Feeling body confident this summer

Bikini Ready!?

I don’t know about you but I’m kind of sick of  hearing the phrase ‘bikini ready’ every time summer starts to roll around!  I’m loving seeing other people, especially on across social media, shunning this phrase too!

I’m not trying to dismiss the idea of wanting to look your best.  I also TOTALLY get that in the summer you typically aren’t so covered up as you are in winter.  This can then obviously start making you feel a bit more critical of yourself.

There is also still so much pressure on Mums to ‘bounce back’ in to shape two seconds after birth.  I guess this one is also very much fuelled by social media.  It’s hard not to beat yourself up a little when you see that perfect insta mum back in pre pregnancy clothes as she leaves the hospital.

Again, I’m totally not trying to bash these Mums who can do that.  I’ve seen some of these women get a crazy hard time for being proud of their post baby bodies and that is just not cool either.

Self imposed pressure?

I think it’s really easy to blame all of these pressures on social media, and it undoubtedly has a lot to answer for.  But, I also feel it’s a little bit lazy to fully blame our lack of body confidence on social media.  After all women have been feeling the need to look good for far longer than the internet has been around, even before the days of glossy magazines!  I think that comparison has always been a problem.  Comparing yourself to others, wishing you had that girls hair or her legs or that your boobs were a bit more like hers.

How many times have you not put a picture of yourself on instagram or even just straight out deleted a picture because you see a flaw (or lots of flaws)?  I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve done that!  There’s been a few ‘fuck it’ moments where I post a picture regardless of how many chins I see or how big I think my arms look.   Pictures that I’ve loved because of how happy I’ve been in a moment or how extra cute my boys look in it.  And you know what?  People don’t see your flaws like you do.

I was definitely super aware of my body after having the kids.  I think that was kind of tough with living here and being in summer wear all year round.  Arthur and Freddie both had their first trips to the beach at 1 week old.  That didn’t exactly give me time to get my ‘beach body’ back.  But, you can’t live here and not go to the beach.  So, I just wore the bikinis I had that I could fit in.  And you know what, very quickly I didn’t care that I didn’t look how I did before I was pregnant.  I do really think that getting back into exercise as soon as I could helped me to have a more positive feeling about my body, even when it wasn’t looking how I wanted it too!

Feeling body confident this summer

Feeling body confident this summer

 

Great Underwear

Nothing makes an outfit look worse than bad fitting underwear.  Do yourself a favour, and treat yourself to some well fitting underwear.   I totally recommend this Evolution Bra from Knix seamless, moisture wicking, 4 way stretch…..it’s perfect!

Great Sunglasses

Hide those early morning, multiple night wake up eye bags with a pair of big sunglasses.  For me, you can’t beat a classic pair of Ray Ban Aviators but I’m also a big sucker for some super glam cat eye glasses too.  I use Sunglasses shop who do free worldwide delivery (yay!), but I also love nipping into duty free too, although that’s much harder with the boys!!

Buy The Dress

Or the bikini or the shorts or whatever it is.

Go and buy it – in a size that fits….squeezing into a size smaller is not going to do you any favours!

Wear it!

Stop Comparing

Comparing how you look to your best friend, or to a celebrity, or that beautiful mama you follow on Instagram is just toxic for your self esteem. But stopping is SO hard to do.  I definitely am terrible for this!  But, it NEVER makes you feel any better so what’s the point!

Take A Bunch Of Pictures

Seriously!  Because while you might not love it today, or even next month.  You will for sure look back at it in years to come and think that you looked great, and oh so young!!! I think this is possibly even more true if youve got kids.  Us Mums are often the ones behind the camera and it is so special to have those photos of you with them.  So chuck the camera at your husband, or your friend or a random passer by and say CHEESE!!

Also taking LOADS of pictures means you are sure to find at least 1 picture you like!!

Feeling body confident this summer

I’m not trying to claim to be some body confidence expert.  I’m definitely not trying to say I have no body issue hang up’s either.  But, I thought I’d share a couple of things I do to boost my body confidence!  Are there any you’d add to this list?

feeling body confident this summer



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