3 ways to be proud of body regardless of what it looks like

If you aren’t looking the way you used to or want to it can be difficult to feel a sense of love for your body.  You might find you are wearing clothes to cover your body and to hide rather than owning your body and embracing it curves and all.  You might not do things because of the way you think you look.  In this mission, I encourage you to own your body shape and size while knowing that dressing the way you know is your style while being proud of your body in a non-vain way.  This means being humble about the way you look and making sure you get out there, do what you want in life and overcome all opinions of your body including your own.  These insights will assist you to be proud of your body regardless of where you are at in your weight journey:

1. Know that you are lovable no matter what you look like.

   So many women hate their bodies thinking it will mean they are not lovable or loved for the way they look. I must say this and that is if a man for example or others don’t want you for the way you look, they are the wrong people for you.  If you surround yourself with those who love you regardless of the way you look, you become prouder of your own body as you are surrounded by love and acceptance.  This is a great strategy to be able to learn to embrace your body because when you are constantly reminded by you and others that you are lovable, you become that.

2. External opinions don’t count but your internal focus does.

   Others may judge you if you are thin or not as thin and it becomes a no-win situation for women because of the way society has projected upon women that they should look. External opinions aren’t for Battle Babes.  They are the enemy because many people will tell you or say that you aren’t looking good enough or thin enough or judge your shape and size.  If you are surrounded by external opinions that don’t encourage you, be sure to change your circles or do something about it because you are a powerful woman who can stand tall and proud in who you are body shape and size and all.

3. Your beauty is internal not external.

   Beauty on the outside is just fine to seek but do it from a place of internal beauty coming first. Battle Babes look after themselves in a humble way while vanity is not for you but looking and feeling stunning through the window to the soul (your eyes) is the way to know how beautiful you truly are.  Your body can change in different phases of your life so if you put your internal beauty and glow first, you are better able to feel proud of who you are as a woman.  You are more likely to attract people who are about internal beauty and let go of the shallow ones where looks are everything - and go where internal beauty is what is the most important aspect of who you are.  Be proud of your body no matter what you look like while putting the internal first and allowing yourself to glow and be seen for the true beauty you are.

The following article 3 ways to be proud of body regardless of what it looks like was first published to www.battlebabesfitness.com

3 ways to overcome impostor syndrome for lasting success

Many women think they aren’t thin enough or good enough to do things far too often.  They may be struggling with self-image and see themselves as bigger than they are or think that their weight is the thing that will impact their success when it shouldn’t.  I am a realist and understand that sometimes some industries hinge success on the way you look but those industries are not for Battle Babes to conform to, just be yourself, go for it in any industry and make sure that you do what you are meant to do in your life.  What are you putting off thinking you are an imposter for the way you look?  Maybe it’s your dream career, relationship or fitness program.  The number of times I have heard women say that they will get thin and fit before they go about living their dreams is sad when it should be the opposite.  Live your dreams and lose weight if you want to but don’t do it for any reason but for you and your health.  With these insights, you will be able to find some peace over imposter syndrome and the way you may not see your true success can be transformed:

1. Know you can have your dream career.

   Most of us in in a world where women are often oppressed find ourselves experiencing imposter syndrome. When you focus on your dreams and your vision for your life, your weight becomes something that is not an aspect of your success in terms of having ‘made it’ in the world.  Your dream career will light you up, reduce stress therefore releasing tension on your nervous system and enabling you to feel joy more often because you are doing what you love. When you know you can have your dream career and even if you are living it now, how can you go about seeing that you deserve it and it’s something you are worthy of?

2. Appreciate you are worthy of your dream relationship.

   How many times have you seen women sabotage relationships because they had imposter syndrome and didn’t feel good enough for the man they have attracted who may happen to be their soul mate. He just wants to love you, but you may feel below him or not worthy of him and that’s just not the game Battle Babes should be playing.  Your weight is not something that determines the calibre of man you attract contrary to popular belief.  It is not a sign of your worth and it shouldn’t be the thing that makes a man attracted to you, it must be your inner glow and beauty.  Your body shape and size don’t matter in the grand scheme of true love and your true deep soul connection does.

3. Understand you are deserving of optimum health.

   Do you feel like an imposter in the gym or healthy situations because of the way you think you look? Do you find yourself struggling to fit into healthy groups because you feel you don’t deserve friends or a lifestyle that is conducive to health? So many women think that healthy groups are for only the really thin people but that’s not true.  Groups of good people accept all body shapes and sizes, and you are not an imposter and most likely you look better than you think you do.  In understanding you deserve optimum health; you give yourself a chance at creating it.  You are not an imposter for putting yourself out there in the realms you want to become or already are, you are a stunning deserving woman who belongs.

3 ways to overcome impostor syndrome for lasting success is available on Battle babes fitness

3 ways to find freedom around your body image

Are you suffering as a result of the way you look at and think about your body?  In this day and age, there are so many things impacting mental health and to add body image concerns to the mix, that is something I believe in society needs to be addressed.  In this mission, it is important to realise that you are not your body shape and size, it means nothing about you as a woman and although it may reflect your habits, it doesn’t make you any lesser human being for sometimes gaining or losing weight? Freedom is what we all want right? I believe that when you realise it’s a journey and not a destination, you get to experience an element of freedom that has you know that you are worthy and deserving of everything life has to offer regardless of what you look like:

1. Looks aren’t an indicator of success or empowerment.

   Too many people think that looks are an indicator that you have ‘made it’ in life. So many women look at the media, magazines and social media thinking that success hinges on body shape and size while image seems to have become everything.  Of course, look after yourself and your beauty regime but don’t make it your everything and don’t hinge your thoughts, feelings and emotions on the way you look because one day you will age, you will develop curves where you didn’t have them before, and you will wrinkle. Make sure you understand that empowerment is based on internal factors and living according to your true values while looks don’t mean you are or are not empowered.

2. You are worthy of an amazing relationship, health and career regardless of your body shape or size.

   Too many women think that when they are skinny, they will make it in the world. Sadly, some career paths hinge on being skinny and beauty only or mostly but the world is changing where all shapes and sizes are to be represented in all areas.  How many times have you thought that your soul mate will come want you when you are skinner or look different?  If he wants you for your looks only get rid of him as he isn’t the one for you.   How many times have you thought you will start or up the ante with your health when you lose some weight?  Know that you are worthy now and get started now regardless of what your body looks like.

3. Learn to look at yourself in a positive way.

   What do you think when you look into the mirror? I know it might seem difficult to embrace your body curves and all, but you must for the sake of your own quality of life. When you look at yourself in a positive way, you balance out any negativity you may be thinking about yourself.  You get to free yourself and know that love is in the positive and negative and embracing it all regardless so you can feel worthy and deserving because over negativity could be the very thing making you miss out on your dream life. Looking at yourself in a positive way, you get to see that you are able to manifest beauty in it’s true form – love in all aspects of who you are now.  You are beautiful regardless of your body shape or size.

3 ways to find freedom around your body image was originally published on Battle Babes Fitness blog

3 ways to let go of negative approaches to weight loss and focus on your purpose

It is true that what you focus on you create while this is not to have you take your focus off your health but to take it off obsessing about losing weight. In this mission, it is important that you set your intentions, make a commitment to your health and take actions toward ultimate health while loving your body along the way.   How many times have you noticed that when you aren’t trying too hard and stressing over losing weight you are better able to lose it?  The key here is to focus on life, your purpose and get busy with it so you aren’t spending your time obsessing about your weight, but you are free in yourself.  These 3 approaches to weight will help you keep your eye on the ball while being free in body and mind:

1. What is focusing on purpose and how do you do it?

   Focusing on purpose means focusing on something that is bigger than you and your weight loss or weight concerns. This doesn’t mean to dissociate from your problems and any negativity, it means to heal along the way with some help from a professional and focus on your life’s purpose.  This is because when you are focused on your concerns and self, you can stagnate and wallow but when you have a grander purpose for your life, you are better placed to take the focus off weight loss in the negative sense and place your focus on the positive sense.

2. Place your attention on the positive.

   If you are focused on the negative things you believe about yourself, your focus will often be your weight and your concerns. While if you focus on letting go of body hate and replacing it with body love you set yourself up to be able to take your attention off weight loss and put it on your purpose.  A positive attitude with release the tension, pressure and obsessive behaviours toward your weight and help you to be able to focus forward.  Keep your eye on the ball, have your goal and vision for your weight while letting go of the pressure, being more positive and allowing yourself to live a little more because you are free.

3. Vision will dissolve your concerns while decisions, commitments and action will get you there.

   Your focus will determine your outcome, but negative focus will only manifest more of that. When I talk about taking your focus off weight, I mean the negative aspects and obsessing while having a healthy relationship with weight loss and focusing on what you want out of life.  Your vision is everything when it comes to your life and when you are able to focus on it, as mentioned, your weight loss concerns become small, your body becomes something that is your temple to get there and you focus on life and purpose so you can live your life beyond any weight, body image and fitness challenges.  So, decide, commit and act toward what you want but make sure you live for something much greater than looking good into the realm of feeling good and being healthy to be able to fulfil on your life’s mission.

3 ways to let go of negative approaches to weight loss and focus on your purpose is republished from battlebabesfitness.com

3 strategies of a weight loss realist for sustainable results

So many women are unrealistic in their approach to weight loss. They think that there is a magic pill they can take that will strip the weight and keep it off. You just have to do the work. Often, they are also striving for a constant weight on the scales and that just won’t happen for most women.  When I speak of sustainable results, you must know you are living in a world where you might go backward then forward and up and down with your weight loss journey.  A realist knows this and expects to have fluctuations and times where weight may go up a little and then down again when you make the right healthy choices.  In life, it’s important to be a realist and know that a grounded, steady and paced approach to weight loss is the way to achieve what you want.  With these 3 strategies, you will find some aspects realist must consider for sustainable results – meaning your relationship with your body and self:

1. Learn from your setbacks and turn them into steps forward.

   A realist will see that if you have something to learn, your results or lack thereof will show you what is nagging at you to be healed. Weight loss is far more than just actions as there is mental and emotional healing to do in the journey toward lasting results. When I say lasting results, this might mean inside a weight range rather than a specific number on the scale or clothes size.  Hormones, food intake, water retention or dehydration and many other things can affect your weight so know this.  What might seem like a setback could be one of these aspects that affect weight while also know that if you simply go off the wagon, you can learn from it, see what choices you made, what emotions were present and what you may have been feeling during those times.

2. Know that your worth is not dependent on the number on the scales.

   I know this full well having been so many different sizes, fighting hormones, medication, emotions and trauma. When you place your worth on the number on the scales, you become obsessed often with something that is a human construct that means nothing about who you are as a woman.  Contrary to popular belief, the made-up concept of scale weight meaning you are fat or not fat must be a thing of the past and you must find your own natural weight. Your worth is not dependent of the things that are simply there to help you manage your weight. A realist knows this about the scales, doesn’t feel deflated by a number that means nothing about you and uses the scales to drive you toward health and keep you on track if you want to use them.

3. Stay the path and keep consistently taking the right steps.

   A realist knows that being grounded and taking small steps each day consistently is what leads to results. It won’t happen in a day or week and there is no miracle cure as the miracle is in knowing that you must heal and take the actions toward what you want. We all have times of setbacks or off the wagon for varying reasons as we are human so be sure to go easy on yourself for the way you look or what you have done because your results will come if you just see that you can find your groove, reduce your unhealthy habits to abolish them mostly to the 80/20 rule.  Do this so you can live your life in a way that is structured, you can stay the path and you take the right steps to make sure you flourish and live your life for the healthy woman you are innately born to be.  Consistency is key and a realist knows this and your actions and non-actions will determine what outcome you create.

The following blog post 3 strategies of a weight loss realist for sustainable results is courtesy of Battle Babes Fitness blog

Skinny doesn’t equal empowerment- being inspired from within does!

In this day and age, sadly the image of a woman is often correlated with their levels of success and empowerment.  So many people think that you must look a certain way to be deemed successful and empowered but I beg to differ.  Empowerment is not something that is truly quantifiable because it is unique to each individual due to being derived from living your true values.  Let’s face it, if you are healthy and don’t look super skinny and you are living your life the way you want to, you are empowered still.  You are also empowered if you look like a super model or bikini model while it is all based on the values that each individual holds and what is important to them.  If being empowered to you means doing things that result in being thin then go for it, while also making sure you live your life for health over being driven by vanity or unrealistic looks.  Skinny doesn’t equal empowerment while being inspired from within does and with these 3 simple strategies you might just find an element of freedom:

1. Base your levels of empowerment on what you give and the difference you make not your body.

   Empowerment as mentioned is very individual and while the model of empowerment that many women are influenced by looking a certain way, it is up to you to create your own model and values and live by them. Your levels of empowerment should be based on what you can give and the difference you can make while keeping your body healthy as it is your temple.  In this mission, make sure you are free from the constraints of society’s pressures to look a certain way and allow yourself to find peace over your body, get out there, make life happen and be empowered in your own unique way.

2. Love your body regardless and don’t let it be the thing that stops you from thinking you are or are not empowered.

   Thinking that your body shape and size is a reflection of true empowerment is such a silly concept to me. Empowerment comes from within, it is connection to the divine and your willingness to see and follow your own true calling and visions.  Of course, that includes health for everyone, but it is not the determining factor for your levels of empowerment.  Loving your body now is imperative to the empowering women game while also ensuring that you don’t allow your body shape or size stop you from doing what you deem empowering things.  For one woman it is different to another so make sure you find your true calling, live by it and a healthy life simultaneously.

3. Go out and make life happen while putting your wellbeing first.

   Different levels of health appeal to different people. As long as your doctor is saying you are healthy then you are healthy.  This is not a number on the scales for the right doctor, it is a check-up and thorough one to make sure everything internally is working, and you are able to perform your empowered woman tasks.  Put your wellbeing at the forefront of your mind because when you are healthy you can do so much more while not letting body image be something that holds you back or make you think you are not empowered.  You are empowered now from within and you are never without so make sure you go forth knowing your version of empowerment, standing by it and living your truth.

Skinny doesn’t equal empowerment- being inspired from within does! is republished from Battle babes fitness

How to be empowered with the way you dress

I have been there – the bikini body babe and the crop top wearing woman and fit and fabulous while feeling like I am looked at as not being empowered for my choice of clothing or training programs.  I know the pain of the young fit woman who feels not good enough regardless of what you do for your health, body shape and size.  I know the feelings of being judged as a vixen or temptress when the wrong is not in the minds of the woman, it is in the judgement of the others.  I also know what it is like to be in my mid 40’s and how much I wish I appreciated my own body back then while I can, and do, appreciate my body now regardless. I want to impart upon you this wisdom – love your body regardless of your shape and size and appreciate your younger years, what you wear and the way you approach things as long as it is from a place of self-love not vanity.  So many people think that women wearing crop tops and bikinis is not empowered or it is objectification or seeking external validation – but what if it’s simply a sign of self-comfort, empowerment with body image and a way to be expressed that is safe and doing no harm.  With these 3 insights, you will feel more empowered to embrace your body now and know that you are worthy at all times in your life:

1. Wear what makes you feel alive, comfortable and self-expressed.

   There is nothing wrong in my eyes as a spiritual and very much a woman about empowerment with wearing what you feel is comfortable and right for you. It is better to have lived and loved your body at all stages and expressed yourself the way you want to whether that be covering up or wearing tasteful bikinis and crop tops.  It is not disempowered to wear such clothes and many what is deemed empowered women have been there.  Objectification is in the judger and objectifyer not the woman who is dressing to be fully self-expressed and loving their body with a healthy self and body image.

2. Follow your heart and know that your worth is far more than your body.

   You know what you are comfortable with wearing. You know in your heart why you are wearing what you are wearing also.  Is it to catch a man or gain attention or is it a sign of self and body love showing you and the world that you are comfortable in your own skin?  Your worth has nothing to do with your body shape or size, it has everything to do with your inner beauty and ability to embrace yourself for the lovely and amazing woman you are.

3. Understand your own true value knowing you are beautiful on the inside first.

   Your inner beauty must come first. There is no point in striving for that bikini or crop top on diets and living in misery. There is every point in wearing them now if you like while working your way to the way you want to be in a healthy way.  Your value has nothing to do with whether you wear these clothes or not and your levels of empowerment come from within, living your own true core values and seeking to find ways to embrace your body, inner beauty and self-expression for the way that you truly want to.

The article How to be empowered with the way you dress was first published on Battle babes fitness