5 Facts About Body Image You Need to Remember
LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | STITCHER
As women conditioned by society, body image is something that will most likely consume our minds from time to time. And that is normal and unavoidable. That is why we need to be mentally prepared for when these times arrive.
In this episode, I want to dive into five crucial facts about body image that I believe will be valuable for you to keep in mind the next time those bad body image days start to pop up.
What I discuss:
Fact #1: It is only how you see your body and not how others see your body.
Fact #2: Feeling fat is just a feeling.
Fact #3: Your body image changes daily, but it's impossible for your body to change daily.
Fact #4: Your menstrual cycle changes everything.
Fact #5: You can fake it till you make it.
If you love this episode, you might also love...
Episode 205 - 5 Things to Do on Bad Body Image Days
Episode 285 - 4 Ways to Gain Peace With Your Body
Episode 280 - 10 Truths about Your Self-worth
If you want more from me, be sure to check out...
Instagram: @embraceyourreal | @movementwithjulie
Movement With Julie | App: https://sale.movementwithjulie.com/
Macro Counting Made Simple: https://www.macrocountingmadesimple.com/
Website: www.juliealedbetter.com
Free e-book: www.juliealedbetter.com/free-ebook
Amazon Storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/influencer-6bda1ca8?ref=cm_sw_em_r_inf_pub_influencer-6bda1ca8_dp_DgsIam9salgfi
Transcript:
[00:00:00] Hey. Hey, beautiful human. Can I steal 5 minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Real with Me, Julie Ledbetter. I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace a real. Let's get it. Let's go. [00:00:22][22.7]
[00:00:31] Hello and welcome back to another bonus episode on the Embrace Your Real podcast. No matter how much weight you lose or muscle you gain or how perfectly you stick to your nutrition, whether that's counting macros, whatever it is, you will likely face poor body image days, sometimes weeks, sometimes months. And as women conditioned by society, this is something that will most likely consume all or some of our minds from time to time. And that's normal and it's probably unavoidable. But even if it's unavoidable, I still think that we can prepare for that. And so that's why in today's episode, I want to help you be mentally prepared for when these times arrive and I'll be sharing five facts about your body image. Free to keep in mind the next time that bad body image kind of pops up. [00:01:10][38.9]
[00:01:10] Before you dive in, though, I want to share this review. It comes from Lava Abe. This is so cool. She says, Just found you. Wow. I just found this podcast randomly. Except not because I don't think anything is random, but God today it's exactly what I've been missing. Encouragement and truth is swirled with a dose of practical help. Thanks, Julie. Excited to keep listening along. [00:01:30][19.3]
[00:01:30] I couldn't agree more with this. I don't think anything is random. I think that things are ordained and I think that we are prepared up until a moment. It's just it's just so cool how God orchestrates things. And I'm so grateful that you found this podcast. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to send in this review. The reviews really do help us out in terms of just other people finding the podcast. So if you could scooch over to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating interview, that would really, really help us out. [00:01:56][25.9]
[00:01:56] Okay, So here are the five facts about body image that I want to dive into. Number one, it is only how you see your body and not how other people see your body. I know this is super cliché, but nonetheless it's a fact. Remember, that body image is very subjective and influenced by personal perceptions and experiences. This means that you are most likely the only one that notices that your body doesn't meet the expectations for your body. Other people are way more focused on your personality, your character scale, your love, your kindness, your silliness, your smile, literally everything else but what your body is looking like. [00:02:31][34.3]
[00:02:31] And I know you've heard this 10,000 times. It's not brand new information that I'm dropping on you right now, but the next time that you feel self-conscious about your body, I need you to repeat this to yourself. I am the only one viewing my body in a negative light. This is only my perception. It's not the reality. No one else is looking at me and seeing what I'm seeing in myself. I'm the only one that is thinking these things about my body. And I also like to back that up with some scripture or back that up with just an affirmation of like, God sees me beautifully and wonderfully, and he's created me in his image and it just reminds me and grounds me back to the truth that I am created by a God who loves me so much and who calls me beautiful. And when God calls us beautiful, like he's looking at our heart, he's looking at the inward, the only thing that lives on after this world. And so just reminding yourself of that is so important. [00:03:25][53.6]
[00:03:26] And I have just found that combating the enemy's lies and these lies that come into our head so frequently with truth and backing it up with these declarations of what God says about us can be so powerful. [00:03:40][14.9]
[00:03:41] Fact number two, feeling fat is just a feeling. So I know oftentimes we are like, I just feel so fat. I'm just going to be flat out honest. Like I say that so many times. You're on my period around just days and I'm feeling achy, and we need to remember that it's a feeling, right? Like it's a feeling to feel fat. And the thing about feelings is that they can change in an instant. Like you can feel, Oh, I'm super lean, I feel super skinny today. And then the next moment you're like, Oh my gosh, you feel suddenly fat. So we have to remember that these feelings are super fleeting. And the next time that you feel something, just remind yourself that it's going to pass. Like, Oh, I'm feeling this way. It's just a feeling. [00:04:24][42.8]
[00:04:24] Feelings will just eventually pass and just remembering that these feelings are so fleeting and to not get so caught up in the moment in what you're feeling, because likely in the next ten, 15 or 24 hours or 72 hours, you're likely going to be feeling something different. And so don't put so much energy into dwelling over the feeling that you're having. [00:04:48][23.2]
[00:04:48] Number three, your body image will change daily. It's impossible for you to change your body daily, though, right? Body image can This can fluctuate based on various factors such as your mood, your mindset, external influences. What are you going through? What? What did you eat? What didn't you eat? Did you work out? Did you move? How much water? What are you drinking? What's how much sleep did you get? You know, all of these things. The list can go on and on. However, your physical body does not undergo drastic changes on a daily basis. And I think that that differentiation is important to remind yourself of. Like we need to keep this in mind for those bad body image days. Like it's impossible. Truly impossible to gain £5 of fat overnight. So maybe one morning you fell, you know. Oh, my gosh, I feel so lean today. And the next morning you're like, Oh my gosh, I feel like a beached whale just being fat around. It's like, okay, you might feel like that, but I can assure you that you didn't just become a beached whale overnight. I can assure you that you didn't just gain £5 of fat overnight. It's literally impossible. So remember that on the next bad body image day that you're having. Just remember that your body changes daily. [00:05:53][64.9]
[00:05:53] It's impossible for your body to change daily, though. And so that's why you need to avoid making these impulsive judgments about your body during the moments of this negative body image that you might be having that number for your menstrual cycle. It really does change everything. Like you need to let your body be during this time. You're going to be bloated, you're likely going to feel lethargic. You're going to not feel like yourself and you're not going to feel in your body like in your body at this time. And that's okay. I think oftentimes, especially when we're just starting to get into like a rhythm. So let's say, you know, you started your period, you ended your period, you started your your journey, right? You started staying consistent again, maybe for the first time in a long time or the first time ever in the next, you know, 27 to 32 days, you're going to have another period. Oftentimes people feel like, oh my gosh, I just feel like I can't do this. I can't. I'm I'm so frustrated with myself. And they get so down on themselves. I don't feel like myself. I felt like I was doing so good. I felt like, you know, my pants were fitting better. I felt just more energy. And now I don't feel like that. My pants are super tight. I feel like I don't have energy and all of these things. And we let that menstrual cycle affect everything. And then we go down this spiraling cycle where we let that one week dictate everything, and then we kind of feel like we're back at square one. [00:07:12][78.8]
[00:07:13] I want to encourage you to speak lovingly to yourself during this time. And I have really tried to flip the script on menstrual cycles. I personally have a really bad menstrual cycle for three days. Like my first day is so so it depends on if I get it at night or in the morning. But day two, three, and often times four are like the worst. I seriously go through tampons like it's nobody's business for those people that are cup people and props to you. I just I can't. I can't. I can't get myself to do it. I can't. I have tried and know it's not going to happen. I'm a tampon girly, but not at night anyways to try. I have just tried to flip the script when it comes to menstrual cycles and I have just tried to really focus heavily on gratitude and say, God, this is something that you have designed women to go through, like you have literally designed my body to go through this because we carry it like we are the only people in the world. Women are the only people in the world that are going through this. And we are also the people that carry children. And it is such a blessing and it's something that I used to hate for years in my life. [00:08:26][74.0]
[00:08:27] And even when I didn't have a menstrual cycle for I don't even remember that I want to say it was like a year and a half to maybe two and a half years. I didn't have a menstrual cycle and I celebrated that. I was like, Oh, I don't have a menstrual cycle. And I didn't realize, Oh, that actually means something is wrong in my body. That means something is not properly working. At the age of 17. I need to have a menstrual cycle, right? I'm not going through menopause right now. And having menstrual cycle is a blessing, not a curse. Really. Just reminding myself of that and going through that time, just speaking yourself lovingly, doing what you can with what you have. And for me, that's personally, I don't use that week of my workouts to push super heavy. I really try to walk. I know that walking is like the last thing that I want to do before I do it, But once I get up and actually go for a walk, I actually get up and start moving. I feel so much better. I really try to drink water even though I feel super bloated and uncomfortable, and even in the moment it might not feel good when I'm drinking all this water, but I do actually feel so much better when I do drink the water. [00:09:34][66.8]
[00:09:34] So really just continue to remind yourself that the following weeks to come are going to be better embracing your body through this time and giving it the care that it needs. And just be thankful that you have your period and that you're healthy. [00:09:45][11.3]
[00:09:46] And lastly, number five, choosing confidence over your feelings. So who cares if you don't feel your ultimate best today? Like walking with confidence, owning your outfit, doing it anyways. Don't just feel like I'm just going to hide my body because I'm feeling, you know, not so great today. I'm feeling super bloated. Embrace your body like embrace it and do it anyways in spite of your feelings. And that's one thing is just like fear, right? Like when you walk towards fear, even though it's so scary when you're walking towards fear, once you actually look fear in the face and you, like, overcome the fears that you have, you it doesn't mean that you didn't feel fear once you over. Came it. If it meant that you felt the fear and you did it anyways. And I think that that's the same thing when it comes to confidence. Like, even if you don't feel confident in the moment, walk in confidence. And once you start doing that, over time, you'll start to feel yourself like carry yourself with more confidence and more self-assurance anyways. [00:10:43][57.6]
[00:10:44] Even when you're doing it on the days and especially on the days that you're doing it, that you don't feel like doing it because it will help you just kind of shift your mindset and boost your self-esteem. And I again, just remind myself, like I am a woman of God and God has created me in his image and he has created me for such a time as this. And how can you not walk in confidence when you're reassuring yourself of those truths? So even if I don't feel like outwardly confident in the moment, I look inward and I say, okay, how can I inwardly feel confident? And it's those declarations, again, just going back to those declarations and declaring out who I am and who I am and God and what God says that I am and just walking in that way. So that has just helped me just choosing this confidence over my feelings and saying like again, just like I said earlier, feelings are fleeting, so don't spend so much of your energy on that and don't wait for those feelings to come like, Oh, I'm just going to wait till I feel more confident. I'm telling you. Like, you might feel confident one moment and the next moment you won't. So don't wait on that feeling. Just do it anyways. [00:11:49][65.1]
[00:11:50] So let me quickly recap what I talked about. Fact number one is that you are only seeing your body. How you do Remember that other people see your body differently. Let me just tell you something. Newsflash. People are so consumed by their own problems they're likely not even thinking about you at all. But if they are, I'm guarantee they're thinking about how funny you are, how loving you are. They don't care about your outward appearance as much as you do. Just remember that fact. Number two, feeling fat is just a feeling. Remember that feelings are fleeting. Number three, your body image changes daily, but it's impossible for your body to change daily. Number four, your menstrual cycle changes everything. And number five, choosing confidence over your feelings. It's really declaring out and choosing that inward confidence instead of fixating so much on these feelings. If you love this episode, I know you'll also love episode 205 5 Things to Do on Bad Body Image Days. You'll also love Episode 285 4 Ways to Gain Peace With Your Body. And then lastly, episode 280 10 Truths about Your Self-worth. I will link all of those in the show notes below so that you can easily go tune into those. [00:13:00][69.4]
[00:13:00] I have so many other episodes just talking about confidence, so just kind of browse through the archives. I really think that you will find a lot of these episodes helpful, and I know for me, just when I'm feeling down, the more truth that I can get into my brain and into my heart I just find has helped me so, so much. Again, just combating the lies that I'm thinking. And also if I'm feeling great, just arming myself with that and putting these in my toolbox. So when not if, but when we have those bad body image days, we have this truth to combat that and remember these truths so that we don't feel so alone and we don't feel so helpless in those moments. [00:13:40][39.8]
[00:13:40] So I hope that you love this episode. If you have a friend or a coworker or someone in your life that you feel like would really benefit from this episode, I just ask that you share it out with them. You can copy the link a Send it to them in a text message. You can also screenshot this and post it up on your story. I love, love, love connecting with you guys. That is all that I have for today's episode. Let me set a match. I mean, it's not like being excited. [00:14:00][19.6]
[00:14:08] 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 Ledbetter. Yes. It's with an A in the middle 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 your real because you're worth it. [00:14:08]