You can push yourself as hard as you want at the gym. You can eat as healthy as you possibly can. However, at the end of the day, you are HUMAN. Your appearance is going to fluctuate throughout the day as your body fluctuates, and that is completely normal.
Part of the reason I’ve really taken my body love journey to the next level this year is because I realized how freaking normal and beautiful it is that I will end the day looking different from the rib-showing way I started the day. If I wear semi-tight clothing, I can see the moments when my body fluctuates.
As I’ve learned to accept this, this video found its way on my home page on YouTube, and it provided the reassurance I absolutely needed to boost my confidence in the relationship I have with my body.
Bloating is so freaking normal, especially as a woman. Last year, I would verbally and mentally beat myself up because I was bloated. I used think I was some sort of horrendous monster because of the instant way my body would change. When my entire body would bloat (is that proper English?), I thought I was unworthy of love, unacceptable for the public eye, a mistake.
The fluctuation of my body did nothing to help with the body dysmorphia I’ve started overcoming this past year.
Having discussions with women who are older than me, who have experienced a lot more severe issues with their bodies, who are in happy marriages spanning two decades and feel incredible in their skin, has helped me change my thought process about the way my body changes every day. I can’t remember the specific person I was talking to, but our conversation shifted to bloating being especially horrible during our time of menstruation. This YouTube short really visualized what we were talking about and, again, provided reassurance.
After watching the above video, I felt seen. Comforted. The opposite of alone.
No matter how much I suck in my gut, my body looks just like hers when my clothes come off. I used to hate it, but I love my squishy bits now. I love my thigh dents, my stretch marks, the faint cellulite appearing.
It’s so easy to be mean to our bodies when they’re doing their natural job of fluctuating. Fluctuation is normal, and nothing does quite a good job of it like our bodies (and maybe our bank accounts). When we notice our temples are showing out a bit, we have to remember to be kind to them. Even the skinniest, most picturesque models experience body fluctuation, so there is simply no point in comparing.
We are all human.
