I base a lot of my self-worth on having a career, on achieving goals and on being active and it is really, really hard for me to not feel useless and lazy when I have a day off or just relax. I have been working in some form or another since I was 13, be it tutoring or later on waitressing, working in a factory or as a student assistant in university. And from a very early age I also struggled with finding balance with work. I am a very ambitious person and if I am doing something I want to do it well, which in many industries or part-time jobs means taking on as many shifts as you possibly can. I worked two nights a week until 1 am plus weekends when I was 18. I was never able to say no until I noticed my grades slipping and had to step back a litle. I have been working two jobs for long periods of my life, in one summer working nights shifts at a conveyor belt from Sunday to Friday to then work at a restaurant on the weekends, working over two weeks straight without a break. I did a full-time internship and simply because so many internships are completely unpaid I had to work an extra job on top of that. I work pretty efficiently and I am quite resistant to stress - which for me meant to push myself to absolute exhaustion, because I "could". Obviously the fact, that I work faster does not mean that I don´t need rest. The fact that I did not break down working around 60 hours a week for months at a time (while in university) does NOT mean it is healthy. I personally have seen what stress can do to people, how sick it can make you and the extreme reaction of our bodies to long-term stress. Just because you personally feel like you can go at twice your capacity does not mean you are not ultimately really hurting yourself.

It has become so romanticised to "hustle", to always be busy, to always be grinding. Not only does everyones seem to have five projects on top of a full-time job, we see hobbies and enjoyments as checklists as well. Even in our free-time we tend to feel pressure to perform. We are meant to work all day, then head to a gym and shred our bodies to perfection while throwing in a Yoga class for mindfulness and flexibility on the weekends. We have to eat perfect meals, healthy, balanced, home-cooked in spotless apartments, we even feel the need to perform while we are on vacation and send the best holiday pictures back to our friends and especially frenemies back home. I personally track my workouts, how often I meditate, how often I do Yoga, hell I even count how many books I read. And sometimes I feel like despite doing all of these things I am never ever doing enough, like I am just the sum of numbers: calories consumed and burned, impressive books read, steps I took a day... I am so obsessed with being productive that I don´t even allow myself actual time off except for when I am on vacation - and even then I sometimes feel pressured to see all the sights possible. We are all so intensely rushed, so busy all the time that we completely lose sight of being okay with not being productive. With being worthy of love and respect outside of our productivity.


But true self love is not based on how well you are doing. It is about being okay with resting. About stopping your ego and drive to always perform and produce and to give yourself time to just breathe. I get that being busy can feel really good and rewarding. That a career you love will sometimes make it hard to not take work home. That if you are passionate about what you do, you want to put in extra hours.
But it is so crucial to sit back and reevaluate: Am I doing this because it makes me happy? Or because I feel worthless if I am not working or hustling or improving myself in some way shape or form? Can I tell when and if I need rest? And am I allowing myself to take it?

This can be especially hard if you are used to pleasing people and to fulfill expectations, if you always want to make everyone around you happy. But it is so crucial to see your own worth and your own needs and put them before anyone elses wishes and expectations. Being productive at all times is not only exhausting, it is also detrimental to your mental and physical health. Taking time off is not a weakness, it is not laziness, it is crucial and necessary. And if you still feel weird about this: SO DO I! It is an idea, that for many of us has been engrained in us from very early on, especially in capitalist societies. It is why for so many of us relaxation is so terrifying, the reaons why when we relax to do so in front of a laptop or a TV with junk food, instead of in nature or with friends, because even relaxation is defined in such strict terms.

I have been out of uni for almost a year now and I am still not working full-time. I struggle heavily with periods like right now, where I am off from work for two weeks and could just enjoy myself - but instead I feel like I am way too lazy and like I don´t deserve to do nothing for a while. It is a constant battle against that voice inside of my head that always says "You need to work to be worthy of love or fun or enjoyment, you need to be at least working out or writing or reading intelligent books". But I logically know that that is bullshit. That my worth is not based on working out four times a week or reading a book a week or making it to two Yoga classes or whatever I have in my mind: I am worthy no matter what. As is every single person. Productivity is a fucked up social construct and it can make you really sick if you do not step out of this idea. A part of me feels guilty for not going to the gym tonight after four hours in a car and in 27 degree heat and it is damn hard to tell that voice to be quiet and enjoy my Sunday. But the more often I am able to do so, to relax for an evening, to not force myself to the gym or to do Yoga, but to do it when I feel like it and when I am ready to do so, the easier it becomes. Discipline is great and important in many ways - but so is having grace for yourself and not pushing you over your personal limits to fulfill an idea that is not realistic.

The title of this post may sound a little confusing. In general I think being logical is very important and necessary, but sometimes we can stand in our own way when we only try to focus on logic. Even worse: sometimes it can be really hurtful. Because especially when taking care of ourselves sometimes logic has no space. It may be logical to work overtime to get ahead quicker. It may be logical to force yourself to hang out with others. It may be logical to get rid of the apartment you are head over heels in love with, while you travel.


But especially when it comes to loving yourself and selfcare you sometimes have to make illogical decisions. It is indeed logical that I currently have no actual bed or even mattress in my room in Cologne, I am only here once in a blue moon. It is also logical not to bring decoration since I have very limited luggage space. It would be logical to stay in Cologne as much as possible to pick up lots of shifts and make more money. But do these decision make me feel better? No they don´t. They add to my restlessness and unease. Not having a real home makes me not only cranky, it actually makes me continuously feel out of touch with myself and stressed.
So I made the very illogical decision to spend almost two weeks at my boyfriend´s last week. I will go to see my mum in three days, because it is her birthday and even gave up a shift up for that. Hardly logical, but it is what makes me feel good. I am a little shaken at the moment, I don´t really feel at home in my room in Cologne (might be due to the lack of actual bed and decor but wadda ya know) and I miss my boyfriend a lot at the moment. So going there and spending time on his couch, instead of earning money, makes zero sense, but it makes me feel good. And sometimes that is what is most important. That you feel good. Not at the cost of others or the environment or what have you, but in general your number one priority should be that you feel good. That you are happy.
You will have a nagging voice inside of your head - and maybe even outside of your own head, because boy do people love to tell you your decisions are not logical - that will call you delusional and selfish and lazy for making illogical decisions sometimes. But sometimes it is crucial to be illogical. Only functioning and continuously going against your gut feeling can make you so sad and so much more stressed than you need. Why make your life even harder? What is in any way logical about being uncomfortable and depressed all the time?
At the end of the day logic is not a set category. It depends on your needs and wants and goals. And if your goal is to be happy and love yourself it can be crucial to go for the less logical path sometimes. It´s what makes life fun at the end of the day.

In our society pushing your limits is seen as something positive, aspirational even. We are supposed to continously overcome anything that is holding us back, to push ourselves harder, to go further. Accepting our personal and emotional limitations is something we are not really trained or endorsed to do. Obviously it can be beneficial or even lifechanging to overcome certain boundaries or beliefs we have about ourselves. Especially overcoming societal rules can be liberating and incredibly freeing. However I personally think establishing healthy boundaries is ABSOLUTELY essential to feel happy and content.



For me personally setting boundaries and especially sticking to them was incredibly hard. Whether in relationships or regarding my energy levels I never really managed to find healthy boundaries, which lead to me being absolutely exhausted and very unhappy in many regards. It can be very daunting and  counter intuitive to limit your time spent with others, your energy spend on helping and healing other people or to cut ties with people completely. But I do think it is absolutely crucial when you notice that you constantly feel tired, worn out or unhappy.

1. Examine how much time you need for yourself - or how much time you need to spend with others

I personally am an introvert. I am loud, I am super social, I hang out with people all the time but I do not really unwind or relax in large groups of people. I enjoy hanging out with people immensely, but I need alone time to feel good, relaxed and grounded. Especially when you are around people, who do not thrive on alone-time, who thrive on being with others it can be quite hard to articulate that you need to have this time for yourself. This goes especially if you are on the younger side. It has become quite trendy to be in constant hibernation and stay in, but I am also in my mid twenties now and I remember how many people in high school thought I did not like them if I wanted to stay in. I have become better and better at articulating that I love you and enjoy spending time with you, but I just need this time for myself. I have also gotten better at choosing people, who can accept this. On the other hand I used to be somebody, who cancelled plans last minute and lied about why I cancelled to get out of discussion, which lead to people misunderstanding me and I have made a conscious effort to not cancel plans unless I absolutely need to. I also got better at understanding how much time I can spend hanging out with others and took a lot of pressure off myself, which actually lead to me enjoying hang out and time with others so much more.

2. Understand how much you can generally handle in a day

Germans live for their work. It is genuinely scary the intense chunk of your life works takes up, how much your value is based on work and how much unpaid overtime Germans are happy to put in. I used to heavily base my worth on how much I was working, how many hours I spent at work and was available to my bosses all the time. I am a person, with an incredibly desire to be liked. I want to be liked even by people I personally dislike. So it is very easy for me to continuously fulfill what other people want me to do without listening to my own needs. This goes especially for work-related requests. In journalism you need to deliver. There are hundreds of people, who would be happy to do your job, being paid for internships is highly unlikely and you are expected to go above and beyond while not making any money. I know that many industries work this way and that sadly you kind of have to deliver especially when you are still trying to prove yourself in the job field. However during my internship (and other internships before this one) I was often the first and the last person in the office. I stayed overtime, I worked weekends and I took on any job that was offered to me, while still working on the side to make it possible for me to work full-time with zero income. It was worth it now that I have my job, but it sucked. It would be very easy for me to continue this behaviour and I am sure I will put in a good chunk of overtime once my traineeship starts in August, but I am no longer working unpaid extra hours. My current workplace is also very accepting and encouraging about that, but I also have found for myself that I am happy with a smaller salary or less of a career if it means I get free time in return. I want to be good at my job, but I also do not want to spend my entire life in an office. I want to see friends, I want to go to the gym, I want to have dinners during the week. If you are happy to make that dollar while giving up quality of life and me time go for it, but if you just do it because others expect it of you or because you hope your boss will like you more than you need to reconsider. Sadly your job will probably find someone else to do your job within a day or two if you were to drop dead. So act in accordance.



3. Understand that you are not responsible for others peoples happiness

Maybe this again goes back to our inherent desire to be liked. Taking care of others is noble, it is a wonderful way to show affection and it is what all our friendships and relationships are built upon: We take care of each other. But and this is so important: you need to take care of yourself. Helping or caring for others should not be an automatic thing you do. It is something you choose to do, something you enjoy doing, not something you do because you feel like you have to, like people only love you if you break your back to take care of them. Love never needs to be earned. It should be given freely. You should not be expected to be the only one that gives time, effort and love in a relationship. You are obviously free to help others. But it is also fine to say you do not have the energy for this at the moment. To say you will not manage, that you have enough on your plate. Helping others can be selfless at times IF you have the energy, the resources or the time. You can always do what you can, but you do not have to. It is okay to say "I can only call you today". It is okay to say "I am really sorry I am extremely busy, I can currently be there for you to talk, but I cannot help you with anything else". It is such an old saying, but you need to put your oxygen mask on first before you help others. And you need to have friends, who are not only friends with you to take your energy without giving something in return. Actual, true friends will accept you and love you and encourage you to take care of you.

In short: you should get to know yourself, be aware of what is good or bad for you and how much and what you can and cannot handle. This is usually trial and error and takes quite some time, but is really really important. Additionally to this: be honest. Let people know the actual reason you don´t come to certain events or need more time or cannot handle this much work. Don´t make excuses or lie and people should really understand you and if they do not, you may want to reconsider if they are the right people to be around for you long-term. This is not to say that people need to understand every step you take and you may make mistakes, but your friends should be genuinely interested in you being happy and accept that you may have to draw certain boundaries for that.

But I was sporty nontheless: from the age of three I was horseback-riding with an intense passion. I spent a lot more time with horses than with people for a while, I spend entire summers on farms. I was working out at least four, sometimes seven times a week and still was convinced I was not sporty, that I could not do certain workouts. Even though I had to sell my horse when I was 16, I have continuously worked out regularly since then. I worked out in gyms, I went on runs, I did workout classes. This year I regularly worked out almost every second day, despite travelling a good chunk of the year, despite living out of a van for four weeks, despite not having a flat for the past six weeks. I actually got a gym membership in Germany before I had a flat, a job or a plan. I dragged my ass to the gym four times this week after work. I can run 10 kilometers despite not having run regularly in a while. I can deadlift 50 kilos. I can do the crow and a headstand in Yoga. And despite all of these things for the longest time I did not think I was fit or sporty or anything. The picture I had of myself because of a bullshit sports class in school determined how I felt about and how I behaved in workout situations and when setting goals for myself.

This is what I mean when I say set realistic goals. Sometimes we are quicker than anybody else to judge ourselves and what we can and cannot do while ignoring all factual signs. Just as much if not more as in politics we judge ourselves with an intense bias. To set realistic goals you need to take a step back and factually evaluate yourself and your life. Maybe grab a friend for this as this is a huge challenge: we constantly think about ourselves, judge our every move and have a deeply ingrained idea of ourselves. It can be very refreshing to actually see ourselves through outside eyes.
For example I am an intensely nervous person. I overthink almost everything: if people like me, if I come across to harsh or too weird, if the work I am doing is good enough. However this monologue is entirely in my head - when I get stressed I get very quiet. Others thus often think I am super chill and relaxed in stressful situations while I am screaming internally for about 20 minutes straight. So while I tend to underestimate what I can do, other people sometimes overestimate it. It´s good to get a well rounded opinion before making new goals.

So to make realistic goals evaluate:
1) where am I at right now? and 2) where do I want to end up?
and once you figured that out, actually plan how to get from 1 to 2 and how much time it will take. I think the most important thing is to make attainable and measurable goals. One thing that has worked very well for me personally was to make goals for each month e.g. lift three times per week in April or to do 10 000 steps every day in January. It gives you a clear time line and it can build a true habit. It is easier to stick to these goals for thirty days than for 365 and you have little successes along the line, which I think is crucial to stay motivated. A goal should be possible for you to fulfill so if you never run you should not aim to run a marathon in a month, but it should challenge you to keep it interesting and actually make you want to work towards something.

Another super important thing is to not expect perfection. One of my New Years Resolutions was to complete BBG. I stuck to it for 10 weeks, worked out in hostel gardens, on camp ground, early in the morning or really late at night and managed to not miss a single resistance session, LISS or even HIIT workout. Then I got back to Germany and completed the 11th week even though it took me two weeks to do so and even started the 12th and final week - just to quit with about two workouts left. I had hated the last two weeks of the plan, I was tired of it and I felt like it had done what I wanted it to do: it got me back into a routine, I was able to do it with minimal equipment and everywhere I went. But to just stick to it to complete it, while being miserable about doing it made no sense to me. I still think I fulfilled my resolution, because I gave it my all, I did every workout once and I got significantly fitter. This is the main lesson I learned this year: to be okay with doing things as good as I can even if that does not mean I do it perfectly. I only did 29 of the 30 Day Yoga challenge in January. I did truly love every second and I still have an intense love for Yoga in me, but at that point I was not able to do the last day: I was on a girl´s weekend with my friends from Melbourne as a goodbye and I wanted to enjoy it fully. I don´t think I failed, because I fell a little short - I completed the challenges I gave myself in my own way.

And finally: see your limitations. I have struggled with emotional eating my entire life. I am no good at having one chocolate bar or a handful of chips, it simply does not work for me personally. I noticed once again how addicted I am to candy and junk food, when I gave it up completely over lent. There are certain times, when I personally immediately want to grab chocolate: when I had a stressful day at work, when I am sad, when I am tired... These patterns are addictions just as much as my desire to light a cigarette, when I have a hard day. Just the same as I had to do with cigarettes you need to evaluate your desire and decide if this is a healthy approach to the situation - spoiler alert NOPE - and then to consciously decide not to follow that urge. The other day I had french fries for the first time since mid march and in my head I immediately decided to just get all the candy and chips I wanted. I am not a very balanced person. I am not good at having a nibble of chocolate, actually I am absolutely terrible at that. Yesterday I polished off a bag of chips, a bag of licorice and a bar of chocolate. I felt terrible this morning and I could have easily followed my old patterns to 1) restrict and not eat  all day or 2) continue my binge and eat more stuff that was terrible for me. Instead I decided to have a healthy breakfast and to be okay with the fact that I have not really overcome my unhealthy eating patterns. I will allow myself chips and candy, but I will not buy these things for myself or in bulk. I simply cannot handle them. I may buy a candy bar after lunch at work or eat chips at a party, but I am simply not in the mental position to have this type of food at my home. And that is fine. I have not failed, because I overate I have simply made a little mistake. I will not punish myself, but I reevaluated the situation and will move on from it.

Comparing yourself to others has become a daily activity for most of us. Social media is a huge part of this of course, but it is also inherently human to see other humans and compare your own behaviour to them. It is afterall how societies function, how we learn and how we manage to all live together. However at a certain point comparing yourself to others can become intensely toxic. While this is in large part due to the "perfect" image so many of us present online and also let´s be honsest in real life, the main issue is as so often not the others. It is inside of us, that little voice that does not recognize your accomplishments and amazing traits, but belittles you.



Obviously it is not healthy how so many people portray a perfect life on social media, that is in no way attainable (looking at you influencers in private jet and residing in five star hotels at all times) and it can be shocking to be bombarded by pictures of skinny bodies, flawless legs, perfectly styled outfits, shiny hair and intense make up. And I am all for unfollowing people, who make you feel bad about yourself, but I do think the underlying issue is not only the mishaped picture we have so many others, but also of ourselves.

Belittling yourself is not an invention of the 21st century. I remember idolising people in my school, thinking they were perfect, funny, beautiful and great in every way while I saw myself as ugly, awkward and weird. I did not need their Instagram profile to think this, I made them better than they were, made them bigger, more impressive and more interesting in my head. I think we still do this to this day. It is much easier to celebrate other people´s wins and accomplishments than ourselves. It is much more accepted to beat yourself up, hate yourself or speak badly about yourself than to celebrate you. It is just how our society works.

Ultimately the goal is to seperate your self worth from comparing yourself to others, from making loving yourself based on accomplishments or to do lists or jobs or the number on the scale. Ultimately you do not need to perform, be better or more important than other people. Obviously this ultimate goal is not easy to accomplish, because we have been fed a very different approach to self worth for so many years. Unlearning this takes a conscious effort and is probably still the most difficult thing to accomplish.

Here are some practical tips:

1) Unfollow or mute people, who make you feel small, not important or less than. This applies to social media, but also very much to real life. Sorround yourself with people who make you feel good.

2) Understand that not everything people present of themselves is real. If necessary analyse your own behaviour on social media. Even influencers share about ten to fifteen minutes of their day. That is less than one per cent. You have no idea what else is going on in another person´s life plus there is very much more to life than perfectly styled smoothies and clean appartments.

3) Celebrate your successes. If you are not at that point where you can love yourself without proving you are worth it: make a list. Or let your friends make a list. It is so funny how differently other people view us, how much more they are impressed with our life and actions.

4) Give up on being perfect. Perfect is a fucked up idea, that has been implented in our heads for so long and is absolutely impossible. Instead aim to be happy, to be kind, to be funny, to be loving. And let go of societal ideas of being a good person like jobs, money or posessions.

5) Look at things you are thankful for instead of what you are lacking. If you wake up every day under a roof, with enough food in your frige and with people who love you you are so rich. You are so blessed. You have things millions of people envy you for. So instead of continuing to run after an idea of what you need, be thankful for what you have.

Today´s challenge was: try something new today, which you always wanted to do. Why is that a task in a self love challenge?

Because sometimes I think we perceive self love as only being gentle and loving with yourself. And while that is a huge part of it and the basis for mental health, I think sometimes self love is also about discipline and pushing yourself. Because as much as resting is important from time to time loving ourselves is also about getting out of bed, doing a workout, making fresh food instead of a microwave meal. It can also be about overcoming your fears in a loving way.

I am terrified of gyms. I actually hate them. I never ever was a sporty child, I was always the last to be chosen for sports teams in school (hello trauma), I never used to enjoy working out. And that insecurity is still so engrained in me, even though I have been regularly working out for about four years now, enjoy my own routine and am relatively fit. But in my mind I still think I am not fit enough, not sporty enough to go to a gym or workout class without people noticing it. I ultimately think I am not good enough.



Which is one thing I really want and need to overcome to feel good about myself and feel fully comfortable. I think we all are so caught up in our own minds, our negative self talk that we are convinced people all think the same toxic way about us. When in reality nobody cares. No one minds if you go out without make up or wear clothes you like or are not the best at lifting weights. So overcoming this initial "God no" reaction can be so helpful.

I almost chickened out today. I was on the phone to my boyfriend when walking to the Cross Fit class and literally said: "Maybe I´ll just go home." I almost let my negative self talk and own fears hold myself back and that is bullshit. So in a loving way I went and did that class. Do I love Cross Fit? Nope, but at least I tried. Did people laugh at me? No actually everyone was really lovely. For me Cross Fit is one of the most dauting workouts out there: it includes weights, it is done in teams and it is super high intensity. But I did. I went there, I did okay and I sweated like a motherfucker. And it went fine. So now when I am afraid of working out in front of other people again or learn to weight-lift or do my own thing in so many other ways I can look back on today and know it will be okay. So that´s what I want you to do today. Try something daunting in a loving way. Because as much as loving yourself is about taking it slow, sometimes it is about pushing yourself beyond what you can imagine you can do.

I am not a skinny girl. My thighs touch, I have a little belly, I can´t find bras in high street stores and yes I do have bingo wings. A lot of these things have made me incredibly unhappy over the past years even though they are absolutely irrelevant to who I am as a person.

When I was 15 and my parents broke up I started binge eating, maybe taking in the calories my mom did not eat during that time. She lost 20 kilos after the break up, I thanks to eating large amounts of calories in secret gained about 10. I felt horrible about myself, I hated the way I looked. And then I started taking the pill and my body changed even more. All of a sudden there were hips and my boobs grew about 3 cup sizes. I was in a relationship at the time in which I had never felt like I was good enough and not even being skinny anymore made that feeling even worse.
When I was 16 I went to America on student exchange. I had a horrible experience, was more than homesick and stayed with an incredible controlling and unloving family. I had no access to healthy food and being so unhappy about my situation I started to eat emotionally again. When I came back from the states I had gained a whopping 13 kilos. I had never looked like this, I felt horrible and ashamed. I also had to sell my horse in that year and went from riding five to six days a week to basically no work outs. In that winter I only ate 3 pieces of fruit a day for a week to fit into a dress. I cried in fitting rooms. In the summer I did not want to go to any place where I was expected to wear a bikini.
When I was 17 I fasted for 10 days to feel acceptable again. I never could really stick to a consistent diet, I never managed to loose weight even though I worked out a lot. I was pretty good with juice fasting and I felt majorly accomplished every time I have lost a few kilo and deeply disappointed when I gained weight. I tried to make myself through up at times after binging.
When I was 18 I fell in love with someone, who really was not interested in me. I started working longer hours in the restaurant I worked at and school got tougher as well. I was so stressed out from all of this and I started piling on pounds again. I spent another summer inside.
I have not felt good in a bikini since I was 15. I have counted calories and fasted, I have worked out for hours and skipped dinners. I have thought I was only worth something when I lost weight, the number on the scale was what defined my worth. And I have eaten a bag of chips, a bar of chocolate, gummy bears and pizza in one sitting.
And you know what the funny or horrible part is? Even when I was 14 and tiny I was not happy with my body. People made fun of how flat chested I was and I stuffed my bra hoping for curves.
The moral of this rant is that no matter how I looked over the past years the problem was that I hated my body. I never was proud of what this body was doing for me. Carrying me through severe heartache and huge turning points in my life. Running over 500 km with me over the last three years. Adjusting as well as it could to all the time zone changes I put it through. Fighting off all kinds of bacteria for me and doing it´s best to keep me alive. My body and also your body; our bodies love us so much. They do so incredibly much for us and we never thank them for that.
I don´t know a single girl in my friend group that is not unhappy with how she looks. I think this is one of the absolute saddest sentences I have ever said, but it is true. All of my friends are either currently dieting, cheating on their diet or thinking about starting a new one.  I have heard similar stories of self hate and disordered eating behaviour from so many girls. These things are now a normal thing teenage girls go through, how fucked up is that?! Even the most gorgeous girls, the girls I really would love to look like, the ones with the washboard abs and the beautiful long legs are not happy with how they look. If we have something in common it is that in some way or another we hate our bodies.
I am quite a logic person. I am confident and I do think I am an attractive girl. I like my face, my eyes and my hair. Obviously I know that my weight is not what defines me, but it is something that is always in the back of my head. But this year I want to work on loving myself better and I am sure that includes accepting my body and being kind to it.
I don´t want to deprive it of carbs anymore, it makes me feel tired and dizzy. I don´t want to skip dinners anymore to fulfill an ideal of beauty that I will never reach no matter how much weight I will loose: I will never be petite, I have curves and god damn it that´s a great thing. I don´t want to feel horrible about eating a brownie and I also don´t want to binge eat in secret anymore. I want to work out, because I like how it makes me feel, not to burn off calories. I want to treat my body right, by eating good, wholesome, healthy foods and I want to still be able to enjoy life without feeling bad about it. This summer I want to feel great soaking up sun instead of worrying about my little belly pouch, which is cute as hell anyways. I want to do this, because I love my body, not because I hate it and I hope that as many of you as possible will do the same thing. In the next months I will start a series on this blog around loving your body better, posting recipes for healthy foods (because at the end of the day that what is better for you body), updates on how it is going with loving my body and anything to do with this. I would also love to hear your stories about loving yourself better so feel free to mail me, to leave a comment or even tag your posts with #loveyourbodybetter. Let´s work on this project together. This is not about loosing weight or dieting, but treating your body well because you love it and yourself so this definitely includes treats because sometimes you just need them.
Today I make the decision to be kind to my body and to love it and I think making this decision is the crucial first step. Will you make the same decision for yourself?