Do you ever catch
yourself sucking your stomach? Even just lying in bed I’ll realize I’m restricting
my gut backwards.
On my very best days I’ll
catch myself doing it!
It doesn’t feel good,
but after years of self-esteem issues (especially surrounding the stomach area)
it’s become automatic.
Flat bellies are in
now, right? That’s what the magazines say, the TV shows say, and the gym-babes
walking down the street say.
And according to this
notion, the rest of us should join a gym, start a new diet, and double up on
crunches so we don’t have to suck it in anymore.
With summer and bikini
season approaching I say I’m done with that idea. If you have a flat belly,
then you rock that flat belly, because that is your belly. But if you, like me,
are softer and stick out a little (heck, maybe you stick out a lot! Love it
up!) then we’ll rock ours, too.
I’m so much more
comfortable and relaxed when I just let my soft belly go where it goes. When it’s
not held back it feels good, and I’ve finally been able to look in the mirror
with loving eyes and realize it looks good, too.
When I see a girl on
the street and wonder what it’s like to rock that tank top without a thought, I
remind myself that I can do it too. I
just have to stop sucking in, because when I suck my belly in, I suck myself in
and restrict me in that moment. It sucks… literally!
Just recently I’ve
begun picking out shirts that feel and look great: the ones that my belly can
remain free of restrictions and that don’t cause me to second-guess my wardrobe
choice on the way out the door. If your closet doesn’t hold items like this,
then you deserve to change that.
We deserve to have
clothes that make us feel great; that make us feel gorgeous as we walk down the
sidewalk. We deserve to love where our body hangs and shifts and feels a little
softer than the rest of us… that is your body;
that is you.
Summer is coming, and
this is the perfect time to say, “Hey. I love that swimsuit, and I love
this body, so I will wear both proudly, and fully enjoy myself.”
You’ll feel and look
more beautiful, I promise.
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