Time for Exercise

One aspect you can easily overlook in your fitness routine is a healthy and realistic body image. Feeling that your body is worse than it is or being unrealistic about your body type can sabotage the mental aspects of getting fit.

It’s easy to feel dissatisfied with your appearance. Most people have something they would like to improve. Personally, I would love to get my old stomach muscles back, the ones I had before having kids. That’s hard to do after two pregnancies, one of which ended in a C-section.

As you work on your fitness level, remind yourself of the things you do like about your body. There will be some positives. You can also remind yourself of where you are improving yourself. Pay attention to those things you consider to be faults that are getting better. That can be motivation.

But do not think of yourself too negatively. Even if you aren’t meeing your fitness goals you do not need a negative body image.

Don’t let the critics get you down. There will always be people who can tell you exactly where you could look better. But odds are they aren’t perfect and have their own body image issues. You don’t need to point those out to them or even try to notice them, just remind yourself that there is more to it than what that one person thinks.

Think beyond the physical too. Your body cannot look the same at 20 as at 40… well, at least not without lots of painful and unnecessary surgery. When you consider how your body looks, think about what looks good for your age and enjoy!

Dress right for your body type. Even if you aren’t comfortable with your body you need to think about what really works for your body. The wrong clothes can make you look awful, even beyond whether or noth the colors are right. Acknowledge what looks good on your particular shape.

Remember that not everyone looks like a model and not everyone wants someone who looks like a model. The media gives a particular image of how women and men should look that is not particularly realistic. It’s easy to make people feel bad about how they look, but by those standards, even the best models often suffer. The most glamorous, perfect pictures are often airbrushed or altered, after all.

Just remember that while you are not perfect, you have many good qualities, both in appearance and as a person.

Technorati Tags: body image