We need to talk…

About posting honest photo’s..

Here’s a recent photo I posted of myself, the disappointing thing is that in my head I had a whole list of things ‘wrong’ with this photo. But, I posted it and I felt empowered, no one unfollowed me or made comments about my size or looks, it begs the question ‘why did I feel so self-critical in the first place?’

I have a reasonably balanced relationship with myself most of the time, then on occasion my confidence lapses. All the same, if I were one day to have a daughter, and she saw the above picture?. What message would I be sending her? The wrong one. No one is perfect, it’s okay to have imperfections, that’s what makes us human.

The simple fact is; I waste time comparing myself to strangers on the internet or comparing myself to these crazy ‘ideals’ I set myself. 

I’m 31 and I NEED to grow out of this;

I’m not as strong as many others

I’m not as ‘lean’ or as fast

I don’t live a perfect lifestyle.

But, it’s really okay.

From this photo onwards, I want to work on reducing my thoughts of self-criticism and encourage others to do the same. Feel comfortable enough in your own skin to share photos that capture the moment, but aren’t ‘Instagram Perfect’.

Did you know? You can download an application called ‘perfect 365’ and wipe out your laughter lines, smooth out your skin, enhance your eyes. What happens when people meet you in real life? I’ve not seen many truly effective ‘real life’ filters lately, apart from our old friend ‘beer goggles‘.

Do you like being hungry?

Seriously, though is being hungry ever fun?

Do people really think that saving all their macros for the day so that the can binge on 800+ calories of porridge with ‘all the toppings’ is ‘healthy’?

I’m not going to repeat all the recent comments made about wellness bloggers and poor advice in relation to diets and ‘clean eating’. Anyone with some sense and balance will understand that taking advice from someone without formal qualifications is not a sensible choice to make. A balanced diet includes ALL food groups unless you’ve been medically advised to avoid certain foods.

What makes me sad is that some of these articles about bloggers imply they are young, yoga pant wearing students caught up in ‘wellness’ and yes, some of them are. BUT, many of these people are professionals, they’ve carefully crafted a brand that you’ve fallen in love with, they’re educated to degree level and the brand is their business.

Anyone can become unwell, or caught up in living a certain ‘lifestyle’, look beyond the pictures and think before you aspire to be like these people. For example, working a 10-hour shift, walking to the gym, training hard for 60 minutes fuelled on a smoothie for breakfast, then vegetables and chicken for lunch and 30g zoats, berries and half a quest bar for dinner. Does that sound healthy to you?

I’m not a bad person for eating real food, and you shouldn’t feel like a bad person either.  The angry chef wrote this brilliant post about how we should stop slating potatoes. Eat potatoes – Be happy!

Periods,VPL & Bare Bottoms..

Periods – We need to take the shame away from this, how can something so very natural still be a topic we feel that we have to brush under the carpet?

I don’t know about you but once a month I just want to eat my bodyweight in chocolate, shout at everyone for no apparent reason and cry every time I see a puppy or cute baby. My training suffers, I come out in spots and a bloated tummy and generally don’t always feel I’m winning. It’s really okay to feel a bit down in the dumps, hormones are normal and sometimes we don’t flounce around with bright white smiles and pretty hair like the lovely models in the tampon adverts.

Carly wrote a good post about why ‘My lady garden, isn’t an actual garden, thanks’

Also, I’m becoming sick and tired of sportswear manufacturers creating endless collections of ‘see through leggings‘. Come on, it’s 2016 and it’s not longer cool for me to flash my thong (Note: that was very 2005) and I’m just not looking for that kind of exposure in the gym.

2016 has been the year I’ve seen more thong bikini-clad Instagram/fitspo type photos and I’m completely fine with this. Feeling body proud is IMPORTANT, on the other hand, just because everyone else is doing this, you shouldn’t feel pressured. Fear not my friends, you won’t be seeing my backside anytime soon…

The Number Game..

I’m coming from a purely personal perspective here, but I’ve felt that during 2016 (and my 4th year of blogging) that numbers have been more important than ever. The primary focus, of course, is social media and with the rise of the ‘influencer’, I think that many bloggers are feeling the pressure. Can we take a moment to keep in mind that numbers aren’t everything? It’s easy to ‘top up’ when you’ve got over 10k and if you look closely, many of them do.

How about next time we are looking for a new blog or social media account to follow, we look past the numbers? Maybe we should spend more of our time following the folk who may not stand out in the crowd due to lower numbers but create wonderful content? Just a thought…

Thanks for reading my mixed musings, please feel free to share your feelings on the above topics, does any of this relate to you?

Katie

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