It’s now 7 days through my 14 day #weloveourbodies challenge and I’ve learnt a few things which have surprised me.
I thought that it would be easy for me to find something every day that I love about my body as I think of myself as pretty high on the scale of body positivity but that’s not really the case.
After the first few days I was having to really think about positive things to say about my body and realised that actually some of my weaknesses are strengths and that I need to embrace them.
Thanks to this challenge I’ve looked at my scarred legs in a new way, realised that I’m lucky to have great balance so I can indulge in my love of cycling and faced my fears of being upside down in a handstand.
What do you love about your body? Post something on Twitter or Instagram, use #weloveourbodies and tag me @fitology_uk. You might even make it into the round up at the end of the challenge! It’s time to spread some body positivity…
Day 1:
I love my body because it carried me through my first ever Olympic distance triathlon, something that i had never thought possible. I’ve always made excuses like ‘I don’t have the body of an endurance athlete’ until I realised that there is no perfect ‘endurance body’ and I was just scared about challenging myself like that
Day 2:
I got a massive squat PB and managed to lift over my bodyweight. Let me break that down for you. I held 67.5kg on my back, squatted down ass to grass and powered back up again.
My legs were always the least favourite part of my body because they weren’t long and lean but now they’re powerful, capable and most importantly, mine.
Day 3:
‘Ladies should have nice soft hands’ apparently and I call BS. I think ladies’ hands should be whatever they want them to be.
Personally I want to be strong so therefore my hands have to put up with quite a lot. Hello calluses, I love you
Day 4:
Ever since I was a kid I’ve always reacted badly to insect bits and I always seem to get bitten! Therefore I’m covered in little scars, especially my legs. Plus the bruises from just generally keeping fit means that my legs are far from those airbrushed smooth things in the magazines.
But every bump, lump and scar is a marker, like a ring in a tree trunk, of my life so let there be many more.
Day 5:
Let’s talk about muscles. I’ve spent my whole life wanting to be skinny and now I just want muscles on muscles.
I want to be lean, I want to be strong and I want to be the best that I can be. With all of that comes eating plenty of nutritious food to fuel my body which is a departure from how I used to think that the less I ate the happier I would be
Day 6:
I love my balance and how it allows me to cycle as far and as fast as I want. I’ve always loved cycling. I think because it’s the closest to horse riding I can get without owning a horse and it makes me feel free as a bird, almost like i can fly. Especially in the rain. Oh wow do I love cycling in the rain!
Day 7:
IMG_8440 (click the link to view the video)
I’m scared of being upside down. There, I said it. And that is precisely why I’m practicing my handstands, to get over my fear. I love that I have fears because they give me something to work towards and overcome. Without fear we have no goals and without goals we have no focus.
This is such an interesting series!
PS I also am not good with upside down-ness.
Thanks Claire! I’m getting there with being upside down but fighting the fear every time x