I posted this picture on instagram the other day with the caption below:

I was so hesitant to post this picture. I didn’t like the way my body looked- my arm, my belly, and legs. After having James I vowed to try to never speak poorly of my body again- especially in front of her. I want to be really mindful of raising her in an environment that boasts body positivity and self love (inside and out). Of course there are days that are harder than others but I catch myself and if I do say something negative, I correct it out loud.  I’m mindful to use adjectives like happy, rested, strong, instead of skinny, bloated, fat. Instead of looking at my belly and legs with disappointment, I see a body that grew this sweet baby for 9 months and has fed her for the last 10. She may not understand it at this age but I’m building a habit around positive body image which will mean so much more when she can understand it. And my goal is at that point, I won’t have to try, it’ll just be ingrained in me in the way I speak about my body. 

So I’m posting this, because I love how happy we both look in our white hats ❤️

#bodypositive #girlmom #lakegirls #raisingdaughters #selflove

I had so many people reach out to thank me for sharing, for setting an example, for doing better for the next generation. I figured if that many people were inspired by the spark notes version of what I’ve been working on over the last couple of years with body image and self love, then a full post was well worth it. 

Writing this, I still have hesitations, and I expressed this to a friend recently. If you can tell by my other posts, I’m really open and I don’t tend to hold back. But something with this topic makes me want to hold back, and I can pin point exactly what it is. 

Being a millennial, we grew up inundated in diet culture- Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, diet pills, infomercials on exercise or weight loss products. It was everywhere. But the kicker is that we weren’t the target audience, our mothers were. 

And what little girl doesn’t look up to their mother and want to be just like her. Our moms were hyper focused on weight loss and being “skinny” and in turn, they created a toxic relationship for us in how we view our own bodies and our self worth. 

Take a minute to read that last sentence again and really digest it. Over the last 2 or so decades the value we believe we hold in this world is entirely based on the number on a scale or the size of dress we wear. How upsetting and twisted is that?

But we can’t blame them. Back then, social media didn’t exist. They couldn’t find diversity amongst their network to be any different than what society pressured as perfect- which was thin, thin, thin. They also didn’t really have online shopping, and they certainly didn’t have brands that were size inclusive.

Our generation of women has rightfully redefined boundaries and taken control of the narrative around body image. We have diverse role models to look up to, we have brands that are size inclusive, we have resources to help educate us on healthy nutrition and mind body connection. Not only did our mothers have none of that, but they had no outlet to be able to express themselves for who they really are or find similar bodied and minded people to connect to. While social media can be a curse in ways, it can also be a beautiful tool to allow growth in being who you are and finding an audience who will support that. 

But the bottom line is we need to reset the stage for the next generation. Just like our mothers had a power over our identity with body image, we carry that weight on our shoulders for our daughters and sons now. The way we speak about not only ourselves, but those around us will reflect in the way our children speak about themselves. 

My husband and I have been listening to ‘Greenlights’ by Matthew McConaughey- if you haven’t listened to this book, I highly recommend it. McConaughey narrates it himself and it adds so much more to his story. But with this, we’ve been identifying green lights in our lives, especially green lights that come from red lights. 

Our mothers journey with body image was a red light- there is no doubt about it. But, maybe it’s a red light turned green now in the way it’s allowing us to recreate the journey for our kids. After all, all red lights eventually turn green.