Friday, August 6, 2010

On Being Kinder to Yourself



All week, my training partner Amber has been participating in the "Change the Way You See, Not the Way You Look" challenge. The author of operationbeautiful.com actually released a book this week - pretty cool, huh?

My body image is something I have struggled with throughout my life. I will say it has improved as I have gotten older. These days, I make a conscious decision to focus on my positive aspects instead of the things I'd like to change - but it's not quite second nature for me to focus on the positive.

In honor of the "Change the Way You See, Not the Way You Look" week, here are 5 things that I love about my body:

1. My legs - Thanks to all the miles I've logged this summer, my legs have never looked better!
2. My hands - Since I am small boned, I have thin wrists and long, dainty fingers. I love that my hands look very similar to my mom's!
3. My collar bone area - I like that my collar bones sort of stand out, but in a healthy way, not a 'she's too thin' way.
4. My eyes - I have dark brown, intense eyes. I've been told repeatedly that I do not have a poker face as my eyes give away my emotions. This used to bother me as my readability makes me a little bit more vulnerable, but I've grown to like the fact my eyes really are the window to my soul.
5. My skin tone - I really like my olive skin tone - especially in the summer as I tan very easily!

I challenge you to list 5 things that you love about your body! I must say, I feel a bit sheepish talking about what I love about my body... I guess I am still programmed to talk more about what I don't like!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are wayyy braver than I...

Like you, I love that my hands are my mothers; even though I've been told I have teeny tiny (crazy too small) pinkies and now I keep staring at them, wondering, "hmn, are they too small?"

Ha!

Charbelle said...

I'm so glad you did this post!!! It's so hard to list things about yourself that you like, I know! You have got killer legs and you must show them off!! You tan, which I'm jealous! I'm pasty white, very pasty. Of course I'm told that's "healthy" too.
Collar bones are fabulous, they always make shirts and blouses look so nice!
Speaking of running after my visit to the chiropractor yesterday I am now the proud owner of a foam roller along with excercises that I am supposed to do every day to help my knees and back.

Lisa-Marie said...

I've been doing post-it's on mirrors all week!

Five things I like is difficult. I have nice eyes, and a fairly pretty face(I look a bit like my mum, which is nice), and quite good boobs. Though I am quite chubby, I am at least hour-glass shaped, so I look feminine rather than just big.

Becky said...

Ha - we both posted about Amber doing this - brain twins! Isn't it weird how we're programmed? I'm about to list 5 things but in the back of my head I'm thinking "I hope no one thinks I'm bragging!"

1 & 2 - My freckles which are the most prominent on my shoulders. At one point in my life I started thinking my shoulders were really sexy and I think the freckles only add to it!
3 - The palms of my hands. I was a gymnast when I was younger and sometimes when I grip something really tightly I can see where I used to get "rips" from the uneven bars and it makes me a little bit proud.
4 - My hair. (Does this count?) I've never done anything crazy with my hair but I think that's because I never felt I needed to. I'm a redhead and while my hair was much brighter when I was younger I love the color it has developed into (almost an auburn shade) so I've never felt the need to dye it in any way. (The most exciting thing I did was a home perm in college which I will NOT show you pictures of).
5 - My eyes. They're hazel but sometimes they change colors where they're a more vibrant green with a gold ring and sometimes they're a little faded. I love how my skin crinkles around my eyes when I smile - some people don't like that and thinks eventually it gives you wrinkles but I love it!

Great post Lisa - fun way to start a Friday!

Jess said...

What a great post!! It's funny that we're "ashamed" of listing the things we like about our body - we should be proud of these things and own them!! Having said that, I will say that I'm with you - I have always, always loved my eyes. They're hazel, with a ring of yellow and green. I've always got compliments about them, so I'm ok with saying they're nice :)

Amber said...

Yayyy! Thanks for participating!!

That's a great list - I also love the way my collarbone pops since I got healthier a few years ago!

Nora said...

People say the same thing about my eyes and how they give me away every single time! Because of this I'm not a great liar and if I like a guy? He can tell. It's quite frustrating.

5 things I like about myself... my smile, my long thick Italian hair (most days, anyway), my stomach, my curves (Even if I want them more toned), and my wrists.

Abby said...

This is really neat! I like that "change the way you see, not the way you look". Body image is huge - and I agree that today we women are way too hard on ourselves!!! Cool - I will have to do this on my blog this week in honor of it!

You do have rockin' awesome legs! One of the many perks that comes with your crazy running schedule!

Also, I have always wanted your olive skin tone! I got the shaft in our family. Emily has soft pale skin - you got the olive skin - and I got reddish Indian tone.......Ha!

Leigh said...

Such a great post Lisa! I think it may be tough to talk about five things that we like about ourselves, but it good to make our brain think about those good things and not just the things we dislike about ourselves.

My five things would be:
1. My eyes- they are big and blue!
2. My height- everyone may crack a joke or two about me being tiny, but I wouldn't change it
3. My hair- it's super thick and I love it! (Becky I think it counts!)
4. My legs- they've been getting me through some hilly bike rides lately
5. My feet- they may be small but they get me places everyday!

Hope you have a great weekend Lisa!

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

I love how much the blogging community has gotten around the Operation Beautiful book release! And fun to read Amber's daily likes. So empowering to hear women able to say it outloud. "i like this about myself because..." I think we as a society are told not to brag about ourselves and we are taught that perfection is attainable.

Anywho, on to my top 5:
1)My legs -strong, muscular, get me through so many miles
2)My eyes - blue and stand out with certain outfits
3)My height - love being short
4) My arms - they are getting more defined and feel stronger all the time
5) My freckles - used to hate 'em but now I think they're kinda cute

Stephany said...

I love this! I love how Amber did it but it's pretty sad how we find it hard to come up with just 5 things we like about our bodies! I could EASILY come up with 5 things I hate!

Here's my list:
#1: My eyes, since they're beautiful. Haha! :)
#2: My hair. I get complimented on it all the time and that makes me feel so good.
#3: My legs. My legs may be short but they are muscular and I just love them!
#4: My chest. What can I say? I've been blessed. :)
#5: My nose. I used to absolutely hate my nose and couldn't wait to get it fixed when I was able to. But it's just a part of me. It's a symbol of my German heritage and something I inherited from my dad. It's big and not very pretty - but it defines me, in a way.

Thanks for doing this post!

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

So true that it is harder to list things you like than don't like- I feel cocky or something haha.
Mine are 1. eyes, 2. hair, 3. legs, 4. nails (or hands and nails haha), 5. My nose- my friends call it my button nose :) I used to hate it when I was little and then in middle school my good friends (I was lucky to have good friends in middle school) started calling me "Buttons" for my nose because they loved it- that kind of thing changes your opinion at that age.

PS. I also am on facebook may less than I used to be AND I am not a fan of crazy status's either. One of Eric's friends taught me I can hide people from my news feed haha, love it.

Kyla Roma said...

You have so many beautiful aspects of yourself to choose from, it must have been hard picking! ;)

I think my five are very similar, I love almost everything about myself other than my hair right now. I can't wait for it to be a bob again! Hopefully by October :)

Carolina John said...

I love caitlin's concepts with operation beautiful and I really hope the book can have a positive impact on self-image.

I've always felt very comfortable with my body and it's flaws. I like the muscle definition i've gotten from triathlon though.