Give me Some Encouragement Please

Have you ever noticed that all the motivational and inspirational pictures posted on Pinterest are of these amazing looking women with slim thighs, rock hard abs and perfect looking faces?  And have you also noticed that other women are posting these pics with the words inspiration and motivation?

I don't know about you, but for me I don't find those kind of pictures motivating at all.  I actually find them rather discouraging.  I know myself, I know my body type, what I'm capable of, and how much time I have to devote to working out, and I know that I will NEVER have ROCK HARD abs and SUPER SKINNY thighs.  I don't have the body type for it and I certainly don't have the time to spend working out to even achieve something close to what these women look like. 

Don't get me wrong, those women look amazing - and good for them, but they probably do modeling for a living and have the time to spend in the gym.   On top of that these pictures have also been touched up.  But what about the rest of us?  What about the average women who has to work all day, take care of children, cook and clean?  What does healthy look like for us?

I would love to see more pictures of women like me who work out and eat healthy who aren't a size two.  I know that I'm not perfect and I'm not even at my goal yet - but I also know that healthy doesn't always look like a tightly toned skinny figure.  

Not so good at taking selfies

Let's encourage one another to promote something more realistic, more like you and I.  

We all know that what we see is not real - we all tell ourselves it's a touched up photo and even that woman doesn't look like that.  But over time these images still make their way into our heads and hearts and convince us that this is the ideal - this is what needs to be achieved to be beautiful, healthy, strong, etc.  It somehow still has the power to make us feel not good enough. 

I hope that as I share my healthy pic that ts serves as motivation and inspiration to you!  Let's make beauty real by being ourselves and finding the confidence in that. 

Keep staying fab my friends, you are all worth it!

Can I be honest about something?

Struggles. We all face them. My struggle this week (because you know it changes time to time) is not feeling good enough. This battle in my mind takes over my thoughts and my emotions. Rendering me feeling hopeless, my goals unattainable, and not good enough to be successful, noticed and accepted.

I fall into the trap of comparing myself to those around me. I feel like I'm not thin enough, pretty enough, smart or ambitious enough. The lies and distortion halt me in my tracks. They leave me unmotivated and feeling pretty lousy about myself. Times like this are hard. I know that these feelings I have been facing this past week are only that – feelings. THIS DOES NOT DEFINE WHO I AM.

And I also know that next week I will probably be back to my normal self – feeling motivated, focused and confident in my abilities and capabilities. So what triggered this? I allowed myself to look at others and play that comparison game. I'm not perfect and neither is anyone else, and I think we are all guilty of this from time to time. We see someone else who looks better and we immediately put ourselves down. Why is that? Why do we compare? We are the ones who lose when we do this. We always tend to feel lower, less than, not good enough when we compare. Why can't we look at others and simply be happy for them or admire them, without it affecting how we feel about ourselves. And maybe some of you are able to do that. Not actually compare but see the good in oneself along with others around you, and that is awesome! But for me – I'm still working on getting there. I want to. I want to not fall into that trap when I see someone prettier, successful, more outgoing. I want to enjoy who they are as a person, without it affecting how I feel about myself.

Do I think this ideal is obtainable, yes I do. I think its a matter of changing a mindset. The mindset that says – yes I am just as good as that person, not less than - simply because of who I am.

I am strong, I am capable, I am perseverant, I am good enough! I know this because I have seen this in myself, others have seen it in me. I will remind myself that I am these things when I find myself playing that old dirty comparison game.

You know what? I am fit to be fab!!! And so are you! I hope that my honesty challenges you the next time you may find yourself playing that game. Remember who you are, and know that it is good enough!