4 Ways to love the skin you are in

Fit & Training door thijs

Ever had one of those mornings where you look at yourself in the mirror and just see faults? Imperfections in your skin, those lumps and bumps and a bloating stomach, which just seems to take away all your hard work at the gym. You’re not alone. Just as important as teaching yourself good exercise form...teach your mind to love the skin you are in.

When it comes to body image, us girls are masters of negative thinking but that doesn’t always have to be the reality. The problem is not your body, it’s actually your mind – and luckily these negative thinking patterns can easily be corrected. How? By teaching your mind how to be more accepting and happy about how you look now.

Love the skin you are in

1. Praise the good
Think about the things you love about yourself – perhaps it’s your smile, your hair or your killer legs. Write a list of the things you are happy with and give those aspects your full attention, making the most of them whenever you can. Everyone has bits they’re not so happy about, but everyone also has bits that are really beautiful. So go on, praise your beautiful bits today!

2. Get out of that critical state of mind
If you’re in a critical state of mind, you’ll probably be attacking others as well as yourself. For example, if you’re dying to get the perfect abs, don’t get envious when you see someone else who’s achieved your dream body and don’t criticise those who aren’t so toned in the ab department either. Instead, why not be positive about the way they look? By practising this, you’ll soon stop attacking your own body with negative thoughts too.

3. Focus on you as a person
While it’s great to have a kick-ass body, that’s just one tiny part of who you are. Cliché as it may sound, what’s inside counts too. Spend some time every week on developing your inner self – beating confidence problems, learning new skills and becoming more self aware and confident. By spending time developing the whole of you you’ll notice a real difference in your enjoyment of life as well as your energy levels.

4. Don’t let life pass you by
Every minute you spend criticising yourself and analysing parts of your body is a minute of your life gone by, thrown away, wasted. When you’re 90 years old and look back on your life, would you be happier to have spent so much time worrying about your body, or happier to have made the most of every moment? You only have one life, so live it!

What do you love about the skin you’re in? Go on - share those positive vibes with us!