If you’ve been a reader of my blog for a while you’ll know that one of the things that I blog about and sometimes struggle with is body confidence. Having suffered from a lack of it nearly all my life why then now can I wake up (nearly) every day and feel positive things towards my body?

Well, it’s taken a while and it’s one hell of a journey. Here are my top tips towards loving your body:

1) Realise that it just doesn’t happen over night

No, I’m not just talking about gaining muscle or fat loss, I’m talking about loving yourself. Like anything else you have to form a habit and that can take a while. Be patient, do your homework and don’t give up

2) It starts in the mornings

Try and wake up every morning and think something positive about your body rather than negative. I know it’s so cheesy but honestly if you can wake up and instantly think ‘today is going to be a good day in my brilliant body’ then that positivity will see you through the day

3) It’s not about only being happy when you reach your goal

True body confidence means that you love your body whatever size or shape it is. I’ll admit, I like the effects of weight lifting on my body but if I can’t do it for a while then it doesn’t mean that I hate my body. Love it when you’re lean, love it when you jiggle, love it when you’re anything in between

4) It’s about function, not aesthetics

Love your body for what it enables you to do, not for what it looks like. Learn a new weightlifting move, run a race, swim across that river, walk all day with your friends, live a healthy life, you can’t do any of that without your body so say thank you to it every day for enabling you to find happiness

5) Stop comparing yourself to others

Your body is your body and their body is their body, they’re never going to be the same. Once you stop looking at other people as ‘body goals’ and only at your own goals you will lose some of that resentment that sometimes comes with a lack of confidence in your own body and how ‘unfair’ it is that they ate that burger and they still have abs

6) Talk about other people’s bodies in a positive way

If you’re constantly bitching about other people and their bodies how can you hope to be positive towards your own? Bodies should be talked about in positive terms and remember, it’s their body, not yours. You don’t know their story, you don’t know what their goals are and quite frankly it’s irrelevant to you and your own confidence

7) Surround yourself with confidence

Not everyone feels body confident every single day but if you can surround yourself with positivity then you stand a better chance of not being negative towards your body. Speak to those in your life that are creating negative feelings and find a way to deal with them so they don’t affect you mentally

8) If you need the bigger size then buy the bigger size

Don’t have those ‘goal jeans’, they’ll just bum you out. Buy clothes that fit you and make you feel fantastic, whatever size you are. There’s nothing wrong with needing a bigger size because guess what? Our bodies change shape as we get older so the chances of you fitting into the same tiny dress that you wore as a 16 year old are pretty slim