body what it's supposed to be. And that happens through nourishing your body with what it needs and moving your body consistently, not perfectly, but consistently. But when you're not depriving your body and you're not overtraining and you're giving your body what it needs, you will feel great and you will realize that your body will naturally become something that it's supposed to be and serve you sort of artificially forcing your body to be something that it's not or at the very, very least forcing it to be something that it's not. And then you realize you get there just like me, and then saying, Dang, that's not sustainable. I can't eat 900 calories for the rest of my life. I can't do 2 hours of cardio every single day. I'm miserable. I'm absolutely miserable. All that to say, just know that when you honor your body and with movement consistently and nurse your body with what it needs, it will naturally become what it's supposed to be. And when you feel great in your body, it's super, super hard not to feel at peace in your in your body. Number four, remember that your body is normal. Your body's not Photoshopped, your body's not curated, it's not perfectly posed in just the right lighting. Your body is a natural woman's body. I think that we have lost sight of what a natural woman's body actually looks like, just a normal body. Like we're so used to seeing all these bodies that have been photoshopped or in the perfect lighting or the perfect angle. And we spent so much time staring at these bodies that we have really forgotten that those bodies that you're seeing that are, you know, 10% body fat and in perfect lighting and have perfectly chiseled abs, like that's not real. That's not realistic. And and then we compare that to what we look at in the mirror, and then we're dissatisfied. You have to remember that that's not real. We need to come back to the truth. We need to remember that the majority of women have cellulite, that stretch marks are normal, they're beautiful, and we need to have fat on our bodies to have healthy hormone levels. And that not having perfectly defined muscles and, you know, these super, super slim legs that don't have barely any fat on them, that's not normal for most women. I mean, some women maybe they're they're feeling their body optimally. They're moving their body consistently. And they have these really long, skinny legs. But that's not the majority of us, you know, 98% of us. That's just not the case. And that's okay. Our curves are beautiful, our cellulite is beautiful, our stretch marks are beautiful. And you may not believe that right now, but I'm telling you that I do, because those are the things that make your body unique to me. Those are the things that make your body who you are. They tell a story if you have cellulite, if you have stretch marks, if you have a scar from a C-section, whatever it is, that's you. That's your story, that's unique. And that uniqueness is beautiful to me. I actually talk about this a lot more in-depth in episode 214 Five Things We Need to Normalize. I highly recommend tuning into that episode. If you haven't already listened to it or listen to it again, I really think that it's a reminder that we need to remember that these things are normal. So there you have it. Those are the four ways to gain peace within your body. Number one, realize that you don't have to fall in love with your body to have peace with your body in a. Or to stop forcing your body to fit into clothes that are not meant for your body. Number three Honor your body with movement and nurse your body with what it needs and it will naturally become what it's supposed to be. And number four, remember that your body is normal and your body is unique and the things on your body that you might hate right now, please, I'm telling you from a sister. Those are the things that make you unique and that tells your story. And that's beautiful to me. Again, I will link to episodes Episode 190 that was mentioned earlier in this podcast as well as Episode 214 five Things We Need to Normalize. I will link both of those in the show notes that you can easily go listen to those next. If you have a sister, a friend, a coworker, or someone in your life that you feel like would really benefit from this pep talk, I just ask that you share it out with them. You can copy the link, send it to them in a text message. You can also screenshot this and post it up on your story. I would love to hear your thoughts on this specific topic. That is all that I have for today's episode. I love you so much. I mean it and I'll talk to you the next time. All right, sister. That's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so, Julie. A lot better. Yes. It's with a name medal for that Daily Post workout. Real talk, healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing. Be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember, that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace Syria because you're worth it.