Taggin' Hash Tuesday

From the WW:

Happy Taggin' Hash Tuesday, all!  Solo post from me today.  I’ve collected twelve great body-positive hashtags for you to think about and use in any place you might feel the urge to hashtag.  Three of them have some personal meaning to me, so let’s start with those:

#SmashtheScale

#lovetheskinyourein

#bodyrevolution

This year, I’ve started a personal #bodyrevolution to help me love the skin I’m in.  The BB and I went through our own personal battles to get to the point we’re at now, so I’ll walk you through mine.

1. Confidence: A lot of fat girls lack confidence.  I was one of those.  Through the love of my partner, I slowly gained confidence.
2. Validation:  When I met the BB, I felt more comfortable in my skin because we validated each other, meaning we made each other feel like we were fine, okay, great, and right.
3. The “Fuck It” Phase: After validation, I felt empowered to say “fuck it” and I stopped focusing on calories and carbs and sugars and minutes spent exercising.  Instead, I ate what I wanted when I wanted and moved when I wanted how I wanted.  Weird sentence. 
4. Realization: When I started feeling tired and crappy all the time, I realized that the “Fuck It” phase needed to come to an end.  It was an important step to feeling empowered about the choices I make for my body, but it would not take me in the direction of having a healthy, loving relationship with my body. 

I am currently in the phase that comes after realization, but I can’t put it into words yet.  One of the most important things I’ve done for myself in this phase is #SmashtheScale.  Not literally.  It is still in my bathroom closet so I can weigh my pets and croon over how adorably chubby they are.  I simply don’t weigh myself.  Not because I’m afraid to see the number…in fact, it is so I can take the stigma away from the number.  For example, when I first started this #bodyrevolution, one of the things I had to do was tell myself I was beautiful over and over again so I’d believe it.  Similarly, I had to tell myself that a number should not dictate my life, but that was difficult with the number glaring at me every time I weighed myself.  So I put away the scale, repeated my new mantra (you are more than a number), and that was it. 

Now when I go to the doctor and I get weighed, I only feel a slight twinge of self-doubt.  Mostly, I’m happy or just don’t care, because the number doesn’t define me anymore.  Instead, I base everything on how my body feels.

I’m not saying this will work for everyone.  This was just my personal journey to #lovetheskinyourein, because that is ALWAYS the ultimate goal.

Here’s some more of my favorites:

#bodyloveforall

#PersonalGrowth

#BodiesAren’tUglyBullyingIs

#selfloveisthemostpowerfulkindoflove

#loveyourbody

#fatisbeautiful

#positiveselfimage

#allbodiesarebeautiful

#effyourbeautystandards

#fatacceptance