The Take a Look in the Mirror Post

Breakfast: yogurt and red Rome apple
Lunch: 2 turkey patties w/fat free American cheese and sauteed mixed veggies
Snack: ~15 baby carrots
Dinner: chopped Romaine w/chopped pear, dried cranberries, feta cheese, and red wine vinaigrette
Exercise: 1.25mi walk (40mins)
Snack: yogurt

I've really been feeling good lately about the progress I've been making. I hate it when people excessively toot their own horn, but I think sometimes you have to take a minute to appreciate your hard work. It builds up your self-esteem and self-worth and ultimately, I think, gets you to your goal. If you never appreciate where you were and how far you've come, and never allow yourself that satisfaction... I would think it would make it a lot harder to continue on for more progress.

Lately I've been allowing myself more and more to admit to myself when I think I look pretty. It sounds strange and conceded, but don't we all want to feel beautiful? Lately I've been able to look in the mirror and think "Hm. I look gorgeous right now." Even when I have no makeup on and my hair's a mess. That is a revelation.

It has made me come to realize that although we may not love everything we see when we look in the mirror, there are things about each and every one of us that are beautiful. I've decided that from now on I need to keep those attributes at the forefront of my thoughts from now on when I look at myself. My hope is that you can find the things you feel are beautiful about yourself and never forget about them (even when the scale doesn't come out in your favor). I wouldn't ask you to do something I'm not willing to do, so I'm going to share my list with you...

Five Things I Find Beautiful About My Body

1. My hair. Of course this is #1 for me. I've never had to do anything to it and it's always pretty just the way it is. It is the one thing on my body that I can always count on and I've never had any desire to change. Maybe this is an exaggeration, but I am blessed to have my hair. 
2. My proportions. I don't carry all of my weight in one area like so many women unfortunately do. I am overweight and I have lots of extra fat on my body, but it's spread out proportionately so in some ways I don't feel like I look as heavy as I actually am. 
3. My freckles. These are a new treasure I've come to appreciate. For so long I wanted them gone and now I'm finding they can work to my advantage. Blemishes are harder to spot on a freckled face and I feel like they'll keep me looking young for many years to come.
4. My waist. Another new appreciation. I'm growing to love my waist more and more as it's starting to appear underneath all the extra baggage I'd been carrying around. I absolutely love it when my husband hugs me and his arms can squeeze a little tighter. 
5. My thighs. Okay. This one is going to take some time to adjust to. I don't love them all of the time. Let me explain. I have large thighs. I always have. However, as the weight is coming off I'm realizing just how powerful my thighs are. They are much stronger than I ever realized under all that extra stuff. No, they're not up to carrying all my weight around in a marathon or anything... But I can work the heck out of them on a bike machine and really see/feel them getting stronger. Because it's hard to look down and actually see my waist, stomach, or arms getting smaller... I really enjoy looking down at my thighs and seeing them shedding the weight.

Good to see you, waist!

I challenge you to find five things about your body that you think are beautiful. Commit to complimenting yourself on at least one of them per day. See if/how your attitude and self-confidence improves.