Having a Bad Day

I highly doubt that there is a person in this world that goes without at least one day in there life where there is something they dislike about their body. I know that most people obsess over it and have difficulty finding positives about themselves (I'm one of them!).

So what happens when someone who is working on their negative body images, and having success, has an off day and begins to find themselves fall into their old habits? Well, for me, it would be turning to Google to find an article to read about what I'm going through and what I can do to work on it or prevent it the next time it happens.

The powers of Google brought me to an article that helped with exactly what I needed: How To Take Care of Yourself During a Bad Body Image Day.

The ten steps provided were not only what I needed for that particular day, but are steps that I plan on including with my motivation wall so that I can read them often. I don't ever plan on bad days, but they happen and when they do I want to mentally be prepared to tell those  negative voices to shut up.

When talking to my therapist a few weeks ago, I compared my negative thoughts to a stray cat. I don't know where it comes from but I keep feeding into those thoughts so they keep coming back. Just like when you feed a stray cat, it will keep coming back for more. My goal is to have positive thoughts for back up so that when a negative thought appears I have something to fight it off with.

I want to highly suggest reading the original article because there are some wonderful tips on there, including an explanation of the authors movement and for this particular article there is more to each step than what I am writing here. What I'm providing are just the steps, in order to understand it more please read the article on the Internal Acceptance Movement.

1. Recognize that fat isn't a feeling.
2. Treat yourself as you would a friend.
3. Recognize that you are so much more than the size of your body.
4. Shift your focus from the external to the internal.
5. Think about what you want to be remembered for after you die.
6. Instead of focusing on the size of your body, start focusing on what your body allows you to do.
7. Challenge your negative thoughts.
8. Allow yourself to feel your feelings.
9. Do self care.
10. Be kind with yourself.

I know that if I am prepared for a bad day then there is no negative thought that can take over. No, I'm probably never going to have a 100% good day. I'm probably never going to love every single part of my body. But why shouldn't I strive to have that perfect day where I can focus on so many other things other than the size, weight and appearance of my body?