“Loving oneself isn’t hard, when you understand who and what ‘yourself’ is. It has nothing to do with the shape of your face, the size of your eyes, the length of your hair or the quality of your clothes. It’s so beyond all of those things and it’s what gives life to everything about you. Your own self is such a treasure.”
-Phylicia Rashad
Well, another Labor Day holiday weekend is upon us. For most people that means spending time with family and friends, usually over a BBQ meal. Now, you’d think I’m going to write a post about tips about maintaining your healthy lifestyle over the holidays. Nope, not this time. In addition to food, my holidays are often accompanied by one of my favorite activities……shopping! I love a good deal, and the sales during Labor Day weekend are usually a good way to snag some deals on the rest of the summer inventory.
In years past, I would load up on summer clothes during Labor Day weekend sales. Then, the following summer, I’d be ahead of the game with new clothes to start the summer season. Well, that plan worked back in the days when my weight hardly fluctuated. You know how it is. Back then, I could eat whatever I wanted and pretty much maintain the same weight. Fast forward to present day, and I no longer know what my size will be so far in advance. Most times, I don’t know what size I’ll wear from day to day. Of course, I can blame it on water retention, PMS, or just plain ol weight gain from yesterday’s cupcake.
The most convenient reason for my misshapen bod can be explained buy the greatest thing that has happened to me – the birth of my son. I gained about 35 pounds from my pregnancy, and I lost the pregnancy weight within a few months of his birth. I’m grateful for the weight loss (yay breastfeeding!), but it did leave me with this jello/amoeba body shape. I lost a lot of muscle tone. So now my body morphs on a daily basis. This makes it quite hard to get that perfect fit in clothes.
Anyway, I’m thankful for the weight loss, but there is still more work to do. So as I transition during this journey, I have to remind myself to embrace my current body. I’m not where I want to be, but I love myself through this journey.
So, this weekend I have the hard task of finding the right clothes to fit my current body shape. Rather than focus on what does not fit or look right, I decided to focus on what does look good. Right now my arms look good – I still have some muscle tone there, and you can even see a tricep muscle outline when I flex! So sleeveless shirts here I come!
So, this weekend’s trip to the mall was more than a regular shopping trip. This was my chance to prove to myself that I can still look good and feel good while I continue my journey to a healthy me. My advice to all of you is to love who you are –even if you’re not where you want to be. Pick a body part or two you like, and accentuate! It doesn’t matter if it’s your arms, legs, or your ears. Pick a great top, skirt, or earrings, and show out! Still want to lose 20 pounds? Ok! There’s no harm in looking good while you lose weight.
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