How To Start a Self Love Journey

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The other day, I am scrolling through my Instagram and there was a post that really hit me.
It said “Your best weight is whatever weight you reach when you’re living the healthiest life you actually enjoy.”
I really felt this post because I have been the girl only focused on losing weight and being small, I wasn’t enjoying anything about it.  I wanted to be smaller and smaller.

Your worth is not determined by the scale.  Self Love is an inside job.

You can learn to love yourself while also being the happiest and healthiest you can be.
I want to share with you what I have learned.

*Disclaimer: Please note that this post may contain affiliate links. I only recommend products that I believe in whole hardheadedly. See privacy policy for more information.

*This post was written 9/2017 and has since been updated.*

How To Start A Self Love Journey

A journey to self love and self acceptance is a long journey full of ups and downs.  It’s not easy and it takes work and dedication, but it is truly worth it.  Self love is the best love.  Try these Self Love Journal Pages.

Self love has very little to do with the outside appearance and everything to do with inside of you.  I always thought if I was skinnier, smaller, prettier, quieter, etc. that I would finally love myself.  But no matter what I did with my physical appearance, I still didn’t feel self love and acceptance.  It wasn’t until I dived inside myself and healed my wounds that I was able to love and accept myself.

All the experiences in our life shape the way we feel about ourselves and this becomes our inner voice.  Changing your inner voice when it has been the same for so long is hard and takes time.  We have to retrain our brain to see that we are worthy of our love and acceptance.

It took years to get us to this point, so undoing it will take time as well.

The Journey Starts Here

A self love journey looks different for everyone.  You are unique and so is your journey.  I have learned many tools to help you along this amazing journey of self acceptance.  

Dive Into Yourself

You have to look inside yourself to understand why you do things the way you do.  Inner child work is some of the most powerful self discovery work I have ever done.  This was really a game changer for me.  

There is one book I highly recommend to everyone wanting to start their self love journey, Homecoming By John Bradshaw.  This book has amazing information about healing ourselves.

Daily Self Appreciation

Appreciate yourself every single day.  Tell yourself that you are beautiful and you love yourself.  It might sound silly but after time your brain starts to automatically think these things naturally. 

Pick something you love about yourself daily, write it down and think about it.  Journal about it or meditate with it.    

Use Daily Self Love Affirmations to remind yourself daily how amazing you are. 

Take Time For Self Care

Self Care is so important.  Just taking time for yourself in this self love journey is key.  This may be going for a walk, reading a book, taking a hot bath, meditating for 5 minutes, etc.   There are so many different ways to self care, find a few that work for you.  

Make yourself a priority, everyone in your life will benefit from this.  The saying ” You can’t pour from an empty cup” is so true.  When we don’t take time to give ourselves attention and a few minutes of peace here and there it will affect how we react to other things in our life.  This is why I created my Self Care journal pages, to get you started on loving and taking care of yourself.

Make Healthier Choices In All Aspects

Make a solid effort to make healthier choices.  This means eating food that give your body the nutrients it needs, drinking enough water, moving your bodies, and taking care of your mental health.  Mind, Body and Soul!  

All of these things are important.  When we are giving our bodies the right things that they need, they can function better.  Just like your car needs certain things to run well, your body does too.

When you take proper care of your body, you will start to feel better.  You are what you eat, to an extent.  When I eat crap, I feel like crap.  When you fuel your body with good things that your body needs, your body will perform better mentally, physically and emotionally.

Put Your Scale Away

If you are like me, someone who struggles with body image issues, binge eating, etc. then you need to get rid of your scale!

Yes, you heard me right.  Put your scale away, throw it out, whatever works for you.  Your worth is not determined by the scale.  

You don’t need to weigh yourself every day.  If you are making an effort every day to become a healthier you then what do you need the scale for?  Check in with yourself daily.  The scale will not tell you if you have made an effort to be healthier and happier.  Only you can do that. 

If you are actively trying to lose weight for health reasons, try weighing yourself once a month.  This still isn’t an accurate depiction of your health.  You can gain muscle and lose fat and still weigh the same.   Weight doesn’t determine how healthy you are.

Stop Negative Self Talk

Like I said above, we have to retrain our brain to think positively about ourselves and we won’t do this with negative self talk.

It’s very easy to talk bad about ourselves.  Here is the one thing I tell myself to help me on those hard days.
If you would not say it to your child or best friend, don’t say it to yourself.

I would NEVER tell my child or best friend that they didn’t deserve something based on their looks or they were worthless.  In fact, I always think the opposite.  Even when my child or best friend is having a hard day, I praise them and think they are beautiful and great.  So why not do this to myself too?

Every time you catch yourself saying something negative about yourself, resay something positive right then!

Journey to Self Love

What’s most important is that you don’t give up, keep going. 
It’s not a race to the finish line.
It’s a lifestyle.
A long term commitment to yourself.
You got this.
You are beautiful inside and out.

I was a girl who never believed she could ever truly love and accept herself.  I cried, prayed and dreamed of the day I would love myself since I was just a little girl.  I couldn’t figure it out for so long.  And now, I am here, I love myself, I accept myself for all that I am and I think I’m amazing.  I want you to feel that way.  You deserve to feel that way about yourself.  It’s worth it, I promise.  Start your journey to self love.

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