24th March 2011

It is good to let a little sunshine out as well as in.

It never ceases to amaze me how much we compare ourselves to others, how we can be embarrassed to show our bodies off, for example I have lots of members who won’t go swimming because of their bodies. So today I would like you all to stare at normal women’s (or men’s) bodies (normal does not include models, actresses or elite athletes!)

Not in a pervy way, or for too long at one body of course, cos that’ll get you in trouble ;D but notice what real people look like, real people have saggy boobs, dimpled bums, cellulite on their thighs, stretch marks, flabby stomachs, and drooping underarms. Yes you might see a body without any of these things but there more than like to be under the age of 13! Of course walking down the street you’re not likely to see those parts of people because they’re wearing clothes but you can tell by looking that it’s underneath.

As you observe all these normal people, remind yourself that no one looks like the images you see in magazines, even the models themselves don’t actually look like the pictures you see of them. Most of the time these images are retouched to erase the bits we don’t want, or to remove any cellulite, sags, droops and imperfections that in reality make a body human!

Some of you may remember that last year I treated myself to a makeover and hell I didn’t even recognise the photos, they’d caked so much make up on me and done my hair that I looked totally different, so with a good photographer you can be made to look sensational, I proved that! When I was choosing which photos I was going to buy the lady showed me what they’d look like if she removed my wrinkles and blemishes and I didn’t like it, I don’t want to be ‘smooth’! I want to be me!

I’m going to share a photo with you, when my friend took it on Saturday and text it to me I squirmed and thought, “Yak” is that what I really look like, and I actually said, "don't you put that photo on facebook", but since I've realised that's the me people see everyday!  Yesterday I looked at the makeover shots I had taken and thought that’s not what I look like either, but they are both me and sometimes it depends on your mood when you see a photo of yourself to how you react, and how well the photo was taken of course! I’m still gorgeous whatever those photos say and so are you xx

Same person - different day, different camera, different pose/make up etc!

Normal, real women have wrinkles, sags and cellulite, but since we don’t compare ourselves to normal women, we end up feeling as if our bodies are wrong. As if our imperfect bodies are an indication that we are not working hard enough, don’t care passionately enough, have let ourselves go. When we compare ourselves to these airbrushed images, we start to believe that if we drank enough water, ate the right food, and exercised plenty we could look like that! Mmm, it’s good to do those things to treat our bodies well, but if your only doing it in the hope that you’ll look like those images – it ain’t never gonna happen! And be honest you don’t really want it too.

So take a good, long stare at some real women’s bodies today, look at your friends, so they have wrinkles and sags – so what, you still love having them in your life, they make you smile, laugh and feel good and you more than likely do the same for them!

Once you’ve done the looking, go find yourself a mirror and stand in front of it, notice your stretch marks, sags, wrinkles and say “I love you, this is what living looks like, this is what loving looks like”. And then you’ll be telling the truth.
Have a fabulous day xx