10 Tips For Overcoming Body Image Issues For Females

To listen to the blog post “10 Tips For Overcoming Body Image Issues For Females” over reading it just click the play button below. 

Let’s get down to all the body image issues for females that run rapid in women’s minds on a daily basis. We have fat shaming, skinny shaming, tall shamming, and short shaming.  “I don’t look like that girl on social media” shaming. “I am too dark, too fat, too curvy, not curvy enough, my butt is not big enough,” I mean everything under the sun women tend to pick ourselves apart for.

And I was one of those women so I get it. Always looking at my thick figure wondering why I could not be skinnier then when I gained all this weight and was over 200 pounds wondering why I could not be skinnier, then when I lost 60 pounds wondering why my skin was saggy and having issues with stretch marks.  Always something.

For more tips on self esteem check out my video below. Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel by clicking here.  

As a 30 something-year-old female who has had body image issues I get the accepting your body dilemma. I have never been super skinny, but I did have a body that I would get compliments on.  In my teen years and early adulthood, I could literally eat whatever I wanted to eat and still maintain my shape.  When I got pregnant with my son right after I had him I was only 10 pounds over my original weight AND then I lost the weight after struggling with my post baby body and then I was happy.  But then I gained weight and then I was unhappy. Below is the picture of my after I had my son and lost the weight.

And then. Getting older caused me to get bigger because I was not eating what I was supposed to and of course of body naturally changed and then here comes MORE body image issues.  I hope you can see a trend here in the sense that women, we always have some issues with our bodies.  See the picture below for what I look like now. And if you want to get this skirt then click my affiliate link here.

In one picture I was in my late 20’s and now I am in my mid to late 30’s and in both pictures I have just learn that you just have to be happy with your body as long as it is healthy and us women need to start overcoming body image issues and learn to embrace who we are.

1. Overcoming Body Image Issues For Females Remember Our Beauty Is Subjective

Want to hear a dorky Sophia lesson that I am so prone to giving.  When you look at early art of even Marilyn Monroe, these women had rolls with them or even a cuvier body type.  That was considered normal and for women that was consider to be a sign of health and wealth as it meant that you were well fed and not starving. Forgive the nudity below but its all in the name of art and proving my point.

BUT now it would seem like women cannot be happy with their own natural body type and will develop body image issues over trying to obtain an unrealistic beauty standard that is only amplified by the fact that when you scroll on social media all you see these perfect women in their perfect bikinis with no cellulite, no fat pockets, or stretch marks on their body. Which is probably photo shopped by the way. And not real. But for us normal women body image issues occur.

You say to yourself IT IS NOT FAIR as you get angrier and angrier with your own body because it does not seem to get the fact that it needs to look better.  I get it and I have been there. But I have also learned that it is much easier by choosing to accept your body then it is to work against it.

2. Overcoming Body Image Issues For Females ~ So just stop all of that.

YES, JUST STOP. Stop comparing yourself to other people, to yourself ten years ago, and stop comparing yourself to women of the internet.  The more you start looking at other people’s body, the less you are moving forward to accepting your body. (Click here to follow me on Instagram).

For myself, I had to accept the fact that I am over 30 and my body has changed. I had to accept that I need to eat healthier in order to be healthier, to maintain my current weight, and to even lose weight (click here to read how I lost 6 pounds in a week). I had to accept that I am still as beautiful now as I was then, but it is just dressed up in a different package.

You have to realize that your body is ever-changing.  Are you getting older or did you just have a child? Perhaps you are like me, and you are just a thicker female? Either way, whatever your body situation is.  You need to own that. No one is perfect and we all have flaws (Click to read my blog on how four women became successful due to their flaws).  Do not reject the flaws but embrace them.

3. Overcoming Body Image Issues For Females ~ Focus on being healthy

The fact of the matter is that beauty is subjective. When I was younger I used to be made fun of for having a big butt, now people are getting injections to have a big butt.  So if you have body image issues think about it like this, what is a great body anyway?

Someone somewhere in mainstream decided to say this is what is in, this body type is in, and this body type is ugly. And that person is just a person just like you so why care about what in the world they think?  In the end, I have come to learn that as long as you are focused on being healthy and doing right by your own body then your body will take its natural shape. And if your body is in its natural state and in it’s healthiest form then do not focus on the body image issues, just focus on the fact that your body is as it should be and be happy with that.  See my video below for more on that.

4. Overcoming body image issues for females ~ You Can Love Yourself But Still Realize Your Body Needs To Change

At one point I was 25 pounds over what I weighed when I was 9 months pregnant. I was over 200 pounds! And I was not pregnant. Did it feel good to be at that weight? No, it did not. I did have body image issues BUT alot changed when I changed the way I looked at my body image issues.

Meaning that I could look at myself in the mirror and talk about how fat I was and how I hated my body OR I could be real with myself and ask myself what I am going to do about it? There is such thing as looking in the mirror and just tearing yourself apart and another by looking in the mirror by seeing some additional pounds NOT tearing yourself apart and realizing that you want to lose weight.

And so when I was over 200 plus pounds,  I learned to accept that weight.  Not so that I could stay at that weight, but so I could learn how to deal will it without feeling depressed. When I had body image issues I would avoid the scale at all cost because I did not want to see how much weight I was gaining it was like being in denial over how my body looked.

When I decided to do something about it, I decided to confront the scale head on to monitor my weight and understand that even though I was not where I wanted to be, I would get there.  You can click here to get the scale that I use that helps me not only monitor my weight but also my fat, muscle, and bone density. 

It was a lot easier to work on my body when I was accepting in the areas I needed to work on. Instead of being all depressed about it all the time.  All that does is add more stress and stress makes you retain weight, especially in your belly.  Which was making the entire situation worse?

Worrying or getting angry about the state of my current body shape was not going to do anything. Being upset about my body and having body image issues was not going to make me skinnier or make my body better.  But being in a postive head space and working on changing it was.  Also check out my video below for eating habits I changed that helped me lose weight.

5. Overcoming body image issues for females ~ Case In Point

I follow Kianaa Alexis on Instagram for a lot of health and fitness tips.  She said that when she started to love herself that is when she started to be kinder to her body and work harder to get it into shape. She had body image issues from childhood that rooted from an abusive situation. Here is a quote that I love from her.

Some people might look at this and think “why does this girl share photos of herself heavier like it was a bad thing?.” No, that’s not why I share my before photos next to my after photos and that’s not the message I’m trying to put out. I share these images side by side to show you that you can heal yourself inside and out and that it’s okay to BE YOU!. I share my transformation in hopes to inspire you to be the healthiest, strongest and complete BEST version. No matter if it has to do with personal life problems, unhealthy choices or the combination of both, YOU CAN BE THE BEST YOU, HEALTHIEST YOU AND NATURAL YOU! UNAPOLOGETICALLY!. Of course it’s super cool that I lost 100 unhealthy pounds in 3 years, but I also healed myself from trauma.

It is not about staying in denial about your weight and having body image issues because of it BUT seeing yourself, not being ashamed, and changing yourself if need be.

6. Overcoming body image issues for females ~ Stop comparing yourself to people on social media

Own that your body is not like the people that you are sitting around stalking in magazines and social media AND be okay with it.  First off all the Instagram models that you see 9 times out of 10 are not real.  They may have picked out their body parts in a plastic surgery shop, they have photoshop, they have good genes, or being an Instagram model is what they do for a living and all they do is a workout all day and make their body look good.

Either way looking at these magazines and social media is not reality.  When you walk out of your door every day do you see people walking around who look like that?  Chances are probably not. You WILL have body image issues if you just compare yourself to professional models that can afford a glamour squad to make them look like that.  Along with photoshop, its not real.  So instead of comparing yourself to people that if you saw them in real life do not even look like their picture, just work on being the best version of yourself.

Not trying to keep up with some people on social media or reality TV that you don’t even know AND that have way more money than you AND were more than likely not born with the body parts they are putting out into the world. Also check out my video down below on how social media promotes unrealistic beauty standards.

7. Overcoming body image issues for females ~ Accepting your body is to understand that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.

When I was having trouble losing weight what I decided to do what to create a Pinterest board of woman who had nice bodies at the size I was at.  I had to make the Pinterest Board private because there were a lot of men following that board and well you know how that goes.

I am bringing up these two points for a reason.  The first reason is that looking at women who have a similar body to yours as goals will start to change the way you view yourself. AND since so many men were following that board I think it goes to show how many men think that various body types are attractive. Not just one specific body type.  You can be beautiful, sexy, attractive or whatever it is you want to be with your own body type.  Because somewhere in the world there is a woman that is around your weight that is rocking it and feeling good about herself.

As I lost weight, I continued to change my board to fit the person that closely resembles my current weight. To show that there are beauty and every size and to not get so down on myself.  I know I said do not compare yourself to people on social media or the internet.  What I really meant to say was, do not compare yourself to unrealistic women on the internet.

Above is the plus side body Ashley Graham. And guess what if you follow her on IG you will find that she works out.  That is what I mean, focus on being healthy and if you are a thick girl then so what? You are a thick healthy girl, and your health is what is most important and your body will take it’s natural form.  If she can become a model and not be a size two, she does not have body image issues.  She loves herself as is and improves her body as is. And that is the most you can do.

Finding women on Pinterest, Instagram, or even YouTube with your body type is perfectly acceptable if it makes you feel better about yourself is much better than finding women who do not reflect the everyday woman comparing yourself to them. Really just focus on being healthy. There are skinny women who are unhealthy and thicker women that are.  Your main goal is your health.

8. Overcoming body image issues for females ~ Accepting your body is to dress it up.

I know I keep talking about when I gained a lot of weight but it is my only way that I can illustrate this point to you.  I am a thicker woman now so you can imagine that at 40 pounds heavier I was a REALLY thicker woman.

When I was at my heaviest I would put on these baggy clothes.  I was too embarrassed to let people see how big I was.  But in all honesty, I was just probably making myself look bigger.  Which messed with my self-esteem even more.  Now, even though I am not at my goal weight I still dress for my body type and it helps me in accepting my body.

I used to pick out clothes for the size I am not.  I used to be a size 8 and when I first started gaining weight I would still try to fit myself into a size 8. As a result, I was like a stuffed sausage.  And then when I could not fit my clothes at all, I would just upset myself.

There are two points to this story.  First, no matter what your body type is, do not feel that you have to hide in a potato sack.  Looking like a potato sack will only make you feel like a potato.  Secondly, stop trying to buy clothes that are too small or trying to squeeze into clothes that are too small, that will only make you feel worse.

When you choose to accept your body, choose to dress it up and choose to make it look nice.  I have learned that once you feel nice on the outside it will help you start to feel nice on the inside. Which is a key component of acceptance?

9. Overcoming body image issues for females ~ Make Them Conform To You

Remember like I said above the only reason why main stream beauty is mainstream beauty is because someone said it was.  But what if that someone is you.  I feel that you can be confident no matter who you are (click here to read my blog on that) and I have change people’s mind about me all the time simply because I changed my mind about me.  If you want more on how to do that then watch my video below.

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